LOS ANGELES — Between celebrating Bill Walton’s memory and UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin earning his 500th career win, history loomed over Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.

UCLA honored the late Walton with video tributes and a halftime ceremony; and Cronin achieved his personal milestone.

Both of those moments will be etched in UCLA lore.

The Bruins (20-8 overall, 11-6 Big Ten) grinded out a 69-61 win over Ohio State (15-13, 7-10). They overcame offensive shortcomings, poor officiating — according to Cronin who called out the “lack of foul calls in the first half and around the rim” — and the overall malaise that shadowed this recent homestand against a pair of Big Ten bottom-feeders.

“All wins are good wins,” Cronin said. “It’s late February. … I think we overcame adversity with the way the game was called today.”

There was no moaning from the crowd about missed free throws on Sunday, as UCLA maximized the foul calls it did get, making 13 of 15 from the line in the second half (15 of 20 overall).

In fact, fans cheered in encouragement after Eric Dailey Jr. missed a pair of foul shots, Cronin inspiring them for better or worse. They pleaded for Aday Mara’s presence and grew tense with every stagnant offensive possession. They backed their coach with boos toward the referees, and in heeding his words, they were rewarded with a win that, while ugly, made Cronin proud.

“If you’re going to make any type of run,” he said. “You’re going to have to win when the ball doesn’t go in.”

The Bruins have done that on multiple occasions this season. In their 65-62 win against Gonzaga on Dec. 28, they shot 36.4%. In a 65-60 win at Washington on Jan. 24, they shot 41.1%. In a 63-61 win over No. 14 Michigan State on Feb. 4, they shot 35%.

On Sunday, they made up for a 40% shooting night by grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and holding the Buckeyes to 31.7% from the field.

UCLA’s first Sunday game of the season, which tipped at 12:45 p.m., seemingly had too early of a wake-up call.

But it wasn’t too early for UCLA forward Eric Dailey Jr., who scored a game-high 20 points, knocking down three 3-pointers and grabbing eight rebounds.

Dailey had averaged just 6.8 points over the last five games.

“I’ve been in a lull for the past few games, everybody knows that,” Dailey said. “The preparation and the work that I put in, that finally showed.”

Dailey scored the first nine points of the second half, largely benefitting from UCLA’s ability to grab offensive rebounds. After a trio of missed layups, the ball found Dailey for a 3-pointer from the top of the key. He then grabbed an Aday Mara miss to score a putback layup, before curling off a screen from Mara for an elbow jumper.

Before Dailey’s eruption, the UCLA offense again looked disjointed.

UCLA didn’t score a point from the 17:01 mark to the 11:29 mark of the first half. The Bruins’ ball movement was often stagnant, but their suffocating defense made up for it.

Mara was especially effective defensively, deterring the Buckeyes’ drives by hedging pick-and-roll actions and coming up with a pair of blocks.

“I thought Aday’s energy really picked up,” Cronin said. “He changed the game.”

The 7-foot-3 Spaniard had played just an average of 14 minutes over the last five games. At halftime, though, Mara said Cronin challenged his toughness and rebounding and he was determined to respond. He fought through contact, giving the Bruins a presence in the paint, while scoring nine second-half points.

Ohio State switched into a 2-3 zone with less than 15 minutes to go and that’s when a sluggish UCLA’s offense came to life. The Bruins passed around the zone. Dylan Andrews hit Skyy Clark for a pair of threes. Clark delivered entry passes to Mara who finished with a pair of dunks and a hook shot that extended the lead into double digits.

Clark added another 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to help shut the door on the Buckeyes.

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Kobe Johnson went 1 of 8 from the field, but grabbed 13 rebounds (six offensive), as Cronin praised his sticktoitiveness.

“He keeps playing when things don’t go his way,” Cronin said. “That’s what really consistent winners do.”

Four days after Cronin challenged his players to focus on aspects of winning — such as defense and rebounding, rather than their volume of shots — they responded. They looked past their misses to execute their defensive game plan and dominate the glass.

The game was sloppy, but it’s a win just like the other 499 on Cronin’s resume and it’s one that the Bruins can learn from when shots aren’t falling and the going gets tough down the stretch.