The crowd couldn’t believe what it had just witnessed.
Donovan Dent’s crossover move left a helpless defender watching from behind as he accelerated toward the basket, fans unleashing audible admiration even before the UCLA point guard completed the play with a driving layup.
Poor Noah Meeusen and everyone else who tried to stop Dent.
They were overmatched by the finishing ability and fearlessness of a player who had not shown much of either over the season’s first month, hardly resembling the star the Bruins thought they were getting.
On a revelation of a Wednesday night inside Pauley Pavilion, Dent finally looked like someone who could carry a team.