The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team is set to host Indiana this Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, marking the first time the two programs will face each other in this venue. The last meeting between UCLA and Indiana in Los Angeles took place in December 1960 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Currently, UCLA holds a 7-6 advantage over Indiana in their all-time series.
Saturday’s game will begin at 2:02 p.m. Pacific Time and will be broadcast on Peacock and NBC Sports Network. Guy Haberman and Matt Muehlebach will provide commentary for the television broadcast, while Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray will cover the game on AM 790 (KABC) radio.
UCLA enters the matchup with a 15-6 overall record and a 7-3 mark in Big Ten play. The Bruins have won ten of their last fourteen games, including recent victories over Oregon, Purdue, and Northwestern. Donovan Dent has averaged 17 points and 7.3 assists per game during the team’s last three wins, while Tyler Bilodeau has contributed an average of 16.7 points and five rebounds over that span.
In their most recent outing, UCLA defeated Oregon 73-57, with Bilodeau scoring 18 points and Eric Dailey recording a double-double with 14 points and eleven rebounds. The Bruins also secured a notable win against No. 4 Purdue earlier this month—UCLA’s first victory over a top-five ranked opponent since January 2022.
Five players are averaging double figures for UCLA this season, led by senior Tyler Bilodeau with an average of 18.2 points per game. “Tyler Bilodeau hit the game-winning 3-pointer with eight seconds to play in the win against Purdue on Jan. 20,” according to team officials.
Looking ahead, UCLA will play its next three games at home, including matchups against Rutgers on February 3rd and Washington on February 7th.
Last season’s meeting between these teams saw UCLA secure a four-point win at Indiana’s Assembly Hall. The programs have split four NCAA Tournament encounters historically.
During their current three-game winning streak, UCLA has held opponents to an average of just under sixty-three points per contest while limiting them to twenty-eight percent shooting from beyond the arc.
UCLA achieved a perfect free throw performance earlier this month by making all twenty-one attempts in a win at Penn State—a new program record for most made free throws without a miss since records began in the modern era (1970).
Senior guard Donovan Dent leads the team with an average of thirteen points and nearly seven assists per game through twenty contests this season after transferring from New Mexico during the offseason.
Bilodeau ranks among conference leaders both in scoring (eighteen points per game) and shooting percentage (over fifty-two percent). He recently scored sixteen consecutive points during one stretch against Washington earlier this season.
Sophomore Trent Perry recorded his career-high thirty-point performance during UCLA’s win at Penn State on January fourteenth; he was perfect from the free throw line that night as well.
Senior Skyy Clark has also contributed significantly from long range—he became “UCLA’s first-ever player to have nailed six or more threes in consecutive contests” after hitting six three-pointers each against Arizona State and Cal Poly last month.
Defensively, past Bruins have received recognition for their performances: Kobe Johnson was named to last year’s Big Ten All-Defensive Team; Adem Bona earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors two seasons ago; Jaylen Clark was recognized nationally as Defensive Player of the Year three years ago.
This year’s roster includes several returning contributors as well as five transfer students: Xavier Booker (Michigan State), Jamar Brown (UMKC), Donovan Dent (New Mexico), Steven Jamerson II (San Diego), and Anthony Peoples Jr. (North Carolina Central). Dent was previously honored as an All-America honorable mention while playing for New Mexico last season.
Pauley Pavilion is celebrating its sixtieth year hosting basketball games for UCLA—the arena underwent major renovations fourteen years ago—and currently boasts an active fourteen-game home winning streak under head coach Mick Cronin since he joined prior to the start of the 2019–20 season.
The Bruins’ current roster features eight student-athletes from Southern California out of fifteen total players—all hailing from within the United States—and maintains strong assist-to-turnover numbers compared to national averages over recent seasons.
