SEATTLE — Skyy Clark’s sizzling touch from long range, a 2-3 zone and a hot stretch from Tyler Bilodeau helped UCLA survive a scare in its Big Ten opener.

Clark hit six 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Bilodeau scored 21 points in his return from a knee injury that had forced him to miss the previous two games, and UCLA held on for an 82-80 victory over Washington after leading by 16 with less than five minutes to play on Wednesday night.

Down 76-60 with 4:45 left, the Huskies went on a 17-2 run, closing within 78-77 on Quimari Peterson’s 3-pointer with 36.7 seconds to go. Zoom Diallo was called for a questionable foul on a Clark 3-point attempt with 14.5 seconds remaining, and the Bruin guard pushed the lead back to 81-77, but Diallo answered with a driving layup for a three-point play with 8.7 seconds left.

Donovan Dent was fouled with 4.9 seconds to play, but he missed the second free throw. Diallo’s 3-point attempt from the right wing as time expired bounced off the back of the rim.

“Conference basketball, man, you’re not blowing anybody out,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “We’re in the Big Ten. They have real players, and they have a first-round draft pick.”

Dent had 17 points and eight assists for the Bruins (6-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten), who rallied from an early double-digit deficit to win their eighth consecutive conference opener.

“This was a must-win for us,” Dent said. “We were preaching all week that we’d had some letdowns in nonconference [play], but this was a must-win for us. We knew that.”

Freshman Hannes Steinbach had a career-high 29 points on 11-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds for Washington (5-3, 0-1). Diallo added 19 points and Peterson and Wesley Yates III each had 12.

Bilodeau had just one point in the first half. But after Clark opened the second half with a fast-break layup, Bilodeau took over and scored the Bruins’ next 16 points over a span of 3:56 – featuring a 3-pointer and a trio of three-point plays.

“Donny and Skyy tonight played like real quarterbacks,” Cronin said, “Not only did they score, but they got [Bilodeau] the ball when we needed to get him the ball and we had the advantage.”

Dent’s play was a much-needed improvement after the transfer from New Mexico had struggled to begin the season.

“He’s digging himself out with effort in practice,” Cronin said. “Coming home, with so much expected of him and then getting an oblique injury, at the same time gets a foot injury, gets off to a bad start and feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. It’s my job to help him through it – I told him that.”

Clark, who shot 7 for 9 from the field (6 for 7 from behind the arc) gave UCLA a 57-47 advantage on a 3-pointer with 13:17 remaining.

Steinbach had 16 points in the second half, nine during the run to put the Huskies back in the game.

The Bruins overcame an early 11-point deficit to take a 36-32 halftime lead as Clark made all five of his 3-point attempts. Jamar Brown and Clark closed the first half with 3-pointers.

The Huskies scored the game’s first eight points. Steinbach, who missed the previous three games with an ankle injury, tallied the first six on two layups and a bank shot in the lane, followed by Diallo’s fast-break layup off a UCLA turnover.

“The biggest problem for us right now is rim protection from the five spot,” Cronin said. “I’ve got to teach these guys to block a shot or take a foul – that or we’ve got to play Brandon Williams. He’ll go try to block a shot, play him at the five.”

Washington extended its lead to 18-7 with 13:24 left in the half on Steinbach’s dunk off an offensive rebound.

Dent’s jumper sparked a 14-0 UCLA run. Clark capped the spurt with a 3-pointer to break an 18-all tie.

Clark made another 3-pointer to snap a 27-all deadlock and made his fifth with 14 seconds remaining before the intermission.

UCLA hosts Oregon on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Washington plays at No. 24 USC on Saturday at 3 p.m.

“Conference basketball, man, you’re not blowing anybody out. We’re in the Big Ten. They have real players, and they have a first-round draft pick.”

Coach Cronin, on his reaction to a two-point victory at Washington pic.twitter.com/4ziFgqJxGp

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) December 4, 2025

“This was a must win for us. We were preaching all week that we’d had some letdowns in the non-conference, but this was a must-win for us. We knew that.”

Donovan Dent, speaking after the Bruins’ 82-80 win pic.twitter.com/xlmgKVZWoS

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) December 4, 2025