In the first half of Maryland men’s basketball’s 79-61 victory over No. 22 UCLA on Friday night, Bruins junior power forward Tyler Bilodeau had his way on the floor, connecting on 5 of 7 shots and all four of his free throws to rack up 14 points and three rebounds against just two turnovers.

The second half was a much different story. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Bilodeau scored just four points on 2 of 5 shooting, missed both free throw attempts, grabbed only one rebound and committed two more turnovers.

The Terps’ ability to make Bilodeau’s life difficult proved instrumental in their first victory against a ranked opponent in four tries this season. Coach Kevin Willard revealed that part of the defensive strategy involved asking 6-9, 252-pound senior power forward Julian Reese to be more physical with Bilodeau.

“The biggest thing was just trying to keep throwing the ball into Ju early and wear him down,” Willard said. “He’s talented, he’s good, he can pick-and-pop. He made some tough shots. The left-handed one he made at the end of the first half was really tough. He made a really tough right-hand hook early in the second half, but we were OK with that.

“We just wanted to keep hitting him, hitting him, hitting him. He’s such a talented player and such a good passer. We didn’t want him to get any 3s and just kind of make it tough for him and just let Ju wear him out a little bit. After a while, when you’re hitting Ju and they’re hitting each other, big guys wear out.”

Here are three observations from Friday’s win:

Maryland needs Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s big showing on an every-game basis: When Gillespie made his Big Ten debut by amassing 23 points and four points in an 83-59 romp over Ohio State on Dec. 4, that outing hinted at what the Belmont transfer was capable of giving the Terps (12-4, 2-3 Big Ten) in his new conference.

But the junior point guard has had an uneven transition. He followed an 18-point, four-assist performance in an 83-78 loss at then-No. 8 Purdue on Dec. 8 with a season-low one-point, two-assist display in a 75-69 loss at Washington on Jan. 2 and then a 16-point, two-assist showing in an 83-79 setback at then-No. 9 Oregon on Sunday.

Fast-forward to Friday, and Gillespie looked revived against UCLA (11-5, 2-3). He scored a career-high 27 points (16 in the first half), tied a personal best with four 3-pointers, and collected four assists and a season-high four steals.

Gillespie said he realizes how he has to play against Big Ten guards, who are faster and stronger than their peers from the Missouri Valley Conference.

“It just feels good to have a good game like today in the Big Ten because it’s kind of new to me,” he said. “Just learning the physicality and just how hard you have to play every night.”

Willard shared that Gillespie was “a little upset” with his efforts against Washington and Oregon.

“We had a good conversation about just understanding at this level what it takes to play at a high level,” he said. “You’ve got to look at him and [sophomore shooting guard] Rodney [Rice], and Rodney’s technically a freshman going through it, and [for] Ja’Kobi, this is his first time going back-to-back-to-back with Oregon, Purdue, Washington which is a very good defensive team at home, and now UCLA. Just getting him to understand not only the level of effort you have to play with but the attitude you have to come into every game. I’m not sure he hasn’t yet, but he’s starting to realize how he has to play at all times to be effective.”

Maryland scored an upset on defense, too: Friday’s game pitted the top two defensive teams in the Big Ten, with UCLA ranking first at 61.5 points allowed per game and the Terps second at 63.5.

Maryland proved to be the decisive winner of that matchup, holding the Bruins to their third-lowest point total of the season. They also committed 21 turnovers and 12 steals — both of which are tied for season highs from a 72-64 loss against New Mexico on Nov. 8.

Those numbers differed greatly from the Terps’ performances at Washington and Oregon. The Huskies’ 75 points were a conference high before they scored 77 in a four-point loss to then-No. 22 Illinois on Sunday, and the Ducks’ 83 points remain a league best.

Reese, who finished with three steals and two of the team’s five blocks, said he and his teammates emphasized raising the degree of defensive focus against UCLA.

“I definitely feel like we picked it up defensively just finishing plays,” the Randallstown native and St. Frances graduate said. “Out west, we defended the first 20 on the shot clock and then we didn’t finish the defensive play. I feel like we finished it. And towards the end, we boxed out a little bit better and secured a little bit more rebounds and kind of picked up and cleaned up in those aspects.”

Reese’s seventh double-double of the season (16 points and 10 rebounds) was crucial, but Willard cited Reese’s defensive effort as just as important.

“Ju’s going to give us a double-double just about every night, but I think the biggest thing was how well he was defensively tonight,” he said. “I think he made himself mad and he really made me angry just with his defensive awareness in Washington and Oregon. He was one of the best defenders on pick-and-rolls and post defense last year, and I think just getting him to refocus on that a little bit was a huge difference. I thought he was locked in tonight. He’s been locked in all year, but I thought defensively, he was the difference.”

The game went the Terps’ way when UCLA coach Mick Cronin was ejected: As overwhelming as the final score appeared, the game was a back-and-forth affair through much of the second half. But that changed when Cronin was tossed.

With 5:11 remaining, Cronin was assessed a technical foul for voicing his displeasure with an official after the former felt junior power forward William Kyle III was fouled while contending for a rebound. Cronin took umbrage with that technical, earning a second technical and an early exit to the Bruins’ locker room.

After the game, Cronin blasted the officiating crew for failing to protect his players and favoring Maryland.

“I had enough,” he told The Associated Press. “I’m sending a message. I’m tired of it. I know we’re the outsider and all that — us, [Southern California] and Oregon — but that was ridiculous. And take nothing away from Maryland, a really good team at home, but you got to defend my players. If you can just mug guys and chop their arms off, throw them out of the way, it’s hard to run any offense.”

After Cronin’s ejection, the Terps outscored UCLA, 19-10, for the remainder of the game, and Reese acknowledged the effect Cronin’s dismissal had on the outcome.

“Especially when you’re at home and the away coach gets thrown out of the game and the crowd gets into it, it’s kind of like a domino effect of events, and you just go on a run from that point on,” he said. “That just kind of topped it off, and that’s when I knew we kind of had them right there. It was just over from there.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.