With Tyler Bilodeau going down, UCLA needs bigs to step up

CHICAGO – Nobody has to tell Mick Cronin how crushing injuries can be this time of year.

Three years ago, with his best UCLA team widely considered a national championship contender, forward Jaylen Clark went down in the final regular-season game with a torn Achilles. Two games later, center Adem Bona suffered a shoulder injury.

Missing two starters and eventual NBA players, the Bruins lost to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

Cronin finds himself confronted by another injury conundrum after his leading scorer, Tyler Bilodeau, went down late in the first half Friday night at the United Center, holding his right knee. He needed assistance to leave the court and never returned, finishing with five points in 10 minutes.

While the Bruins pulled together without the star forward to beat Michigan State, 88-84, in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal, it appears they’ll be without Bilodeau for at least one game and probably the rest of the weekend.

Cronin said it would take “a modern miracle” for Bilodeau, who was expected to undergo imaging on his knee, to play against Purdue on Saturday afternoon in a semifinal.

“It would take literally a miracle for him to play [Saturday], meaning that I would let him play,” Cronin said. “Right now I’m just — you know, I don’t want to speculate, trying to stay positive that he’s got some sort of sprain.”

The likely absence of Bilodeau means that the Bruins will need more production from centers Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II and forward Brandon Williams. Williams was the best of the bunch on Friday, tallying nine points, four rebounds and three steals in 19 productive minutes.

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“Obviously,” Cronin said, “we’ve got to get more out of Xavier Booker and Steve Jamerson [the] next couple days.”

Booker went scoreless with one rebound in 14 minutes before fouling out and Jamerson logged two fouls but no other statistics in his two minutes.

But both backup big men contributed to the area that mattered most – making it hard for the Spartans to score.

“The main thing we’ve got to focus on is just defense and rebounding,” Booker told the California Post. “That’s the main thing that coach wants us to focus on and I want to focus on myself, just defensive rebounding for the team, I feel like that will go a long way.”

Even though UCLA lost the rebounding battle against Michigan State, 34-26, the Bruins (23-10) were the far tougher team defensively, continuing a trend that has sparked their season-best four-game winning streak.

UCLA logged 25 of its 40 deflections in the first half while building a 44-33 halftime lead.

“I feel like the main thing was just being physical, that was a huge key, especially on the rebounds, just denying them, not letting them get the ball easy,” Booker said. “Just messing up their plays, messing up their rhythm. I feel like they didn’t really get comfortable in that game, honestly.”

Cronin could go with either Booker or Williams in the starting lineup against the Boilermakers. Booker had been UCLA’s primary starting center this season until Skyy Clark’s return from a hamstring injury prompted Cronin to go with a three-guard lineup featuring Bilodeau at center.

Williams has made four starts, mostly as an injury replacement, after redshirting last season.

“Brandon started as a freshman, so he knows the intensity of what coach wants,” UCLA forward Eric Dailey Jr. said. “Xavier’s been playing in the Big Ten and a lot of guys are stepping up – everybody’s got to step up, whatever minutes they get, just play hard in your minutes and make the right reads and right rotations and we’ll be all right.”

Dailey bolstered UCLA’s front line with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, essential production for a team missing its top offensive weapon.

What will the Bruins do on Saturday? No matter who fills in, they want to keep the same intensity that has revived their season.

“Obviously it hurts when you have one of your best players out,” Dailey said, “but we’ve got to keep playing hard, so it’s next man up.”