University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Men's Basketball Practices in Philadelphia, Prepares for NCAA Tournament
March 19, 2026 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA โ The No. 7-seed UCLA men's basketball team spent its first full day in Philadelphia on Thursday. Preparations were underway for the start of this season's NCAA Tournament with four games scheduled to take place at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday.
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The Bruins have returned to Xfinity Mobile Arena, home to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, for the third time in the last five seasons. UCLA played Villanova in the building, then named Wells Fargo Center, on Dec. 9, 2023, as a return visit in a home-and-home series. The Bruins also took on North Carolina in the arena in the 2022 NCAA Tournament (played on March 25, 2022).
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This season, UCLA looks ahead to a first-round matchup against No. 10-seed UCF on Friday evening. The Bruins will take on the Knights at 4:25 p.m. PT (7:25 p.m. ET in Philadelphia) in a matchup that will be nationally televised on TBS. Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn will have the call live from Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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UCLA has returned to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last six seasons and is making its 10th tournament appearance in the past 14 seasons (since 2012-13).
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"The hay's in the barn for us," Coach Cronin said, in reference to practices leading up to Friday's game. "we will shoot today, and we'll have our gameday stuff that's normal, at Drexel. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday practices are over with. You try to do a little bit more each day, but the more experience you get with this, you realize you have to have your guys ready to play on game night. They only have so many games left in them. I don't know if they have any hard practices left in them. I'm a believer in once we get to doing something really hard, really well, stop it. Get to the next thing. Next thing, next thing, stop practice, at this time of year. If you have to build habits by over practicing on March 18th, you haven't done your job all year. Better be ready to play on game night."
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After an hour-long workout in the late morning at a nearby facility in Philadelphia, the Bruins boarded their bus and headed to Xfinity Mobile Arena for a mid-day press conference and an open practice. Senior guards Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent spoke to media members during the press conference.
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"Absolutely, it's definitely a blessing just to be part of this, to be part of the history, part of the tradition," said Clark, who competed in both of UCLA's NCAA Tournament contests last season. "It's a lot to carry for sure, but it motivates us to go out there and just do what we can."
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UCLA has entered this season's NCAA Tournament with a 23-11 overall record, earning the No. 6 seed last week at the Big Ten Tournament. The Bruins tied with Purdue in the league standings, as both teams recorded 13-7 records. Last week, UCLA defeated Rutgers, 72-59, in the tournament's third-round matchup before taking down Michigan State, 88-84, on Friday night in a quarterfinal contest. The Bruins lost to Purdue, 73-66, on Saturday in the semifinals.
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The Bruins enter the NCAA Tournament as the top 3-point shooting program in the Big Ten Conference (38.2 percent). UCLA's 3-point percentage ranks No. 7 on the school's single-season record list. In addition, the Bruins' total of 272 made threes currently ranks No. 3 on UCLA's single-season record list. Four Bruins have shot at least 40 percent from 3-poing range, heading into Friday's game. Tyler Bilodeau ranks first among all players in the Big Ten, having shot 46.4 percent from 3-point distance (64-for-138).
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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 (4.0). Dent registered the fifth triple-double on record in UCLA history last week, totaling 12 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the Bruins' 72-59 win over Rutgers on Thursday, March 12. His 250 assists this season are just 24 shy of Lonzo Ball's single-season record (274), from the 2016-17 season. Dent currently ranks third on that single-season list, six assists away from the No. 2 mark (Larry Drew II, with 256 assists in 2012-13).
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UCLA has won six of its last eight games, and 11 of its final 16 games. In all, the Bruins logged three wins over AP top-10 ranked programs in the last month โ No. 10 Illinois on Feb. 21, No. 9 Nebraska on March 3, and No. 8 Michigan State last Friday evening.
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The Bruins' game this Friday in Philadelphia will be broadcast on AM 790 radio in the greater Los Angeles area, with UCLA broadcasters Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray calling the action. Fans can also tune to Westwood One radio's affiliates for the national broadcast, as Scott Graham and Jon Crispin will be courtside at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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The winner of Friday's game between UCLA and UCF will face either No. 2-seed UConn or No. 15-seed Furman on Saturday. UConn's game against Furman this Friday will begin following the conclusion of UCLA's game.
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