UCLA defeats West Georgia to move to 3-0

UCLA defeated West Georgia on Monday night to move to 3-0 on the season. The Bruins who played without their star player Donovan Dent. Kicked it into high gear in the second half after allowing West Georgia to hang around in the first half. It was 37-32 at the break. A large run to open the second half helped UCLA pull away.

West Georgia came out of the gates firing early hitting 3-pointers. That trend continued throughout the night as they made 52% of their 3-point shots. It helped them hang around in the game longer than the Bruins should have let them. The defense played good inside the perimeter as they only allowed 9-26 from two-point shots. But too many open looks and breakdown in rotations were a disaster that need to be cleaned up.

Two areas we pointed on that UCLA needed to improve were free throws and defensive rebounding. They were able to tighten up both as they shot 88.5% from the free-throw line and allowed eight offensive rebounds. The number is still high, but still a step in the right direction as they gave up 15 against Pepperdine.

The Bruins were led by Tyler Bilodeau with 21 points. Trent Perry also continued his breakout start with 17 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Sitting at 3-0 on the season, the Bruins will head away from Pauley Pavilion for the first time. As a ranked matchup against Arizona is on deck at the Intuit Dome. The team will definitely need Dent back for that matchup.