University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Rutgers
Men's Basketball to Host Rutgers on Tuesday
February 02, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The Bruins (15-7, 7-4) are back in action this Tuesday night, hosting Rutgers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. This marks just the fourth all-time meeting between the Bruins and Rutgers. UCLA has won three of its last four games, having dropped a double-overtime decision (98-97) to Indiana last Saturday afternoon. This Tuesday's game will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 6:31 p.m. (PT)
Broadcast Network: Big Ten Network
Broadcast Talent: Guy Haberman (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Audio Network): AM 790 (KABC)
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
Sirius XM Channels: SiriusXM 380 and SiriusXM App
Live Stats: ucla.statbroadcast.com (link here)
UCLA'S TICKET INFORMATION (HOME GAMES)
Single-game tickets for UCLA's home games are on sale. The Bruins have five remaining regular-season games inside Pauley Pavilion this season. Fans can view complete ticket information about UCLA men's basketball by clicking here. Direct links to single-game ticket purchases can be viewed here. Fans can call (310) 206-5991 or email tickets@athletics.ucla.edu for more information. In addition, be sure to check out all of the game themes and upcoming promotions for this season.
MOST RECENTLY
• The Bruins have won 10 of their last 15 games, posting a 5-4 record in the month of January.
• Through the Bruins' last three games, Donovan Dent has averaged 17.3 points and 6.7 assists per game.
• UCLA lost to Indiana in double OT on Saturday, 98-97, after having trailed 71-61 with 1:50 to play in the second half.
• That marked UCLA's first game that advanced to overtime since a 3-OT loss at Arizona State on Feb. 5, 2022.
• Tyler Bilodeau (18 pts, 11 rbs) and Donovan Dent (24 pts, 11 assists) each had double-doubles against Indiana.
• Earlier last week, UCLA recorded its seventh win against Oregon in the last nine meetings between the two schools.
• Trent Perry has averaged 18.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in UCLA's last three games (shooting 20-for-21 at the FT line).
• Donovan Dent totaled 23 points and a season-high 13 assists in UCLA's 69-67 win over No. 4 Purdue on Jan. 20.
• Five Bruins have averaged at least 10 points per game this season, led by senior Tyler Bilodeau (18.2 ppg).
• Tyler Bilodeau hit the game-winning 3-pointer with eight seconds to play in the win against Purdue on Jan. 20.
• The Bruins play two games at home this week before traveling to the state of Michigan, late next week.
• Through Monday, Feb. 2, the Bruins ranked No. 3 in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage (37.4% in 22 games).
• Tyler Bilodeau ranks No. 8 in the Big Ten in scoring, having averaged 18.2 points per game.
• Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark and Trent Perry have each scored 30 or more points in a game this season.
BRUINS VERSUS RUTGERS
UCLA has posted a 2-2 all-time record in four previous meetings against Rutgers. Last season, Rutgers secured a 75-68 win over UCLA in Piscataway, N.J. (Jan. 13, 2025). The Bruins led that contest at halftime, 33-30. The previous three showdowns between UCLA and Rutgers include meetings in the 1976 NCAA Final Four's third-place game (UCLA won, 106-92, on March 29, 1976), a Bruins' regular- season victory in Westwood (Jan. 6, 1979), and a Rutgers victory over UCLA in East Rutherford, N.J., on Dec. 3, 1981. Rutgers enters the game on Tuesday night with a 9-13 overall record.
UCLA'S DOUBLE-OVERTIME LOSS
UCLA clawed back from a 71-61 deficit on Saturday, with 1:50 to play in regulation. Trent Perry nailed the game-tying 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to go to tie the contest, 76-76, and force overtime. The two sides were at a deadlock, 84-84, after the first overtime session. Indiana's Nick Dorn finished with 26 points, while Reed Bailey and Lamar Wilkerson each totaled 24 points. Perry finished the game with 25 points and seven rebounds for UCLA, while Donovan Dent tallied 24 points and 11 assists (and just one turnover). Tyler Bilodeau totaled 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bruins.
FREE THROWS
UCLA shot a perfect 21-for-21 on Wednesday, Jan. 14, as the Bruins won at Penn State, 71-60. That marked the program's best 100-percent performance at the line in the modern era (dates back to 1970). Previously, the Bruins made 13 of 13 free throws in a 79-68 win against California in Pauley Pavilion on March 1, 1979. That game had been the previous milestone for most made free throws in an 100-percent effort. Last season, UCLA was 10-for-10 in the NCAA Tournament against Utah State (the Bruins won that matchup, 72-47). Over the last 10 games, UCLA has shot 77.5 percent at the line.
LOOKING AHEAD FOR UCLA
• Coming up on Saturday night, the Bruins will host a Big Ten matchup against Washington (Saturday, Feb. 7).
• Earlier this season, UCLA registered an 82-80 win over Washington, played in Seattle (Dec. 3, 2025).
