It was a tale of two shooting percentages in Los Angeles Saturday night where UCLA beat Northwestern by a score of 71-64.
The Bruins shot the ball really well (49%), and Northwestern's 38% mark wasn't good enough to keep pace. UCLA also shot it better from long-range, 44%-33%. Those numbers declined a touch for the home team at the end of the game, but they were the primary reason they were able to build a lead and keep the 'Cats from finding their second straight victory.
Otherwise, though, NU did a good job trying to keep it close. On the boards, it was only out-rebounded the Bruins by two, finishing with a 34-32 margin. The turnover battle was also pretty even, finishing 10-9 in favor of UCLA.
Nick Martinelli led the way for Northwestern, but he wasn't nearly as comfortable as usual. The Bruins did a really good job hounding him on defense and keeping him out of the lane, limiting him to 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting.
In the first half, Northwestern immediately struggled to keep up with UCLA's shooting percentages. The Bruins entered the locker room shooting it at a 62% clip from the field and 67% from three. They rode those numbers to a 41-31 lead at the break.
The 'Cats looked ok defensively, but they couldn't guard Tyler Bilodeau on the perimeter, and it hurt them in the form of four made triples. It was by far the most glaring adjustment needed at halftime.
Martinelli, as has been the case in a lot of recent games, started the contest slow for his standards. He finally missed a couple threes, but he still managed double-digits (10) in the opening period.
Jake West and Jordan Clayton helped keep the 'Cats within striking distance. West only had two points, but the team was better with him out there and he continued to look comfortable running the offense. Clayton knocked down two open threes, flipping the script on his shooting in conference.
Jayden Reid missed much of the half in foul trouble, and he had a bad turnover early in the game. He'd wind up playing just six minutes in the entire game.
In the second half, Northwestern struggled to keep pace. Unlike in previous contests, Martinelli's struggles continued into the back half of the game. He finished with just 10 points in the second half, most of them coming at the very end when the game was probably already decided.
From deep, Martinelli has been nothing short of incredible to start the season. Part of the reason for his struggles today was that he couldn't knock them down, but he also couldn't get to his signature interior floater nearly as often as he normally does.
Without his built in 20-25, the 'Cats didn't have enough other offense to turn to. Arrinten Page was a let-down once again, finishing with three points playing behind Tyler Kropp.
Tre Singleton knocked down some tough shots early in the game, including a three-pointer which was good to see, but his 12 points didn't move the needle.
In the first six minutes of the second half, the 'Cats deficit ballooned to 15. From there, Northwestern actually started playing pretty good defense, but the offense failed to capitalize.
Then, in the final four minutes, the cardiac 'Cats started to make it close. A high-effort West steal on an in-bounds past led to two free throws for the freshman point guard. Then, Max Green drilled a three to cut it to 62-56 with 2:49 to play.
Unfortunately for Northwestern, that's as close as they'd cut it. Out of a tv timeout, UCLA immediately hit a three, and the game was out of reach.