Tyler Bilodeau<\/a> back from the injuries that sidelined them last week, the Bruins expect to reach another level. They\u2019ll need to be at peak form to survive an opening weekend that could also include what would amount to a home game for second-seeded UConn in the second round.<\/p>\nUCLA Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau looks on during a college basketball game between the USC Trojans. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing at this time of year,\u201d Cronin said, \u201cis being healthy \u2013 we\u2019re working on that \u2013 and I think having their mind fresh, being excited and ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dent proclaimed himself fully recovered from the calf injury that knocked him out of the Bruins\u2019 game against Purdue on Saturday. Meanwhile, Cronin said that Bilodeau should be able to practice in another day or two after suffering a right knee sprain against Michigan State.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives him three or four days of getting swelling and soreness out,\u201d Cronin said, \u201cso hopefully if he can go Wednesday and Thursday, he can be 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Bruins (23-11) watched the bracket release, their biggest hope was to play on Friday instead of Thursday. The extra day not only would benefit Dent and Bilodeau in their recovery but also a weary team making another cross-country trip.<\/p>\n
Wish granted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed Friday,\u201d Cronin said.<\/p>\n
UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry shoots against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
UCLA\u2019s first-round opponent is a relatively anonymous major conference team that\u2019s logged several brand-name wins.<\/p>\n
Central Florida (21-11) has beaten Kansas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and BYU, which should grab the Bruins\u2019 attention. The Knights finished in a four-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12 Conference standings before losing to Arizona in a conference tournament quarterfinal.<\/p>\n
Driven by the playmaking of point guard Themus Fulks, Central Florida likes to push the pace and averages 81 points per game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a guy like that,\u201d Cronin said of a player averaging 6.7 assists per game, \u201cit makes your offense easy because they make plays, they can make reads, they break your defense down.\u201d<\/p>\n
If recent trends persist, UCLA should be better equipped to slow the Knights after considerably tightening its defense. The Bruins held Purdue to 73 points, which was the Boilermakers\u2019 lowest total on the way to winning the Big Ten Tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw what we can really do,\u201d Bruins guard Skyy Clark said, \u201cif we really just play hard and play that Mick Cronin style of basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skyy Clark of the UCLA Bruins dribbles up the court against the Purdue Boilermakers in the first half during the semifinals of the 2026 Big Ten Men\u2019s Basketball Tournament. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Should the Bruins prevail, they would likely face UConn in a game that would keep fans as riveted by the volatile coaches as the game itself. There could easily be prop bets on whether Cronin or Huskies counterpart Danny Hurley would be most likely to pick up the first technical foul.<\/p>\n
Other intriguing story lines might await in a loaded East Region. UCLA could face third-seeded Michigan State in the Sweet 16 in a third matchup of the season between Big Ten rivals who split the first two meetings.<\/p>\n
Cronin would be reunited with former boss Rick Pitino should the Bruins play St. John\u2019s in the Elite Eight. Other possible battles of the blue bloods could come against fourth-seeded Kansas or top-seeded Duke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, that\u2019s what we come here for,\u201d Dent said of winning big games this time of year. \u201cWe know they hang up banners here; that\u2019s what we\u2019re hoping to do here in this March run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe the Bruins will get a chance to catch up on rest by then. They couldn\u2019t get out of Chicago after playing Saturday, forcing them to return home a day later than they had hoped.<\/p>\n
Head coach Mick Cronin of the UCLA Bruins reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers in the first half. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Cronin was so groggy that he told his girlfriend to nudge him awake if he fell asleep for the selection show. That was part of the reason he had sent everyone home, noting it was the first time in his career he had not watched it with his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet home and freshen up,\u201d Cronin said, \u201cbecause we don\u2019t plan on coming back for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mick Cronin dispersed his team on Selection Sunday. \u201cGo home,\u201d the UCLA basketball coach told his players. \u201cGet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,160,217,7456,231,1400,66,4262],"class_list":{"0":"post-662820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-march-madness","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-tournament","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-ucla-bruins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116244519741814059","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662820","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=662820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}