Men’s Basketball to Host USC on Saturday Evening
UCLA
USC
March 06, 2025 | Men’s Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The Bruins will close their regular-season schedule against USC this Saturday evening. Game time in Pauley Pavilion is set for 5 p.m. (PT). UCLA’s game against USC will be nationally televised on FOX. The Bruins have won 10 of their last 13 games and are looking to sweep the season series of the Trojans for the first time since 2018. Earlier this season (Monday, Jan. 27), the Bruins recorded an 82-76 win at USC. Saturday night’s game is being staged as a “Blue Out” as UCLA is encouraging all fans in attendance to show up to Pauley Pavilion wearing blue.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 5:05 p.m. (PT)
Television: FOX
TV Talent: Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst), Kristina Pink (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Audio Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: Channels 139 or 195 and on the SXM App
UCLA’S TICKET INFORMATION (HOME GAMES)
Single-game tickets are on sale for the Bruins’ last home game, as UCLA will host crosstown rival USC on Saturday, March 8 (game time is 5 p.m., PT). Ticket information about UCLA men’s basketball is available 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.
– The Bruins have gone 14-2 at home this season and 7-7 in road and neutral-site contests.
– After losing four straight games in early January, UCLA has won 10 of its last 13 contests.
– UCLA has gone 8-3 this season in games decided by five points or fewer.
– UCLA will honor the NCAA championship anniversaries of the 1965, 1975 and 1995 teams at halftime on Saturday.
– The Bruins ranks second in the Big Ten Conference in steals per game (8.2) and rank No. 52, nationally, in that category.
– This marks the 106th basketball season at UCLA and the sixth year with head coach at the helm.
– UCLA head coach secured career coaching win No. 500 in a win over Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 23.
– The Bruins went 5-1 in December and registered a 9-7 record through the months of January and February.
– The Bruins have gone 61-3 since the start of the 2019-20 season when holding the opposition to fewer than 60 points.
– This season, UCLA has tallied a 13-1 record when limiting the opposition to 65 or fewer points.
– Junior has averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 29 games, shooting 50.5 percent from the field.
– Through games played on Wednesday, March 5, UCLA ranked No. 24 in the nation in scoring defense (65.1 ppg).
– Through Wednesday, March 5, UCLA ranked No. 19 in the nation in turnovers forced per game (15.1).
– Through Wednesday, March 5, the Bruins were No. 10, nationally, in turnover margin (+4.4).
– UCLA has limited the opposition to 65 points or fewer in 14 of 30 games this season.
– (52 steals, 1.73 spg) ranked sixth in the Big Ten in steals per game through Wednesday, March 5.
– As head coach, has led UCLA to an 136-62 record, now in his sixth season with the Bruins.
UCLA will look to sweep the regular-season series against USC this Saturday evening as the crosstown rivals meet in Pauley Pavilion (Saturday, 5 p.m., PT). The Bruins recorded an 82-76 win over USC at the Trojans’ Galen Center on Monday, Jan. 27. Neither team in the crosstown series has earned a series sweep since 2021, when USC recorded two regular-season wins over UCLA. The Bruins last swept the series in 2018. Prior to tip-off on Saturday, the Bruins’ program will honor senior student-athletes and on the court, in addition to three senior student managers.
The Bruins split a pair of road contests in the past week, losing at Purdue (76-66) on Friday night before securing a 73-69 win at Northwestern on Monday evening. scored a team-leading 19 points, and registered his second collegiate double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) in the victory at Northwestern on Monday, March 3. Bilodeau averaged 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the two road games, shooting 55.6 percent from the field (15-for-27). averaged 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in both games, connecting on 6 of 12 shots (50.0 percent).
UCLA has gone 7-3 through its past 10 games, shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from 3-point distance. The 10-game stretch began with UCLA’s 82-76 win at USC on Monday, Jan. 27. (53.7%), (50.6%), (50.5%) and (50.0%) have shot at least 50 percent from the field over the Bruins’ last 10 games. In addition, has recorded 41 assists and 13 turnovers in that 10-game span, logging an assist-turnover ratio of 3.15-to-1. As a team, UCLA has tallied an assist-turnover ratio of 1.86-to-1 in the past 10 contests.
– The Bruins rank No. 4 in the Big Ten Conference in assist-turnover ratio (1.5) and No. 5 in the league in assists per game (16.1), through games played on Wednesday, March 5. UCLA has twice tallied a team-best 26 assists this season.
