Penn State men’s basketball (13-11, 3-10 Big Ten) was dominated by UCLA (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten) 78-54 in Los Angeles Saturday evening.

In their first game in Pauley Pavilion in program history, the Nittany Lions were led by 14 points from Zach Hicks, but Penn State’s 8-for-25 second-half shooting led to a 24-point loss.

How It Happened

With Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Puff Johnson still out due to injuries, Mike Rhoades’ starting five was Ace Baldwin Jr., D’Marco Dunn, Nick Kern Jr., Kachi Nzeh, and Hicks.

After Nzeh won the opening tipoff, Hicks came up short on a three, while Kobe Johnson quickly got UCLA on the board with a layup. Dunn, who was making his first start of the season, then evened the score with two free throws.

Eric Dailey Jr. used a behind-the-back dribble move to free up space before finding Skyy Clark for an open corner three, but Kern answered with Penn State’s first field goal via a hook shot. Dailey then went 1-for-2 at the foul line to put the Bruins up 6-4.

A physical baseline drive past Kern gave Clark two more points, and after a couple of misses, Hicks made a layup off a Miles Goodman assist just before the game’s first media timeout. Out of the break, Penn State took its first lead of the game with a Hicks three from the left wing and extended it to 11-8 moments later with a pair of Hicks free throws.

THAT'S WHAT HE DOES @zhicks1231

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— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) February 8, 2025

Aday Mara, UCLA’s 7’3″ big man, grabbed an offensive rebound and found Dailey for a second-chance basket, which was answered by Nzeh’s first points of the day. Twos by Dailey and Sebastian Mack then gave UCLA a one-point lead back heading into the under-12 timeout.

Rattling in a three from the same spot on the left wing, Hicks entered double figures and retook the lead for the Nittany Lions, which was erased by a Tyler Bilodeau post score. Consecutive turnovers by Hicks and Freddie Dilione V then gave Clark and Johnson easy dunks and made it a 7-0 run for the Bruins, who took a 21-16 lead.

After Penn State was forced to call a timeout, another turnover by Kern allowed Clark to lay in a third straight transition bucket, and Johnson then scored off a Goodman goaltending, extending the UCLA run to 11-0.

Kern ended the Penn State drought of over three minutes with a spinning shot, cutting the deficit to seven before the game reached a media timeout. Kern and Mack traded buckets out of the break as UCLA went up 30-22.

Looking for his first points of the game, Baldwin took a close shot that didn’t drop, but Hicks tipped it in off the rim. Two more Mack foul shots, paired with two by Dailey, and a contested runner from Dilione then had the Bruins up 34-26. Johnson and Dominick Stewart then each hit jumpers from inside the arc.

Bilodeau fought through Nzeh for another UCLA score down low, and on the other end, Dilione turned it over to send the game to the first half’s final media timeout. With under two minutes to go before halftime, William Kyle lll and Kobe Johnson scored at the rim, while Stewart drilled a three, and UCLA was up 42-31.

The first frame came to a close following a Clark layup, and the Bruins took a 13-point lead into the locker room.

Penn State began the second half on an 8-0 run highlighted by threes from Baldwin and Dunn. UCLA then went on a 7-0 spurt of its own with two makes from Bilodeau and a Dylan Andrews three, his first points of the day, before the two teams headed for their benches at a media timeout.

The UCLA run didn’t end when play resumed, as Andrews and Kyle each threw down dunks before Baldwin ended a scoring drought of more than four minutes with a short jumper. However, the UCLA run became 17-2 on its next two possessions, with Clark drilling a corner three and Johnson scoring an and-one.

Just before the under-12 media timeout, the Bruins made their lead 63-41 with Johnson’s seventh make from the field. Stewart opened play back up by gliding to the rim, but Mack did the same on the other side.

Mara split a pair of foul shots and had a dunk to put the Bruins up 68-43 heading into the under-eight media timeout. After the stoppage, Baldwin converted on two free throws just before Hicks and Mara traded twos. Goodman then laid in his first basket of the day and Penn State called a timeout down by 21 with 5:29 remaining.

Two Dunn free throws and a Bilodeau fadeaway held UCLA’s lead at 21, but it was cut to 20 when Nzeh made one from the penalty line. After the final media timeout, Bilodeau reached 1,000 career points with a foul shot.

A turnaround jumper by Goodman made the score 73-54 before Trent Perry scored a corner triple and Mack scored a baseline mid-range jumper. Dilione missed a three, and UCLA dribbled out the remainder of the clock to take down Penn State by 24.

Takeaways

• UCLA dominated the turnover margin, committing just four for zero Penn State points off turnover, while the Nittany Lions gave up 18 turnovers, leading to 24 points.
• The absence of forward Puff Johnson and center Yanic Konan Niederhauser remained an issue for the Nittany Lions, as UCLA outnumbered Penn State in points in the paint 46-24.
• Penn State has now dropped nine of its last ten games, and with this defeat, became the first team in the Big Ten with 10 conference losses.

What’s Next?

Penn State will remain in California to face USC at 9 p.m. on Tuesday at the Galen Center. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.