Donovan Dent – oh, Donovan Dent – had taken 4.9 seconds. He grabbed them by the collar and wrung out every last drop until UCLA upset No. 10 Illinois, 95-94.
Dent collected the incoming material and slammed on the accelerator; he chewed the hardwood with every step. The homegrown Stallion tore up the floor and shot past midcourt as Tyler Bilodeau planted himself behind Keaton Wagler to clear the runway. In top gear, Dent shot up the middle with two Illinois defenders strapped to his hip. The floor shrunk around him – one against four and nowhere generous to step on.
Dent folded up in the air, the ball sinking to his ribs before unfolding through a forest of arms.
The ball kissed the glass as Pauley Pavilion trembled at the intersection of doubt and delirium. The net shattered the tension.
DONOVAN DENTS ON THE COURT AT THE BUZZER FOR THE WIN 😱 @UCLAMBB pic.twitter.com/3CVqN7k59A
— FOX College Hoops (@CBbonFOX) February 22, 2026
“It was exactly the way we set it up,” Dent said. “During the end of the play, I didn’t make a layup to save my life. … So it was great to get that.”
Guards were the first to give in, sprinting like men trying to dam a river with their bare hands. The floor turned liquid as blue and gold flooded the aisles in waves, arms hurling, voices shattering. Dent drowned under a flood of bodies, lifted and lost in the storm he had conjured in Westwood. People continued to file in to the beat of UCLA’s “8 Clap” as school flags circled the sky.
“I think we’re at our highest point in the locker room together as a team,” Dent said. “To come here and win was a big challenge.”
Nine minutes and 27 seconds into the first half, this scenario would have seemed like fiction.
At that point, UCLA looked foggy, trailing 33-10 — legs heavy from two Michigan road bruises and minds overflowing from a week hijacked by Mick Cronin headlines. Illinois enjoyed a celebration, picking up quick points off loose balls and tired closeouts. The UCLA defense gave in, Illinois got comfortable from ten seconds out in the first half.
The Fighting Illini’s early 20-0 streak fit the bill EvanMiya classified as an “Avalanche” – teams were 6-60 this season after absorbing one. UCLA seemed destined to join that list.
And so, for a while, Pauley’s roar sounded all the way from the Midwest.
“We didn’t run one thing that we practiced in the first 10 minutes. We were upset because they were making shots,” Cronin said. “I didn’t like the look on their faces before the game, it was almost like they had lost confidence. And that’s how we played early.”
Not only did Donovan Dent score the game-winning bucket, but he also finished with 14 points and 15 assists with no turnovers. (Robert Hanashiro / Imagn Images)
A 16-5 UCLA response cut the score to 50-43 by halftime, and Pauley felt a new roar rising in his ribs.
“We held them to 29 percent (shooting) in the second half and to 22 percent in overtime — the No. 1 offensive team in the country,” Cronin said. “So don’t tell me – that’s what I just told them in the locker room – that we’re not capable of being a better defensive team.”
“We really hung in there tonight,” said Eric Dailey Jr., who had 20 points and six rebounds. “I love how we responded to the shots they made. Even when we had mistakes, we got it back on the next play.”
Dent wrote his magic in the second half, finishing with 14 points and 15 assists without a single turnover.
“That’s what he’s here for,” Dailey said, jokingly adding, “That’s OD (overdoing it) though, I’ve never seen that before.”
UCLA’s beefed-up defense chased Illinois from the perimeter. Behind that, and what Dailey called UCLA veterans “picking each other up” amid “a lot of negativity toward our program,” six Bruins were in double figures in a comeback that belonged to a roster that refused to splinter.
“We connected in every way,” Dent said, noting that two all-player meetings after the Michigan road trip strengthened the bond. “We just kept saying, keep fighting.”
Dent had already seen a potential winner roll away at the end of regulation. He blew a boxout seconds before Wagler grabbed what felt like a grueling putback with 4.9 seconds left in overtime. It should have been the last mistake. It should have been the final cruel note in a month of pulling on all sides of this program.
Instead, for 4.9 seconds, Pauley Pavilion had the feel of 1995 – back then Tyus Edney raced the length of the floor in the second round of the NCAA tournamentcut through Missouri and floated in a layup with UCLA’s season in his palm. Dent stared at the same piece of hardwood, was given 0.1 seconds more than Edney in Boise – and the same end waited at the edge.
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