The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team is set to conclude its regular season against the USC Trojans this Saturday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The game will begin at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and will be broadcast nationally on FS1. This matchup marks the second meeting between the two teams in as many weeks, with UCLA having previously defeated USC 81-62 at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA enters the contest with a 20-10 overall record and a 12-7 mark in Big Ten play. The Bruins have won three of their last four games and are aiming for a 13-7 conference finish for the second consecutive year. Under head coach Mick Cronin, now in his seventh season, UCLA has achieved at least 20 wins five times.
At home this season, UCLA posted a strong 17-1 record but struggled on the road and at neutral sites, going 3-9. The team ranks second in the Big Ten for three-point shooting percentage (37.8%) and fourth in three-point defense (31.3%). Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.76-to-1 also places them fourth in the conference.
Individually, Tyler Bilodeau has scored double figures in 25 out of 28 games played, leading the team with an average of 18 points per game and topping all Big Ten players with a three-point shooting percentage of 45.3%. Donovan Dent has recorded double-digit assists in eight games this season and is currently fourth nationally with an average of 7.5 assists per game.
“Over the last four games, Dent has totaled 46 assists and two turnovers, while averaging 12.8 points per game,” according to team statistics.
Trent Perry has averaged 15 points over UCLA’s last fifteen contests, while Eric Dailey Jr. has reached double figures in fourteen of the last nineteen games.
The Bruins have performed well against ranked opponents this year, winning three out of eight matchups against top-25 teams—including home victories over No.4 Purdue, No.10 Illinois (in overtime), and No.9 Nebraska.
“UCLA reached the 20-win plateau after having made ten of twenty-nine attempts from three-point range,” said a team spokesperson following their recent win over Nebraska.
Senior Donovan Dent could become UCLA’s first player since Lonzo Ball (2016–17) to average at least ten points and seven assists per game for an entire season.
This season marks significant milestones for several players: Skyy Clark recently surpassed one thousand career points; Eric Dailey Jr., currently at nine hundred ninety-five career points, is close to reaching that benchmark as well.
Under Coach Cronin’s leadership since taking over before the start of the 2019–20 campaign, UCLA has maintained an impressive home record—winning eighty-five percent of its games inside Pauley Pavilion during his tenure.
As they prepare for postseason play—with next week’s Big Ten Tournament scheduled to take place March tenth through fifteenth at Chicago’s United Center—the Bruins aim to build on their recent successes both individually and as a team.
