Donovan Dent's mentality won the game for the Bruins despite tough shooting night

Donovan Dent had a tough night shooting the basketball as he went 5-15 on the night. But when his team needed him the most, he came up with the biggest basket of the season. A game winning drive in 4.9 seconds 93 feet of the court to put UCLA at 18-9 on the season. The most impressive part is on the night Dent had 15 assists as well. It should also be pointed out that he had zero turnovers. An absolute clinic at the point guard position. Something that was much needed.

This season for Dent has come with a ton of criticism. His numbers are down across the board, and he has struggled on offense with his shot. He is better than ever at setting up for his teammates. But seems to have no confidence in his jumper. Now he is finding ways to impact the game without that. Playing much better on defense and being a facilitator on offense. It takes a lot to have a game as he did shooting and still be confident enough to do that at the buzzer.

We're sure that Dent would be the first to say that his play is not up to the level that he wants it to be. He knows it just as much as the fans know it. But this is a big-time player still and he has all the talent to do it. There are games where people see what he did at New Mexico could translate over. He was the Mountain West Player of the Year last year. Using that to become one of the top transfers of the offseason. As he chose UCLA over many other schools.

With now, four games left in the season. UCLA has given themselves a good opportunity to make the NCAA tournament. Dent will be counted on to play a big role in those last four regular season games. Then whatever the Big Ten tournament has to hold before making it to the NCAA tournament. Maybe this was the spark plug to a run that is about to begin. We can only hope something similar to 2021 is about to transpire.