• Next week, the Bruins will play at Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 14 (at 9:45 a.m. PT, 12:45 p.m ET in Ann Arbor).
• UCLA has just three more regular-season games to play outside of the Pacific time zone.
• The Bruins' schedule in February includes seven games (four at home and three on the road).
MORE ABOUT THE BRUINS
• Tyler Bilodeau has scored in double figures in 18 of 20 games played, totaling 20 points or more in seven games.
• Donovan Dent (13.5 ppg) leads UCLA with 143 assists, averaging 6.8 assists per game (ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten).
• Skyy Clark (89.3%), Tyler Bilodeau (86.1%) and Trent Perry (84.6%) are shooting over 80 percent at the free throw line.
• Trent Perry has scored at least 10 points in nine of UCLA's last 11 games.
• The Bruins have gone 11-3 this season when committing fewer turnovers than their opposition.
• UCLA has posted a 13-2 record when leading at halftime and has gone 14-1 when building a lead of 10 or more points.
• UCLA ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten, among all 18 teams, in 3-point shooting percentage (37.4%).
• The Bruins have not shot 37.0% or better since the 2020-21 season (UCLA shot 37.2 percent from three that year).
• The Bruins are currently shooting 76.3 percent at the free throw stripe, ranking No. 7 in the Big Ten.
• The school single-season record for best free throw percentage is 75.6 percent, back in the 1978-79 season.
ASSISTS PER GAME
Through 21 games played, senior Donovan Dent has averaged 13.5 points and 6.8 assists per game. Dent, a 6-foot-2 guard from Riverside, Calif., could be on track to join a rare group of UCLA guards who averaged at least 10 points and six assists per game over the course of a full season. Most recently, then-sophomore Jaylen Hands averaged 14.2 points and 6.1 assists during UCLA's 2018-19 season. Pooh Richardson in the late 1980s accomplished this per-game average all four seasons, including a pair of back-to-back seasons where he averaged at least 7.0 assists per game.
STRONG SCORING
Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau ranked No. 9 in scoring among all Big Ten players (18.2 ppg) and No. 8 in shooting percentage (52.4%), through Sunday, Feb. 1. The 6-foot-9 product from Kennewick, Wash., has scored at least 15 points this season in 14 of the Bruins' 22 games (did not play in two games). He netted his first double-double of the season in a double overtime loss to Indiana on Saturday, Dec. 31, totaling 18 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Through UCLA's last 10 games, he has averaged 18.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4 percent overall. He enters the week ranking No. 10 in the Big Ten Conference in free throw percentage (86.1%, 93-for-108).
SOPHOMORE JUMP
Sophomore Trent Perry scored a career-best 30 points in UCLA's 71-60 win at Penn State on Jan. 14. Perry was perfect at the free throw line, going 12-for-12, while knocking down 4 of 8 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. This season, he has averaged 12.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Last year, he registered 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 32 contests as a freshman. Perry has scored at least 10 points in 13 games for UCLA this season, logging 55 assists and 28 turnovers for an assist-turnover ratio of 2-to-1. Over the Bruins' last 10 contests, Perry has averaged 15.5 points and 3.7 rebounds, shooting 40.4 percent overall and 42.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
RUNNING THE POINT
Senior Donovan Dent has averaged 13.5 points, 6.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds through 21 games this season. Dent, a 6-foot-2 guard from nearby Riverside, Calif., transferred from New Mexico to UCLA in the offseason. He has recorded four point-assist double-doubles this season (totaling 11 in his career). Most recently, Dent had 24 points and 11 assists (with just one turnover) in a double-OT loss to Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 31. Through Sunday, Feb. 1, he ranked third among all Big Ten players in assists per game (6.8) and was No. 10, nationally. Over UCLA's last 10 contests, Dent has logged 67 assists and 17 turnovers while averaging 14.1 points and 6.7 assists per game.
REACHING FOR THE SKYY
Senior Skyy Clark has averaged 13.5 points and 2.8 rebounds through 14 games. He connected on six 3-pointers in back-to-back victories against Arizona State (Dec. 17) and Cal Poly (Dec. 19), becoming UCLA's first-ever player to have nailed six or more threes in consecutive contests. Through his last five games on the court for UCLA, Clark has averaged 15.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 46.6 percent overall and 45.5 percent from 3-point distance. Entering this week's home game against Rutgers, he leads the team in 3-point percentage (48.6%, does not qualify on the Big Ten's list).
TOP DEFENDERS
The Bruins' program has produced some of the nation's most talented defensive players over the past several seasons. Last year, then-senior Kobe Johnson was honored as one of five players on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, closing the year at No. 6 in the conference in steals per game (1.6 spg, 55 steals in 34 games). Two seasons ago (2023-24), then-sophomore Adem Bona was honored as the Pac-12 Conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Bona led UCLA's team that season in blocks (58 blocks, 1.8 bpg) and was second in steals (37 steals, 1.1 spg). Three seasons ago (2022-23), then-junior Jaylen Clark was honored as the Naismith Men's Defensive Player of the Year and the NABC Defensive Player of the Year.
