Rutgers shredded by UCLA for sixth straight loss with porous defense

Rutgers Basketball’s track record on the road this season has been a mixed bag.

A mixed bag of losses, of course, but in different styles.

On a late Tuesday night in Los Angeles, the Scarlet Knights (9-14, 2-10) lost their sixth straight game to UCLA 98-66. They fell to 0-7 on the road after getting blitzed all night defensively.

This time, Rutgers had a promising start offensively, but a porous defensive performance put far too much strain on the offense, and it ultimately couldn’t keep up. The Bruins (16-7, 8-4) stayed hot offensively the entire night and cruised to a win in the second half.

Freshman guard Kaden Powers proved to be the story for Rutgers on offense, setting a career-high with 18 points on an efficient shooting night. The Seattle native put up his second double-digit scoring performance as a starter — and third overall — with the most recent coming on a January 8th loss to No. 16 Illinois. Powers kept the Scarlet Knights in the game with his shotmaking, with almost all of his production coming on the perimeter in the opening half. Tariq Francis was the lone other double-digit scorer with 12 points off the bench.

UCLA had four scorers in double-figures, all in the starting lineup. The home team’s frontcourt dominated the night, as Xavier Booker led all scorers with a career-high 24 points on a sparkling 10-for-11 mark from the floor, with four made three-pointers. Forwards Tyler Bilodeau (19 points, seven rebounds) and Eric Dailey Jr. (17 points) also put up big-time numbers, as the duo produced plenty in the first half. Donovan Dent shook off a relatively slow start scoring the ball, but used his playmaking to set up the bigs with 13 points and 11 assists. Trent Perry stuffed the stat sheet as well with ten points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

Its offense finished with a blistering 1.6 points per possession, and 25 assists on 35 made field goals.

Rutgers finishes its Los Angeles trip with two losses, both doomed by slow starts. The Scarlet Knights made the game respectable against USC, but the bottom fell out against UCLA, with a crooked 46-26 figure in the second half.

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Offense Powers ahead in opening half

Even in a game between two slower-paced offenses, points were not at a premium in the opening 20 minuets at Pauley Pavilion.

The Scarlet Knights put up one of their better offensive halves of the season, but it didn’t end up mattering, as the Bruins had their own season-best first half.

Both teams traded buckets throughout the half, but UCLA took advantage of seven Rutgers turnovers, turning them into 14 points on offense. The Scarlet Knights also ran into one too many short scoring droughts, as the Bruins just kept scoring, holding Rutgers to just one minute — the first of the game — with the lead.

UCLA regained control with a quick 7-0 run after Powers opened the scoring, and kept the Scarlet Knights at bay even as they knocked down shots of their own. Neither team led by more than five points in the opening seven minutes, but another 7-0 run after a game-tying three-pointer from Francis gave the Bruins another inch of room. UCLA led by at least two possessions for the final nine minutes of the half. Its frontcourt dominated the scoring early on.

Bilodeau scored 17 in the opening half alone, presenting a major mismatch issue against Rutgers’ defense with his work on the perimeter with a trio of three-pointers, and a fourth jumper with his foot on the three-point line. Dailey Jr. added another ten points of his own, while Booker scored nine. Donovan Dent dished out five first-half assists with seven points. UCLA averaged over 1.5 points per possession in the opening half, compared to 1.25 for the Scarlet Knights.

Powers put a charge into the offense for much of the first half, creating his own looks from the perimeter while also spotting up. He set a career-high in the opening half alone with 18 points and a blistering 7-for-8 mark from the floor and three three-pointers. Francis scored eight points off the bench in a short burst.

Bruins turn up the heat in the second half

Even with a 12-point halftime deficit, Rutgers still had some momentum left over after the strong start shooting the ball, particularly from Powers.

UCLA shut that down fairly quickly out of the locker room.

It opened the second half on a 10-1 run, putting the game out of reach before Steve Pikiell could even blink.

That momentum continued for the rest of the game, as the Bruins ran away with the game in the midst of the second half.

Powers could not keep up his first-half momentum, going scoreless after his career performance in the first 20 minutes. As a team, Rutgers shot just 8-for-25 in the final 20 minutes. After an 11-for-16 start from the floor, the Scarlet Knights finished the game 13-for-39 (33 percent).

Even more concerning was the defense in the second half. UCLA simply teed off on Rutgers’ defense as the game went along, as the lead grew bigger and bigger, thanks to a 60 percent shooting clip from the floor, and five made three-pointers.

Slow starts prove to be the difference

In the opening four minutes of the first and second half each, the Scarlet Knights were outscored 24-8, continuing Rutgers’ struggles to start games on the road.

The loss to Iowa remained the closest the Scarlet Knights could stay on the road, with losses by 41 (Michigan), 23 (Seton Hall), and 26 (Illinois).

With two of the schedule’s most winnable games left on the road at Big Ten bottom feeders Maryland and Penn State, Rutgers has to figure out a way to gain an offensive spark out of the locker room away from Jersey Mike’s Arena.

Up next

Rutgers Basketball returns home from out west on Saturday, February 7th, as the Scarlet Knights will host No. 9 Nebraska at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

That game will tip off at noon ET and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.