The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team is set to host Northwestern at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. The game will be broadcast nationally on FS1, with Carlo Jiménez and Don MacLean providing commentary. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on AM 790 (KABC), with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray calling the action.
UCLA currently holds a 13-6 overall record and is 5-3 in conference play. The team is in the midst of a six-game stretch that includes five home games. Single-game tickets for remaining home games are available, and fans can find more information through UCLA Athletics’ ticket office.
In their most recent game, the Bruins secured a narrow 69-67 victory over No. 4 Purdue, marking their first win against a top-five ranked opponent since January 2022. Senior Tyler Bilodeau led the team this season with an average of 18.2 points per game and hit the decisive three-pointer in the final seconds against Purdue. Donovan Dent contributed significantly with 23 points and 13 assists during that matchup.
UCLA has had success at both ends of the court this season, ranking third in the Big Ten for three-point shooting percentage (37.3%) and leading the conference in three-point defense (29.6%). Bilodeau ranks ninth in scoring among Big Ten players and has averaged over 20 points per game across UCLA’s last ten contests.
The Bruins have historically performed well against Northwestern, holding a 6-1 record in their all-time series. Last season, UCLA defeated Northwestern both during regular season play at Welsh-Ryan Arena and previously in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA recently achieved a program milestone by making all of its free throws (21-for-21) in a win at Penn State earlier this month—the best perfect free throw performance for UCLA since at least 1970.
Looking ahead, four of UCLA’s next five games will be played at home, with only one road contest scheduled at Oregon next week. The team has twelve regular-season games remaining—split evenly between home and away matchups.
Senior guard Donovan Dent transferred from New Mexico before this season and has averaged nearly 13 points along with almost seven assists per game for UCLA so far. He recently recorded his third point-assist double-double of the year against Purdue.
Skyy Clark was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week last month after back-to-back games with six made three-pointers each—a first for any Bruin player—and leads UCLA in three-point shooting percentage among qualifying players.
Sophomore Trent Perry scored a career-high thirty points earlier this month against Penn State while maintaining strong free throw accuracy throughout his sophomore campaign.
Defensively, past seasons have seen several Bruins earn national recognition: Kobe Johnson was named to last year’s Big Ten All-Defensive Team; Adem Bona was Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year two seasons ago; Jaylen Clark received national defensive honors three years ago.
This year’s roster includes four returning primary contributors as well as five transfer students such as Xavier Booker (Michigan State) and Donovan Dent (New Mexico). Several players were named to preseason watch lists for major positional awards: Dent for Bob Cousy Award, Eric Dailey Jr. for Julius Erving Award, and Bilodeau for Karl Malone Award.
Coach Mick Cronin is tied for fifth-most victories among active NCAA Division I coaches over a fifteen-year span since 2010–11.
Pauley Pavilion celebrates its sixtieth basketball season this year; under Coach Cronin’s leadership since 2019–20, UCLA has compiled an impressive home record of ninety wins to fifteen losses.
Through nineteen games this season, UCLA boasts an assist-turnover ratio ranking among national leaders—a trend that continued from last year when they finished second in their conference by that metric. Eight members of this year’s roster hail from Southern California counties including Los Angeles and Riverside.
Since joining Big Ten play full-time last season, UCLA went thirteen-and-seven within conference matchups—good enough to tie for fourth place out of eighteen teams.