– UCLA has shot 45.4 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from 3-point range in the last five games (going 3-2 over that stretch). Through the past five contests, has shot 50.0 percent from 3-point distance (5-for-10).
– Now sporting a 21-9 record, the Bruins have reached the 20-win plateau in a single season for the 47th time in 59 years (span includes 1966-67 through 2024-25). Coach Cronin has guided UCLA to 20 or more wins in four of the last five years.
– UCLA has committed fewer turnovers than the opposition in 24 of 30 games this season. The Bruins had a season-low three turnovers in back-to-back contests early in February (versus Michigan State and Penn State, both games at home).
– UCLA’s 26-point win over Oregon on Jan. 30 marked the Bruins’ largest victory margin in any conference game since a 35-point victory at home against California on Feb. 18, 2023 (UCLA won against California, 78-43).
– The Bruins held Oregon to a season-low 52 points in UCLA’s 78-52 win inside Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 30. Previously, Oregon had scored 58 points in a 65-58 loss at Purdue on Jan. 18, 2025.
– UCLA limited Gonzaga to a season-low 62 points in the Bruins’ 65-62 win at Intuit Dome (Inglewood, Calif.) on Saturday, Dec. 28. Gonzaga has averaged 87.6 points per game, the second-highest scoring average in the nation (through March 5).
Bruins’ head coach secured career coaching win No. 500 on Sunday, Feb. 23, as UCLA defeated Ohio State, 69-61. Cronin has gone 501-233, now in his 22nd season as a head coach. He secured his 400th win in UCLA’s home victory over Arizona State on Feb. 20, 2021. Cronin is one of 18 active head coaches to have secured at least 500 career NCAA Division I victories. He is currently the youngest college basketball head coach (53) with at least 500 career wins. He spent his first three seasons as a head coach at Murray State before taking over as Cincinnati’s head coach for the 2006-07 season. After a 13-year run as Cincinnati’s head coach (through 2018-19), he became UCLA’s head coach in April of 2019.
The Bruins will travel to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament, hosted at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (home to the NBA’s Indiana Pacers). The tournament will run from Wednesday, March 12 through Sunday, March 16, with the Bruins likely to begin the tournament that Thursday (the bracket and seedings have yet to be finalized). Last season, UCLA advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas with a win over Oregon State (before losing to Oregon). UCLA went to the Pac-12 Tournament’s title game in March of 2022 and March of 2023 (runner-up to Arizona both seasons).
UCLA has won at least 10 conference games for the sixth straight season. Previously as members of the Pac-12, and now competing in the Big Ten, UCLA has won 10 or more league games in 18 of the last 21 seasons (including this season). Two years ago, UCLA went 18-2 en route to securing the Pac-12 Conference’s regular-season title. The Bruins have just one regular-season game left this Saturday evening (against USC). A win over USC this Saturday at Pauley Pavilion could help the Bruins to a sixth-place finish out of 18 teams. The Bruins are currently 12-7 in Big Ten action.
UCLA has three guards who have each tallied at least 80 assists. and have each tallied a team-best 90 assists, while has tallied 81. ranks fourth on the list with 56. UCLA’s 2016-17 squad was the last Bruins’ team to have at least three players with 80 or more assists. That team’s five leading scorers each finished with 70 or more assists. Lonzo Ball set a school single-season record in assists (274), while Aaron Holiday totaled 158. Rounding out the list of assist leaders were Isaac Hamilton (99), Bryce Alford (92) and TJ Leaf (85).
Junior became UCLA’s first player to have made seven (or more) threes in any game since late last season when he was 7-for-12 from long-range at Illinois on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Last year, shot 7-for-9 from 3-point distance in a win over Oregon State at the Pac-12 Tournament (March 13, 2024). Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward from Kennewick, Wash., has averaged a team-leading 14.1 points per game. Bilodeau has shot 50.5 percent overall and 42.2 percent from 3-point distance (35-of-83). In a 76-74 loss to North Carolina on Dec. 21, 2024, he totaled a career-high-tying 26 points at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He was 5-for-6 from 3-point distance in that contest.
Senior guard has totaled 208 steals in 121 career games (1.7 spg). He enters this Saturday’s crosstown rivalry contest with a team-best 52 steals, while teammate is second on the team with 39 steals (1.3 spg). Johnson ranked sixth among all Big Ten players through Wednesday, March 5, in steals per game. Johnson had six steals in a win over Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 22, 2024), the third time in his career he has logged six in a game. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wis., Johnson earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors the past two seasons at USC. Over the previous two seasons (64 games), he averaged 10.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals per contest while at USC.
