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It took a while, but UCLA may have finally figured out its cross-country woes

As you settle down into your couch for the loaded Saturday of college basketball we have ahead of us, you may be unaware to the run UCLA has been on in the midst of the Big Ten season. After a couple of tough trips east, Mick Cronin had his fair share of outrageous press conferences, but the eyes haven’t been on the Bruins since that rough patch.

A first home game back from a trip to Maryland and Rutgers, a game against Iowa, brought the first win of a seven-game streak where the Bruins didn’t leave the west coast. Earning home wins over Wisconsin, Oregon, Michigan State, and Penn State with road victories over Washington and USC packed in-between, UCLA headed back across the country with a ton of momentum.

A terrific game from Kasparas Jakucionis of Illinois on Tuesday handed UCLA its first loss in nearly a month, but the Bruins were able to bounce back, winning their first game east of the Rocky Mountains this season on Friday night in Assembly Hall. Indiana has struggled mightily as of late, winning just two of its last ten games, but after the Hoosiers picked up a win over Michigan State at the Breslin Center, a loss would’ve been acceptable in UCLA’s case.

The Bruins held off the Hoosiers in the second half though, using a 35-25 halftime advantage to get across the line in a 72-68 victory. As it’s been all year, everyone chipped in for UCLA throughout the course of the game, with all ten players in the rotation scoring in the game and the leading scorer, Tyler Bilodeau, tallying just 12 points. 27 of UCLA’s 72 points in the win over Indiana came from the bench, with Aday Mara leading the way with eight points.

The theme of bench points has been common throughout this recent stretch for UCLA, with different players stepping up off the bench each game. To start the winning streak, William Kyle III came up big with 12 points off the bench in a win over Iowa. Aday Mara has eaten into Kyle’s minutes since then though, scoring in double figures three times including a career-high 22 points off the bench in the win over Wisconsin. Sebastian Mack has been the other key contributor off the bench, scoring 10+ points four times over the last nine games, including 19 points in the win over Wisconsin as the Bruins tallied 41 bench points between Mara and Mack en route to an 85-83 victory.

With such an even balance of scoring night in and night out, it’s tough to gameplan against this UCLA team as truly anyone 1-10 in the rotation can hurt you. To finish the season, UCLA hosts Minnesota, Ohio State, and USC with one final road trip to Purdue and Northwestern. It’s reasonable to think UCLA can finish 4-1 in its final five-game stretch, which would put the Bruins at 14-6 in league play, something many would have never thought possible in mid-January.

With a 1-5 record east of the Rockies, it may depend on the location of the first weekend NCAA Tournament pod for UCLA, but this team has a talented group from 1-10 that is deep enough to cause problems in the NCAA Tournament. The way it looks right now though, Bruins fans should be hoping UCLA gets sent to Seattle or Denver and placed in the West Region.

Other Things to Note:

• #16 Wisconsin travels to Mackey Arena for matchup with #7 Purdue (1:00 ET, CBS)
• #6 Houston and #13 Arizona meet in Tuscon with first place in the Big 12 on the line (2:00 ET, ESPN)
• #1 Auburn and #2 Alabama go head-to-head in the first 1vs2 Iron Bowl of Basketball matchup (4:00 ET, ESPN)
• #19 Ole Miss hosts rival #22 Mississippi State looking for revenge from overtime loss in the teams’ first meeting (6:00 ET, ESPN2)
• #11 Michigan State visits Illinois with both teams in the midst of a tough stretch (8:00 ET, FOX)