LOS ANGELES – Trent Perry scored a team-best 20 points to lead the UCLA men’s basketball team past No. 9 Nebraska, 72-52, in the Bruins’ final home contest of the season on Tuesday evening at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial.
 
UCLA (20-10, 12-7) reached the 20-win plateau after having made 10 of 29 attempts from 3-point range. The Bruins led from start to finish against the visiting Cornhuskers (25-5, 14-5), handing Nebraska its first double-digit loss of the season.
 
Eric Dailey Jr. finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and tallied a team-high eight rebounds. Perry totaled seven rebounds, as the Bruins outrebounded Nebraska by a 36-34 tally. Donovan Dent had a team-leading assists and just one turnover.
 
UCLA led Nebraska at halftime, 37-24, and never saw its second-half cushion fall to any fewer than 10 points – at 57-47, with 6:49 left in regulation. Perry and Tyler Bilodeau helped the Bruins to separate late from Nebraska. A pull-up jump shot by Perry at the 6:26 mark and a key 3-pointer from Bilodeau with 6:17 to play handed UCLA a 62-47 cushion. From that point in the contest, UCLA’s advantage never dropped to any fewer than 15 points.
 
Nebraska’s Sam Hoiberg led the Cornhuskers with 12 points. Rienk Mast and Cale Jacobsen had 11 points each for Nebraska, which saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
 
UCLA registered its third win over a top-10 ranked opponent at home on Tuesday. Previously, UCLA had knocked off No. 4 Purdue on Jan. 20, and No. 10 Illinois on Feb. 21. This marks the first season in which the Bruins have logged at least three wins at home over top-10 ranked teams in program history.
 
The Bruins logged eight steals against Nebraska, including three from Eric Freeny. Bilodeau had a pair of steals and Dent had two steals. Freeny finished the contest with four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.
 
UCLA raced ahead of Nebraska in the opening half, securing a 16-7 lead in the game’s first seven minutes. A 3-point basket by Xavier Booker with 11:57 to play in the first half pushed the Bruins ahead by a 19-9 margin. Less than a minute later, Booker sank another 3-pointer to give UCLA a 22-11 advantage.
 
The Bruins will close their regular-season schedule against USC on Saturday, March 7. Game time at USC’s Galen Center is set for 6 p.m. (PT). The Bruins’ contest at the Galen Center will be televised by FS1.
 
Prior to Tuesday night’s game, UCLA honored eight senior student-athletes (including grad students), as they made their final appearance in Pauley Pavilion.