{"id":569184,"date":"2026-01-29T20:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/569184\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T20:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:13:09","slug":"ucla-basketball-eyeing-an-ncaa-tourney-bid-after-turnaround","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/569184\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA basketball eyeing an NCAA tourney bid after turnaround"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe a referendum on what\u2019s wrong with UCLA basketball<\/a> isn\u2019t necessary, or at least can be put on hold.<\/p>\n

The team that\u2019s shown<\/a> up over the last few games is the one most people were expecting all season.<\/p>\n

Donovan Dent has been a blur on his way to the rim. Xavier Booker has been an adequate rebounder and defender. Tyler Bilodeau has been a scoring machine.<\/p>\n

Head coach Mick Cronin of the UCLA Bruins reacts during the first half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Climate Pledge Arena on December 13, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. Getty Images<\/p>\n

More significantly, the Bruins have played defense at an acceptable level for a coach who demands it.<\/p>\n

They have withstood a demoralizing stretch \u2014 and a hamstring injury to guard Skyy Clark \u2014 to show their upside with an upset of then-No. 4 Purdue. They backed it up by beating Northwestern and Oregon, giving them five victories in six games.<\/p>\n

But these are just baby steps toward a possible maturation.<\/p>\n

UCLA remains firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble, never a good place for a college basketball blue blood. Should the Bruins falter over the next month, they could miss the only postseason tournament that matters for the second time in three years.<\/p>\n

That would make coach Mick Cronin\u2019s<\/a> seat unbearably hot going into next season, massive buyout be damned.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at where the Bruins stand and what they need to do to finish the season on the upswing:<\/p>\n

UCLA guard Donovan Dent (2) drives against Oregon guard Jamari Phillips (24) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Eugene, Ore., Wednesday, Jan. 28 2026. AP<\/p>\n

NCAA tournament status<\/p>\n

Most projections have the Bruins as a No. 10 seed, with ESPN\u2019s Joe Lunardi projecting them as one of the last teams to avoid the dreaded \u201cLast Four In.\u201d<\/p>\n

With half the Big Ten schedule remaining, UCLA (15-6 overall, 7-3 Big Ten) needs to go 6-4 or better the rest of the way to avoid any palpitations on Selection Sunday.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s lack of meaningful nonconference victories will likely require an upper-tier Big Ten finish to make the NCAA tournament. There\u2019s plenty of Quad 1 opportunities ahead with games against Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois and Nebraska on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Biggest revelation<\/p>\n

Sophomore guard Trent Perry has made such a massive leap in recent weeks that Cronin already commenced efforts to bring him back next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to trick into coming here,\u201d Cronin cracked, \u201chopefully I can trick him into staying.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the seven games since Clark went down, Perry has averaged 15.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists while shooting 42.5% overall, 40.6% from three-point range and 91.9% from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n

The big question will be how to maximize his minutes once Clark returns. Might a three-guard lineup be in the Bruins\u2019 future?<\/p>\n

UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry (0) drives past Northwestern Wildcats forward Tyler Kropp (1) for a basket in the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Biggest disappointment<\/p>\n

Before last week, Dent would have been a runaway choice in this category.<\/p>\n

He still probably qualifies, though optimists don\u2019t have to squint to see a resemblance to the player he was at New Mexico. His confidence soaring, Dent has been unafraid to take his man off the dribble in recent weeks. The result has been blow-by layups and pull-up jumpers that have significantly enhanced the Bruins\u2019 offense.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also playing lively defense and fulfilling Cronin\u2019s mandate to cut down on mistakes, compiling an assist-to-turnover ratio of more than 3-to-1.<\/p>\n

The shooting remains a problem. Dent has made only seven of 33 three-pointers (21.2%) and has made 60.4% of his free throws, percentages that must increase for UCLA to do anything worthwhile in March.<\/p>\n

Biggest issue<\/p>\n

The Bruins won\u2019t make it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament if they don\u2019t defend or rebound.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been doing better in both departments lately, a big reason for their winning streak. Cronin made tweaks in his defense to mask deficiencies while placing a greater emphasis on team defense. If Booker can regularly match his rebounding output against Northwestern, when he tied his season high with eight in only 23 minutes, then maybe the Bruins can start holding their own on the battle of the boards against more physical teams.<\/p>\n

Season ceiling<\/p>\n

This team has a lot of limitations that make a deep NCAA tournament run unlikely.<\/p>\n

But if Dent can sustain his midseason turnaround, the defense continues its uptick and Clark quickly rounds into form from injury, then at least a sprinkling of March Madness isn\u2019t out of the question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maybe a referendum on what\u2019s wrong with UCLA basketball isn\u2019t necessary, or at least can be put on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,160,217,251,231,772,1544,66,4262],"class_list":{"0":"post-569184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaab","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-ucla-bruins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115980219586827628","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}