Trent 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 made four 3-pointers, shot 7 of 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 3s 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, 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 for a 67-54 lead with 3:16 to go and cruised from there.
Perry scored 22 points and Bilodeau chipped in with 14 as the Bruins shot 50% (12 of 24) from the floor and hit seven shots from deep in the second half, and finished the game hitting all 21 of their free throws.
Dominick Stewart scored 16 points to lead Penn State (9-8, 0-6), which has lost eight of its last nine games. Eli Rice added 14 points and Josh Reed scored 12.
It was UCLA’s first trip to Penn State. The Bruins beat Penn State 78-54 in 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: At Ohio State on Saturday
Penn State: At Maryland on Sunday.