LOS ANGELES — Freshman point guard Donovan Dent scored 21 points and handed out nine assists in a dazzling collegiate debut to lead No. 12 UCLA past Eastern Washington 80-74 on Monday night in the season opener at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA (1-0) has now won six of its last seven season openers under head coach Mick Cronin, but the Eagles refused to go quietly. Four Bruins finished in double figures and a strong second half was just enough to keep Eastern Washington within arm’s length.
Dent controlled the floor from start to finish, pushing tempo, getting shooters in rhythm and scoring in the paint. Tyler Bilodeau added 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting and had 14 after halftime, while Xavier Booker finished with 14 points and Skyy Clark chipped in 10. Booker also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in his UCLA debut.
The Bruins shot 47.1% from the field and went 8 of 26 from beyond the arc, using their size and length to out-rebound Eastern Washington 35-30. Still, the Eagles (0-1) kept the game close behind 15 points from Isaiah Moses. Alton Hamilton IV scored 13 and Straton Rogers added 12, while Johnny Radford pulled down eight rebounds.
Up 40-33 at halftime, UCLA broke the game open with a 14-6 run out of the locker room. Dent found Booker for a dunk before Bilodeau buried a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 15. Booker scored 10 quick points early in the half, but Eastern Washington fought back, knocking down four of its next five shots, including a pair of threes, to cut the deficit back to single digits.
Dent responded again. The freshman buried a 3-pointer and set up Bilodeau for another, forcing an Eastern Washington timeout with just over 10 minutes to go and restoring a double-digit lead. The Eagles made one last push late, slicing the margin to six in the final minute, but Dent’s driving bucket sealed it.
Early on, Clark knocked down two 3-pointers and Dent scored back-to-back buckets as UCLA jumped ahead. A cold shooting stretch briefly handed the lead to Eastern Washington, but Dent took control again, scoring nine of UCLA’s next 11 points and guiding a defensive stand that held the Eagles without a field goal for nearly three minutes. Bilodeau buried a 3-pointer and added a jumper before Booker tipped in a miss at the buzzer for a seven-point halftime lead.
Dent scored 14 in the opening half and had six assists as UCLA settled in.
The Bruins remain home Friday when they host Pepperdine at Pauley Pavilion. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. PT tip on Big Ten Network.