Sometimes you just have to take the win and move on.
That was the position UCLA found itself in Monday night during its season opener, the 12th-ranked Bruins hardly looking like an unstoppable power against a team from the Big Sky Conference.
UCLA’s defense kept getting beat around the basket. Its offense endured long scoreless stretches.
Even transfer point guard Donovan Dent, for all his brilliance, had a regrettable moment, missing a breakaway dunk.
But the only takeaway that mattered was the final score.
UCLA avoided massive disappointment by holding on for an 80-74 victory at Pauley Pavilion over Eastern Washington, which had closed to within single digits in the final minutes.