INDIANAPOLIS — If this was a practice test for the NCAA tournament, then UCLA left half the answers blank and smudged its fingerprints over the rest.
The best grade the Bruins could hope for, given the way they played Friday against No. 18 Wisconsin, was incomplete. That’s because they barely showed up.
They struggled to defend screens. They were slow to close out on three-pointers. Twice, when they finally did, they committed fouls leading to four-point plays.
A few days after UCLA coach Mick Cronin suggested that he was conflicted about a deep run in the Big Ten tournament, his players showed they had no such reservations. They played as if they were ready to get home and sleep in their own beds as soon as possible.
Their dreams might be strewn with visions of Wisconsin making more three-pointers after the fifth-seeded Badgers shredded the fourth-seeded Bruins from long range during an 86-70 rout in a quarterfinal at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Badgers (25-8) made 19 of 32 three-pointers (59.4%) in advancing to play top-seeded Michigan State in a semifinal Saturday. John Tonje was a perfect six for six from beyond the arc and nine for 10 overall in scoring 26 points.
Meanwhile, the Bruins (22-10) had trouble making shots from inside or outside the arc, leaving them to contemplate where they might be seeded for the NCAA tournament. UCLA entered the day as the top No. 6 seed on Bracketmatrix.com, which aggregates NCAA tournament projections, but its prospects of staying relatively close to home might have taken a major hit.
UCLA’s five starters combined for 30 points on 27.5% shooting, with sophomore forward Eric Dailey Jr. going scoreless while missing all six shots. Sebastian Mack’s 18 points off the bench weren’t nearly enough for a team that made 32.4% of its shots and 30% of its three-pointers.
Cronin shook up his lineup to start the second half, going with reserves Mack, Trent Perry and William Kyle III alongside regulars Skyy Clark and Kobe Johnson (14 points). The Bruins rolled off seven straight points before Wisconsin countered with its second four-point play after Johnson fouled John Blackwell (18 points) on a three-pointer.
UCLA arrived here somewhat torn about its best path forward. Should the Bruins try to win the tournament and earn a protected seed in the NCAA tournament, reducing the travel burden on a team tired of cross-country trips? Or should they lose as quickly as possible so they could get home and remain rested for the only tournament that really matters?
The answer was almost immediately forthcoming.
In a sign of the pain to come for UCLA, the Wisconsin band played “Tusk” — a staple of its counterpart from USC — in a pregame trolling endeavor.
Then the Badgers began a conquest of the Bruins by making seven of their first eight three-pointers on the way to building an early 10-point lead. It would have been eight of nine had a three-pointer by Xavier Amos not rolled off the rim after looking like it was going to go down.
On one play, Mack stumbled out of position while trying to defend Tonje beyond the arc. After regaining his footing, Mack scrambled back toward Tonje, only to commit a foul that led to a four-point play.
A deep dive into the record books was necessary after the Badgers made 12 of 19 three-pointers (63.2%) on the way to building a 48-29 halftime lead. That was better than the 50% Wisconsin shot from long range when these teams first met nearly two months ago.
Wisconsin had awoken a sleeping giant on UCLA’s roster that late January day at Pauley Pavilion. Dominating the Badgers in a breakthrough performance, sophomore center Aday Mara made all seven shots on the way to a career-high 22 points in what at the time was a season-high 21 minutes.
Mack was equally irritating to Wisconsin in that meeting, scoring 15 of his 19 points in just a touch over the game’s last 10 minutes on an array of drives toward the basket. The Bruins gave up 83 points and won, a first for the team under defensive-minded Cronin during his six seasons in Westwood.
None of those trends held up 2½ months later halfway across the country. Mara threw down a couple of pretty lobs but had just four points in 11 quiet minutes. Mack’s barrage of points came with his team already down big. And the Bruins gave up even more points in a blowout loss.
If ever there was a wakeup call going into the NCAA tournament, it just left the Bruins’ ears ringing.
