UCLA’s Dent Makes Big Ten History with First Tournament Triple-Double

Donovan Dent became the first player ever to record a triple-double in Big Ten tournament play, helping UCLA defeat Rutgers 72-59. The historic performance included 12 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds in Thursday's tournament action in Chicago.

UCLA’s Donovan Dent made Big Ten tournament history Thursday night, becoming the first player to achieve a triple-double in the conference tournament while helping the sixth-seeded Bruins defeat 14th-seeded Rutgers 72-59 in Chicago.

Dent’s milestone performance featured 12 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds, making him just the fifth UCLA player in program history to record a triple-double. Tyler Bilodeau led all scorers with 21 points for the Bruins, while Trent Perry contributed 12 points and Eric Dailey Jr. added 10 to the winning effort.

The victory advances UCLA (22-10) to Friday’s quarterfinal round, where they’ll meet third-seeded and eighth-ranked Michigan State.

Rutgers (14-19) saw their two-game winning streak come to an end, with Lino Mark providing 17 points as their only player to reach double figures.

In other Big Ten tournament action, No. 23 Wisconsin knocked out Washington 85-82 behind John Blackwell’s explosive 34-point performance that included six three-pointers. The fifth-seeded Badgers got additional support from Nick Boyd’s 23 points and nine assists, setting up a Friday quarterfinal against fourth-seeded and ninth-ranked Illinois.

Wisconsin (23-9) dominated from beyond the arc, connecting on 15 of 39 three-point attempts compared to Washington’s 7 of 23 shooting from long range. The 12th-seeded Huskies (16-17) received strong efforts from freshman Hannes Steinbach, who posted 25 points and 16 rebounds for his 22nd double-double, and Zoom Diallo, who added 24 points and seven assists.

No. 18 Purdue advanced with an 81-68 victory over Northwestern, as seventh-seeded Boilermakers got 19 points each from Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff, with Cluff also grabbing 10 rebounds. Braden Smith set a new Big Ten tournament single-game record with 16 assists for Purdue (24-8), which dominated inside with a 38-18 advantage in paint scoring and never fell behind during the contest.

The Boilermakers will face Nebraska in their quarterfinal matchup after eliminating 15th-seeded Northwestern (15-19), despite 25 points from Nick Martinelli and 19 points with nine assists from Jayden Reid.

Ohio State survived a thriller against Iowa, winning 72-69 as Bruce Thornton scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and Christoph Tilly contributed 16 points. The eighth-seeded Buckeyes (21-11) held off multiple late rallies from ninth-seeded Iowa (21-12) after building a 16-point second-half lead, advancing to face top-seeded rival Michigan in the quarterfinals.

Iowa’s comeback attempt fell just short when they missed two potential game-tying three-point shots in the final four seconds. Bennett Stirtz led the Hawkeyes with 17 points, while Cam Manyawu and Tavion Banks each scored nine. Amare Bynum added 11 points for Ohio State, and Thornton tied Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras with six rebounds apiece.