LOS ANGELES — After upsetting No. 4 Purdue, the UCLA men’s basketball team could have overlooked a lesser opponent in Northwestern. The Bruins handled the Wildcats in dominant fashion instead.

UCLA beat Northwestern 71-64 to earn its fourth win over the last five games.

The Bruins (14-6, 6-3 Big Ten) shot 26 for 53 (49%) from the field and went 8 for 18 from 3-point range. They held the Wildcats (8-12, 1-8) to 37.3% from the field, and made NCAA leading scorer Nick Martinelli work for every look as he needed 19 attempts to score 20 points.

“I thought our guys’ effort was great,” UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said after the game.

Tyler Bilodeau scored 18 and finished 7 for 11 from the field. Sophomore Trent Perry also had 18, scoring in double-digits for the fifth time in six games since entering the starting lineup for Skyy Clark (hamstring).

Bilodeau transferred the momentum from his game-winning shot on Tuesday to Saturday’s first half. He started the game 6 for 6 and made a 3-pointer from the left wing to give UCLA a nine-point lead. Northwestern answered with 3s from Jordan Clayton and Max Green to restore a one-possession margin.

Perry navigated the lane for consecutive baskets in the paint. He bumped a Northwestern defender to create space for the first, and pump-faked passed another for the second.

Bilodeau hit his fourth 3-pointer. Eric Dailey Jr. skipped a pass to Jamar Brown for an open 3. Perry dribbled into a 15-footer in the short corner to help UCLA build a double-digit advantage at halftime.

“I put in a lot of work this offseason just getting to my spots,” Perry said. “Just trusting my work.”

Donovan Dent continued to carve the opponent’s ball-screen coverage. He fed Bilodeau on three of those first-half 3s. He penetrated and kicked to Dailey for a corner 3-pointer early in the second half, and drove for a scooping right-handed layup to give UCLA a 50-36 lead.

Despite another positive effort, Dent still had some struggles. He botched a wide open dunk, leading Cronin to sit cross-legged on the bench, pondering the mistake for an entire minute. He threw an errant behind-the-back pass that got a scream out of Cronin, and went just 2 of 7 from the free throw line.

“He lets Play A affect Play B or Shot A affect Shot B,” Cronin said of Dent’s mindset, “You can’t be like that in life… He’s getting better at it, though.”

Dent finished a fast-break cleanly to give UCLA a 58-42 lead with 12:50 left, its largest of the game.

UCLA was efficient on offense, but its defense proved the difference.

After Tuesday’s win, Cronin acknowledged “it’s been a fight this year” to press the right buttons on defense. Recently, Cronin has seen improvements in connectedness, awareness and effort. It has resulted in UCLA holding four of its last five opponents under 70 points.

“If you don’t give up layups and dunks, you’ve got a chance to stop people — however you accomplish that,” Cronin said. “We’ve been trying to adjust, defensively, how we do things. Stuff that, obviously, to the layperson, you might not see in our team defense, to not give up layups and dunks.”

The Bruins allowed the Wildcats only 24 points in the paint after they scored 44 against USC on Wednesday. They limited their inside scoring with the discipline to stay in front of the ball and timely help coverage. Even more importantly, they ended most possessions after one shot — grabbing rebounds on 75.7% of Northwestern’s misses. Xavier Booker tied a season-high with eight boards.

Part of the recent emphasis on UCLA’s defense has meant a slower pace on offense to minimize opponents’ possessions. It’s a risky strategy, however, because if the Bruins aren’t opportunistic offensively, opponents can keep games close.

The Wildcats, suffocated by the Bruins’ defense, didn’t convert a field goal for a 9:42 stretch in the second half, but with a handful of free throws and a 3-pointer from Green, they found themselves down six with 2:54 to play.

After a timeout to help UCLA regroup, Perry found Brown for a 3-pointer that restored comfort.

“Obviously, we got a little fatigued late,” Cronin said. “Trent and Donny got tired. The fact that we’re winning games without Skyy Clark in this conference is — like, I don’t care what Northwestern’s record is, they’re like 46 in the KenPom — that’s what time it is.”