LOS ANGELES, Ca. - The West Georgia men's basketball team was defeated 83-62 by #15 UCLA tonight (Nov. 10) in Pauley Pavilion in the Wolves second straight Monday matchup against a Big Ten opponent.
Even with UWG (1-2) hitting nine threes in the first half, the undefeated Bruins (3-0) were able to create distance by opening the second period going 8-8 from the field while knocking down four three-pointers, resulting in UCLA handing the Wolves its first loss to a ranked opponent.
UWG finished with 13 threes, which is the most made shots from deep for the Wolves since jumping to DI.
"I was proud of our effort, I thought we got better tonight," said head coach
Dave Moore. "We are grateful for the opportunity to play an elite program at UCLA. It's time to go home and prepare for an important home game on Friday night vs The Citadel."
The leading scorer in tonight's matchup was UCLA's forward Tyler Bilodeau with 21 points on 7-12 (58 percent) shooting from the field. The Wolves were led by forward Shelton Williams-Dryden with 16 points, going 6-12 (50 percent) from the field while knocking down a career-high three three-pointers on four attempts (75 percent). He also tallied a team-high six rebounds with three assists and one steal.
Tonight's California road game opened with the Wolves getting their spark from beyond the arc.
Williams-Dryden kicked off the scoring with one from deep, followed by back-to-back threes by guard Brady Hardewig to lock the game at 9-9.
Coming out of the first media timeout, the Bruins went on an 11-0 run with the Wolves' offense stalling for over a four-minute span.
Using smooth and deliberate ball movement, UWG began to create space for its shooters, resulting in open threes to ignite the Pack's comeback.
Notably, the first West Georgia two-pointer tonight came from wing Kolten Griffin in the 10th minute to dash the Bruins' advantage to 24-17.
After falling behind 33-20, the Wolves stormed back thanks to Hardewig staying hot from three.
At the break, UCLA led 37-32 with West Georgia closing out the half on a 12-2 run. Remarkably, the Wolves went 9-13 (69 percent) from three with Hardewig pushing the pace with 14 points, fueled by four made from deep. Four other Wolves also hit a three-pointer in this half.
West Georgia continued to strike from outside early in the second half, with guard Chas Lewless knocking down a pair of three-pointers, followed by another from Williams-Dryden to keep UWG within five.
With the Wolves' offense stalling for two minutes, UCLA went on a 10-0 run to extend its advantage to 58-43 with 14 minutes remaining.
UWG continued to sputter on offense, resulting in the Bruins' lead ballooning to 69-49 with under ten to go.
With the Bruins continuing to hit their shots at over a 55 percent clip, UCLA went on to win 83-62, marking the hosts' second straight double-digit victory.
Following Williams-Dryden's 16 points, Hardewig recorded a career-high 14 points, breaking his previous record of ten that he set in the Wolves' latest game (Nov. 7). After Hardewig, Lewless set a new personal-best 13 points, marking the third straight game he set a new career-high. Forward Kenneth Chime recorded a career-high five blocks tonight, bringing his total to 10 on the season.
West Georgia returns to Carrollton to host The Citadel in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge this Friday (Nov. 14) at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased
here.
