University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Men's Basketball Looks Ahead to NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia
March 16, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Bruins' head coach Mick Cronin and four student-athletes met with reporters on Monday afternoon inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial to speak about the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
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Following UCLA's return home from Chicago on Sunday afternoon, the Bruins learned that they had advanced to the upcoming NCAA Tournament as the No. 7-seeded team in the East Region. UCLA will take on No. 10-seed UCF (21-11) on Friday night in Philadephia. Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. PT (7:25 p.m. ET).
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Monday's Media Availability โ Coach Cronin | UCLA's Student-Athletes
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"Look, we're at UCLA, so the regular-season is to get better and earn your way into the NCAA Tournament," Coach Cronin said to reporters on Monday. "The conference tournament is practice on playing with the effort that you need to play with to do what you want to do and advance in the NCAA Tournament. Everything that we do here is about this week โ everything. And it's been that way since I took the job, and that is just the way that it should be for anybody who wears four letters and coaches here in basketball."
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Cronin, in his seventh season as The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach, has guided the Bruins to their fifth NCAA Tournament in the past six seasons (there was no NCAA Tournament in 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic). UCLA has posted a 23-11 record this season, going 13-7 in Big Ten Conference play.
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Most recently, UCLA went 2-1 at the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago with wins over Rutgers and No. 8 Michigan State on Thursday and Friday. The Bruins dropped a 73-66 decision to No. 18 Purdue on Saturday at the United Center.
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"I'm really just ready," junior Eric Dailey Jr. said. "I think that our team is ready. We have prepared all season and we've played in tough games and we've won a lot of top-ranked games and that builds confidence for a team like us. It's about going to the tournament and taking it one game at a time and focusing on one possession at a time. It's no pressure on us at all, just go out there and play with a lot of fight and a lot of grit, and we'll be all right."
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This marks the second consecutive season in which UCLA will move into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7-seeded team. Last year, the Bruins defeated No. 10-seed Utah State in a first-round matchup, 72-47, before falling to No. 2-seed Tennessee by a 66-58 margin.
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UCLA will be playing in Philadelphia this Friday for the first time since a road game at Villanova, played in Xfinity Mobile Arena, on Dec. 9, 2023. Villanova outlasted the Bruins in that contest, 65-56.
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Bruins' guard Donovan Dent enters the NCAA Tournament ranking No. 4 in the nation in assists per game (7.6) and No. 5 in assist-turnover ratio (4.03). Dent has averaged 12.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in the Bruins' last 10 contests. Over that 10-game span, he has totaled 86 assists and 15 turnovers, shooting nearly 44 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from 3-point distance.
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The Bruins were one of nine teams from the Big Ten Conference to secure an NCAA Tournament berth. Through the 2025-26 season, UCLA compiled a record of against 4-8 teams that have advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
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Looking back at the record books, UCLA will be making its 54th appearance at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The Bruins have won 11 NCAA championships โ most recently in 1995 โ and the program has advanced to 19 Final Fours โ most recently in 2021. In all, UCLA has compiled a record of 116-46 in the NCAA Tournament. As of late, the Bruins have posted a 55-28 record and have registered 17 trips to the Sweet 16 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The NCAA Tournament expanded from 64 teams to 68 teams with the "First Four" addition in 2011.
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UCLA's game this Friday against UCF will begin at 4:25 p.m. PT (7:25 p.m. ET) and will be nationally televised on TBS. Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas will have the call from Xfinity Mobile Arena, while Evan Washburn will serve as the sideline reporter. UCLA's radio broadcast will be available in the greater Los Angeles region on AM 790 (KABC).
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