Along one baseline sat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the legendary UCLA center who went by Lew Alcindor when he dominated college basketball like no one before or since.
Along the other resided Magic Johnson, the great Michigan State point guard who later teamed with Abdul-Jabbar for maybe the most riveting era in Lakers history.
What unfolded between them Tuesday night inside Pauley Pavilion was more slow time than “Showtime,” their alma maters grabbing, pushing and pulling each other during a slog of a Big Ten battle.
Into the fray of a game tilting one way, then the other, stepped Eric Dailey Jr. On a night the UCLA forward’s shot wasn’t falling with any sort of regularity, he hit the big time.
After his coach told him to make a play with the score tied in the final seconds, Dailey did just that. He drove into the paint and banked in a tough, contested left-handed layup with 7.5 seconds left, lifting the Bruins to a breathless 63-61 victory over No. 9 Michigan State.
“Definitely,” Dailey said in something of an understatement, “a highlight moment in my career.”
Michigan State called a timeout to set up a final play, which went to Jaden Akins. But his three-pointer bounced off the front of the rim, allowing the Bruins to prevail on a night they lost an 11-point lead over the final 15 minutes.
Somehow, some way, UCLA has now won six games in a row.
“You could call them the hottest team in the league right now,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said, “and deservedly so.”
UCLA (17-6 overall, 8-4 Big Ten) moved into a tie with Wisconsin for fourth place in the Big Ten standings, which is significant because the top four teams get double byes in the conference tournament.
Skyy Clark scored 13 of his 14 points in the first half for the Bruins, who also got 13 points from Tyler Bilodeau and won despite shooting 35% and making just seven of 28 three-pointers (25%) while also being outrebounded by 17. How did they do it?
UCLA committed a season-low three turnovers and badgered Michigan State (18-4, 9-2) into 16 turnovers, leading to 19 points. The Spartans’ most critical mistake came after forward Jaxon Kohler grabbed an offensive rebound but was called for traveling with 24 seconds left.
“I told the guys,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said of his players, “ ‘We get to the NCAA tournament and we play every game with three turnovers, we’ll cut the nets down.’ ”
UCLA guard Eric Dailey Jr. dribbles against Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler and guard Tre Holloman in the second half.
(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)
The Bruins hardly resembled a championship team during one epic cold stretch in the second half. At one point, they made just one of 11 shots and none for more than six minutes. In an awkward development for UCLA, Michigan State fans filled the arena with alternating chants of “Go green!” and “Go white!”
But things leaned back in UCLA’s direction with 2:42 to go after Clark whirled a cross-court pass to a wide-open Lazar Stefanovic, whose three-pointer pushed the Bruins into a 61-59 lead. The Spartans eventually tied the score when Kohler collected a loose ball for a layup.
During a timeout with 22 seconds left, Cronin told his players he wanted the ball in the hands of Dailey, who he has repeatedly described as his most consistent player.
“He hadn’t had his best night,” Cronin said of Dailey, who finished the game making three of nine shots and one of five three-pointers, “but I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, tried to get him to his left hand and get his feet in the paint to score.”
Coming off a six-point loss to USC over the weekend that was their first defeat since late November, the Spartans found no solace across town. After criticizing his team’s lack of fight against the Trojans, Izzo said his players competed against the Bruins but didn’t play smart enough. Akins (15 points) was the only player on his team to reach double figures in scoring, needing 14 shots to get there.
“We turned the damn ball over 16 times to their three,” Izzo said, “and that was the difference in the game. … I thought it was the most physical game I’ve been in in the Big Ten in a long time, which doesn’t surprise me because Mick, coming from Cincinnati, has brought that out here and I think he’s done a hell of a job.”
Since he took the UCLA job, Cronin has said he wanted to model his program after the way Izzo ran Michigan State, which won the 2000 national championship and has been to eight Final Fours under its current coach. To Cronin, Izzo represented integrity, toughness and developing players as people in addition to being skilled on a basketball court.
Izzo returned the praise Tuesday night, referencing Cronin’s postgame rant amid a four-game losing streak early last month.
“They were pronounced dead and I talked to Mick during that time and we all know he went off,” Izzo said. “Sometimes we’ve got to realize that teams need certain things and players are a little more difficult to deal with in this day and age and sometimes you need a jolt and he gave them one and what’s he won, six in a row now?
“You better hope he keeps yelling.”
With that, Izzo rose, leaving to contemplate his first losing streak of the season. In the other locker room, Cronin could ponder a team that keeps winning even when it’s not at its best.
“Real programs,” Cronin said, “win when you don’t make shots.”
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