Donovan Dent scored 21 points and dished nine assists in his UCLA debut, and the No. 12 Bruins held off Eastern Washington 80-74 on Monday in Los Angeles in the teams’ season opener.
With five scorers in double-figures, UCLA led most of the way against its Big Sky Conference opponent. Each time the Bruins appeared ready to blow the game open, however, Eastern Washington cut into the deficit — including pulling to within a single-digit margin in the final minute.
The Eagles had an opportunity to pull within five with 34 seconds remaining after Emmett Marquadt rebounded Skyy Clark’s one-and-one front-end miss, part of a shaky 2-of-6 showing at the charity stripe for UCLA’s shooters other than Dent (4-of-4 at the foul line).
On the other end of the court, Isaiah Moses penetrated and found Johnny Radford on the wing, but his 3-point attempt rimmed off.
Eastern Washington’s long-range shooting was spotty throughout the night, with the Eagles instead relying on 38 points in the paint. Eastern Washington matched UCLA’s interior scoring and shot at a similar clip from beyond the arc at 7-of-25 to the Bruins’ 8-of-26.
Moses, a transfer from UC Riverside, led the Eagles with 15 points. Moses was one of four Eastern Washington scorers in double-figures along with Straton Rogers, who scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor.
Dent, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year a season ago at New Mexico, powered UCLA’s offense with his ability to attack the rim off the dribble and find open teammates.
Tyler Bilodeau scored 19 points for UCLA, with nine coming on 3-of-6 3-point shooting. Clark added 10 points and knocked down a pair of his six 3-point attempts, while Trent Perry added 11 points off the bench.
Michigan State transfer Xavier Booker finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Bruins.
Alton Hamilton IV scored 13 points off the bench for Eastern Washington, while Radford added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.
