PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It’s only getting worse.
No matter what Mick Cronin says or does, his team keeps falling into a deeper funk.
The UCLA coach ripped his players. He shook up his starting lineup. He tinkered with rotations.
None of it has made a difference.
On the same day the Bruins fell out of the Associated Press rankings, they might have bottomed out Monday with a 75-68 loss to Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
A lifeless offense that got only six points — all on free throws — from leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau combined with a spotty defense spelled doom for the Bruins (11-6 overall, 2-4 Big Ten).
Once trailing by nine points, UCLA got back to within 63-62 with 2 minutes 7 seconds left after Kobe Johnson (13 points) buried a three-pointer from the wing.
But Rutgers guard Ace Bailey countered with a three-pointer from the corner, Johnson made only one of two free throws and Rutgers guard Jeremiah Williams added a reverse layup to put the Scarlet Knights back up by five points.
In one final indignity, UCLA’s Lazar Stefanovic, trying desperately to foul Bailey in the final seconds, did so only for him to make a shot that extended Rutgers’ lead while also sending him to the free-throw line.
UCLA’s fourth consecutive defeat pretty much wiped out everything the team accomplished in December with victories over Oregon, Arizona and Gonzaga.
Bilodeau missed all seven shots and the Bruins made only six of 19 three-pointers (31.6%), continuing an extended cold stretch from long range.
Forward Eric Dailey Jr.’s 16 points, matched by Sebastian Mack’s 16 points off the bench, weren’t nearly enough for UCLA.
Bailey scored 20 points and Dylan Harper added 18 for the Scarlet Knights (9-8, 2-4), who would have won in a runaway if they had not made only 21 of 31 free throws.
Scoring eight unanswered points in only 91 seconds to start the second half, Rutgers surged into its first lead before eventually going up by seven points on Williams’ one-handed floater with 9:59 left.
These might have qualified as the two most disappointing teams in the Big Ten heading into Wednesday, UCLA and Rutgers each having lost their previous three games.
The Bruins had failed to sustain the promise they showed last month. The Scarlet Knights had failed to squeeze enough out of a roster that included projected NBA draft lottery picks Harper and Bailey.
The strain of the repeated setbacks had revealed itself in Cronin’s ejection against Maryland and sharp criticism of his players after a home beatdown by Michigan.
UCLA entered the game seeking consistent guard play and a solution to playing Bilodeau out of position as its biggest player on the court. Cronin shook up his starting lineup, going with Stefanovic over the struggling Dylan Andrews.
UCLA’s pressure defense bothered the Scarlet Knights, particularly in the game’s opening minutes, before Johnson picked up his second foul and his team lost its early momentum. Johnson had scored seven points in only five minutes before heading to the bench for the balance of the first half.
The Bruins’ 33-30 halftime lead came despite Bilodeau missing five shots to that point. Dailey scored eight points and Mack added six to carry the load with Bilodeau, the team’s leading scorer, held to two points courtesy of free throws.
The crowd included former UCLA interim coach Murry Bartow, now scouting for the Charlotte Hornets, and Rutgers-turned-UCLA center Myles Johnson, who apparently declined to take sides based on his custom sweatshirt reading “RUCLA.”
The Bruins didn’t give him much to cheer about.
