UCLA men’s basketball earns No. 7 seed, to face No. 10 UCF in Philadelphia
UCLA coach Mick Cronin expects his team to live up to the high expectations that follow the Bruins every time they take the floor during the NCAA Tournament.
The program has won an NCAA record 11 national titles and made 19 Final Four appearances.
No. 7 seed UCLA (22-11)’s campaign for another deep run in the NCAA Tournament begins Friday against No. 10 seed Central Florida (21-11) in Philadelphia in the East Region. If the Bruins win, they will face the winner of No. 2 Connecticut (29-5) against No. 15 Furman (22-12).
Cronin hoped the Bruins, who returned from the Big Ten tournament in Chicago on Sunday morning, would get a break and open the playoffs Friday rather than Thursday. He remembers playing in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship on Sunday and still being assigned to the NCAA tournament games on Thursday, but Purdue coach Matt Painter told Cronin Saturday night that he should be in line for an NCAA tournament opener on Friday and the predictions proved correct.
Cronin said the UCLA program’s focus on NCAA tournament success motivated its decision to hold out forward Tyler Bilodeau and guard Donovan Dent in a 73-66 Big Ten semifinal loss to Purdue on Saturday night at the United Center. Bilodeau’s injury was a minor knee sprain suffered in the win over Michigan State on Friday, while Dent suffered a minor calf strain early in the game against the Boilermakers. Both should be ready to play Friday.
“Tyler could have played [against Purdue.] You know, Donny could have played. They would have played hurt,” Cronin said after the loss to the Boilermakers. “I wouldn’t have played them in a regular season game. I’m just trying to take care of the guys.
The coach said the additional minutes played by Eric Freeny, Xavier Booker, Steven Jamerson II and Brandon Williams will help the Bruins when the full roster is in place for NCAA Tournament games.
He called the team’s efforts to push eventual Big Ten champion Purdue valiant, but the upcoming games in March simply mean more for the Bruins.
“With all due respect to the Big Ten, you can see how hard our guys are trying to win,” Cronin said. “But our guys are well aware of it, because they practice under 11 banners that say national championship every day. They warm up under another banner with 19 Final Fours on it. We don’t even have one with conference championships because there are 36 or something like that. There are so many. So [this] the week is what matters to us.
UCLA enters the tournament on a 4-1 run, which has looked particularly strong since the schedule began in March.
“I was happy with the way we competed,” Cronin said when asked if he learned anything about his players during a spirited Big Ten tournament. “…We have talent, but we haven’t always thought about defense, which is very rare for the teams I coach. We have great guys. Since March 1 or whenever we’ve played Nebraska, there’s been a noticeable change in our team, we just need to keep it going. And we need to get some rebounds back on the fifth spot.
“…We’re at UCLA, no matter who we take the floor against in the NCAA tournament, we’ll be the ones wearing the baby blues and four letters. So we believe in ourselves.”
UCF is coached by former Duke star Johnny Dawkins. Point guard Themus Fulks is a key leader for the Knights, earning third-team All-Big 12 honors after averaging 14.1 points and 6.7 assists per game during the regular season.
UCF won the top 25 against Kansas, Texas Tech and Brigham Young.
