UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Trent Perry is picking up the slack for the UCLA basketball team.
Perry scored a career-high 30 points, Tyler Bilodeau added 21 and UCLA rolled to a 71-60 victory over Penn State on Wednesday night.
Perry, again stepping up in the absence of teammate Skyy Clark, made four 3-pointers, shot 7 for 13 from the field and made all 12 of his free-throw attempts in surpassing his previous career best of 17 points. Bilodeau also hit four 3-pointers and made 7 of 13 field goals and all three shots from the line. Bilodeau matched a season high with nine of the Bruins’ 32 rebounds.
UCLA (12-5 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) ended the first half on a 12-2 run for a 29-23 lead at the break. The Bruins stretched the advantage to 47-39 with 13:44 to play before Penn State answered with a 10-0 surge for its only lead of the second half, 49-47, with 11:46 remaining. The Bruins answered with a 20-6 run – and held the hosts scoreless for nearly four minutes – to open a 67-54 lead with 3:16 to go and cruised from there.
Perry and Bilodeau ignited the pivotal run with back-to-back 3-pointers, and Perry connected on another during the critical stretch, part of his 22-point second half.
“All the coaches have been just telling me, ‘Let it fly, be aggressive,’” said Perry, a sophomore guard from Harvard-Westlake. “I mean, with Skyy [Clark] out, they’ve just been telling me, ‘You’re playing with Donny [Donovan Dent], he’s going to find you, be aggressive,’ and that’s what’s going on.”
Bilodeau, who shook off an illness that had bothered him for the past three days, scored 14 in the second half, when the Bruins shot 50% (12 for 24) from the floor and hit seven shots from behind the arc. They made all 21 of their free throws for the night.
Wednesday marked the second time in as many games that Perry led the Bruins in scoring, as he continued to pick up the slack with Clark sidelined by a hamstring injury he sustained in a Jan. 3 loss at Iowa. Perry scored 15 points in his first start in place of Clark and 16 in his second before erupting on Wednesday.
“Trent made some big shots. I got him to a point now where he’s not hesitating, you know, as an offensive player, and I think that matters and it’s huge for him,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin told reporters after the game. “He’s just got to keep doing it. I yell at guys when they don’t shoot the ball. You end up with a turnover. Shoot it. Let it fly, man – it might go in. You’ve got to let it fly. You can’t be timid. Coaching offensive guys, the guys you know have talent, you gotta empower them.”
Xavier Booker and Dent were scoreless for UCLA. Dent shot 0 for 6 from the floor after taking an early blow to the head that limited him to nine minutes in the first half. Booker played just 12 minutes.
Steven Jamerson II helped fill some of the scoring void with eight points off the bench and eight rebounds (five offensive).
Outside shooting was pivotal. UCLA made just one of its first 10 3-point attempts but finished the game 10 for 26 from deep, while Penn State (9-8, 0-6) shot 4 for 22.
Cronin also praised redshirt freshman guard Eric Freeny, who made a pair of 3-point shots, grabbed three rebounds and played tight defense in 22-plus minutes off the bench.
“Donny went out, Tyler was still getting his legs back because he hadn’t been out of bed since the Maryland game. Eric Freeny came in and hit two massive shots for us,” Cronin said. “He gave us 23 minutes of great defense, some rebounding, and he was really, really important to this win. I mean those two shots, to me, were huge.”
Dominick Stewart scored 16 points to lead Penn State, which has lost eight of its last nine games. Eli Rice added 14 points and Josh Reed scored 12.
NOTES
Cronin said he considered Clark doubtful for the game against Ohio State on Saturday. … Wednesday was UCLA’s first trip to Penn State. The Bruins routed the Nittany Lions, 78-54, at Pauley Pavilion last season. Penn State won the first matchup, a 74-69 victory in a 1991 NCAA Tournament first-round game at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome.
UP NEXT
UCLA plays at Ohio State on Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
“Trent made some big shots. They’re a team that likes to double the posts and pack it in the paint, but I got him to a point where he’s not hesitating as an offensive player. I think that matters.”
Coach Cronin, speaking after UCLA’s 71-60 win pic.twitter.com/KpfPKVIalU
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 15, 2026
“Grateful for my teammates to trust in me and my coaches to trust in me. I’m just glad we got on the road and got a win.”
UCLA’s Trent Perry, speaking after a 30-point effort at Penn State pic.twitter.com/WGnR6eCrve
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 15, 2026
UCLA secured the road victory (71-60) on Wednesday, as Trent Perry registered a career-high 30 points in the win.
𝐆𝐨 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬’ 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬.#GoBruins 🎞️🏀 pic.twitter.com/7OW3fcUjWy
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) January 15, 2026