ADDITIONAL UCLA BASKETBALL NOTES
• The Bruins have returned four of their primary contributors from last season's squad. In addition, UCLA has welcomed back two redshirt players and has brought in five transfers. Three of UCLA's top four scorers from last year's squad have returned in seniors Tyler Bilodeau (13.5 ppg last season) and Skyy Clark (8.5 ppg) and junior Eric Dailey Jr. (11.4 ppg).
• UCLA's five incoming transfer students include Xavier Booker (from Michigan State), Jamar Brown (from UMKC), Donovan Dent (from New Mexico), Steven Jamerson II (from San Diego) and Anthony Peoples Jr. (from North Carolina Central). Last season, Dent secured honorable mention All-America acclaim at New Mexico (averaged 20.4 ppg, 6.4 apg).
• Donovan Dent (point guard), Eric Dailey Jr. (small forward) and Tyler Bilodeau (power forward) were named to 20-person positional watch lists at the start of the season. Dent is on the Bob Cousy Award watch list, while Dailey Jr. has been tabbed to the Julius Erving Award watch list, and Tyler Bilodeau to the Karl Malone Award watch list.
• Through games played from 2010-11 through 2024-25, Coach Cronin was tied for the fifth-most victories of any NCAA Division I coach (373 wins in a 15-year span). He's tied on that list with Michigan State's Tom Izzo (373 wins) and trails Mark Few of Gonzaga (451), Bill Self of Kansas (426), John Calipari of Arkansas (397) and Randy Bennett of Saint Mary's (379).
NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
This marks UCLA's 60th season playing basketball at Pauley Pavilion and the 14th season since the arena underwent a major renovation. Last year, the Bruins went 15-2 in Pauley Pavilion. The first game in Pauley took place on Dec. 3, 1965, as No. 1 UCLA defeated Ohio State, 92-66. UCLA spent 47 seasons in Pauley Pavilion before the venue was closed for an 18-month renovation (closed in March of 2011). UCLA hosted 18 home games in 2011-12 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (14 games) near downtown L.A. and at the Honda Center in Anaheim (four games) before returning home in Nov. of 2012.
In 2023-24, CSUN snapped UCLA's 29-home-game winning streak with a 76-72 win over the Bruins (Dec. 19, 2023). Prior to that game, UCLA had not lost at home since an overtime setback (84-81) to Oregon on Jan. 13, 2022. Since taking over as UCLA's head coach prior to 2019-20, Mick Cronin has guided UCLA to an 91-16 home record (85.0 win percentage). The Bruins will enter Tuesday night's game with a 12-1 home record.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
• UCLA has gone 5-0 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field this season. The Bruins' season-high 62.7 shooting percentage in a win at home against Presbyterian was the program's best single-game mark since Dec. 10, 2016 (UCLA shot 62.7% in an 102-84 win at home against Michigan, shooting 39-for-58 overall).
• Senior guard Donovan Dent has averaged 6.8 assists per game in 21 contests this season. Since assists were routinely recorded at UCLA, starting in 1973-74, only three student-athletes have logged at least 7.0 assists per game in one season (Pooh Richardson, twice, as well as Lonzo Ball in 2016-17 and Larry Drew II in 2012-13).
• The Bruins' 15-man roster this season includes eight student-athletes who are from the Southern California region. All 15 student-athletes are from the United States. Looking at the eight local players, five are from Los Angeles County and three are from Riverside County (Donovan Dent, Eric Freeny and Anthony Peoples Jr. all went to Corona Centennial HS).
• Through 22 games, the Bruins have logged an assist-turnover ratio of 1.6-to-1 (ranks No. 31, nationally). Last season, UCLA's assist-turnover ratio (1.55-to-1) ranked No. 20 in the nation and was second in the Big Ten. The Bruins concluded the 2024-25 season with an assist-turnover ratio of 1.55, but posted a ratio of 1.81 in their final 15 games.
• Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Bruins have gone 76-34 in conference play (logging a 69.1 win percentage). UCLA went 13-7 in Big Ten play last season, tied for fourth place in the 18-team league standings.
CONSECUTIVE THREE-POINTERS
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer in each of its last 86 games. The Bruins went 0-for-6 from long range in a 78-58 win against Long Island University early in the 2023-24 season in Pauley Pavilion (on Nov. 15, 2023). That game snapped a streak of 792 consecutive contests with at least one made 3-pointer by UCLA. That 3-point streak began after the Bruins finished 0-for-14 from 3-point distance in a home loss to No. 2 Stanford (78-63) on Feb. 3, 2000. The Bruins' single-game 3-point record stands at 19 made 3-pointers (going 19-for-31) in an 104-89 win at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2017.
