UCLA Struggles as Stellar UCF Takes Down Bruins 90-75!
The UCLA Bruins will have to travel across the country once again for the NCAA tournament. UCLA will face UCF on Friday in the first round.
Mick Cronin and the UCLA Bruins will be travelling across the country for the first round of the NCAA tournament, with UCLA set to face the UCF Knights in round one Friday afternoon . UCLA was just on the other side of the country for the Big Ten tournament and will have another long flight ahead of them to begin the NCAA tournament in Philadelphia. UCLA has certainly had their struggles outside of the Pacific Time Zone since joining the Big Ten ahead of last year but perhaps last week’s showing in the conference tournament is a sign of better things to come when the Bruins head east.
The Bruins picked up a hard-fought win over Rutgers and then beat the Michigan State Spartans with Tyler Bilodeau playing just 10 minutes in the game. UCLA did eventually fall to Purdue without Bilodeau and Donovan Dent , but even then, the Bruins nearly pulled off the upset. UCF is another capable team for the Bruins to have to deal with.
The Knights are 21-11 and have ranked wins over Kansas, Texas Tech and BYU this season. It’d be easy for UCLA’s eyes to drift ahead to a second round matchup against UConn, but without paying full attention to UCF, it could be a one-and-done in the tournament for UCLA. While UCF may not have the richest basketball tradition, this isn’t a fresh-faced team either, with the Knights bringing in transfers, such as Riley Kugel and Themus Fulks to give this UCF plenty of experience.
UCLA has got experience too, but will that experience be healthy? Dent and Bilodeau are likely to play but doubtful to be at 100%. It will take a few shocking upsets for UCLA to make it out of the East Region, which features several established programs including UConn, Duke and Kansas, but the Bruins must take care of business against UCF first before turning their eyes deeper down the bracket.