Junior guard has tallied a team-best assist-turnover ratio of 2.5 (with 81 assists, 33 turnovers). Clark joined the Bruins’ program in the summer of 2024 after having averaged a team-leading 13.2 points per game as a sophomore at Louisville last season. He has logged the Bruins’ third-highest assist total (81), behind and (90 assists, each). Clark scored a team-leading 14 points, sinking six of seven free throws, in UCLA’s 63-61 win at home last month versus No. 9-ranked Michigan State. He has shot 41.1 percent from 3-point range in the Bruins’ past 15 games (23-for-56) and 45.7 percent overall during that range. He has scored 10 or more points in 10 games this season.
Sophomore , who stands at 7-foot-3, averaged 12.0 points in a three-game stretch in late January, including a career-best 22-point game in an 85-83 win at home against Wisconsin (Jan. 21, 2025). Mara ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten in blocks per game (1.5) through games played Wednesday, March 5. He has totaled 26 blocks in the past 14 games (1.8 bpg), dating back to the Bruins’ road games at Maryland and Rutgers. Through the Bruins’ entire season, Mara has averaged 6.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game (29 contests as a sophomore).
Through games played on Wednesday, March 5, the Bruins ranked No. 24 in the country in scoring defense (65.1 ppg), No. 19 in turnovers forced per game (15.1) and No. 10 in turnover margin (+4.4). In addition, the Bruins have ranked No. 41 in the nation in scoring margin (9.3 points per game). Looking at shooting percentages, the opposition has shot 42.8 percent against UCLA (No. 116, nationally) and 32.0 percent from 3-point range (No. 91, nationally). The latest national metrics on KenPom.com have listed UCLA at No. 17 in the nation in defensive efficiency and No. 43 in offensive efficiency.
The Bruins have gone 14-2 in Pauley Pavilion this season, now in their 59th campaign playing in the longtime venue. 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). UCLA returned home in Nov. 2012. This marks the 13th year in the arena’s updated configuration.
Last year, 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. UCLA’s 29-game home streak had been the longest active streak in the country. Since taking over as UCLA’s head coach prior to the 2019-20 season, has guided the Bruins to a 78-15 record in 93 home games (83.9% win percentage).
– UCLA’s assist-turnover ratio (1.5-to-1) ranked No. 29 in the nation, and fourth in the Big Ten, through games played on Wednesday, March 5. The Bruins have registered a ratio of 1.6-to-1 over the past 15 games (240 assists, 152 turnovers).
– UCLA recorded a season-high 15 steals in a win over Southern Utah (Nov. 26, 2024). Since steals were officially tracked (starting in 1978-79), the Bruins’ single-game record stands at 21 steals against Northern Arizona on Dec. 18, 1997.
– Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Bruins have gone 68-30 in conference play (logging a 69.4 win percentage). UCLA went 10-10 in Pac-12 play in 2023-24 after having won the league title (18-2 record) during the 2022-23 season.
– Sophomore (7-foot-3) is the Bruins’ tallest basketball player since the late Mike Lanier (7-foot-7, 310 pounds) competed as a reserve center for UCLA in 1991-92 and 1992-93.
With just one regular-season game remaining (this Saturday), no players on UCLA’s roster have averaged more than 29 minutes per game. Senior leads the team in minutes (averaging 29.0 mpg). Since UCLA began recording minutes in 1978-79, the Bruins have always had at least one player average 30.0 or more minutes per game (by the end of the year). In 2019-20, then-freshman guard Tyger Campbell finished the year as the Bruins’ leader in minutes per game, at exactly 30.0 mpg. This year’s team has 10 players who have averaged at least 10.0 minutes per contest.
Mar 8 (Sat)
RELATED NEWS
PLAYERS MENTIONED
Dylan Andrews
Tyler Bilodeau
Skyy Clark
Eric Dailey Jr.
Kobe Johnson
Sebastian Mack
Aday Mara
Lazar Stefanovic
RELATED VIDEOS
NEXT EVENT
2025 TIAA Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Tips Off Wednesday
Big Ten Women’s Basketball | Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Schedule & Results
Big Ten Statistics | NCAA Statistics
NCAA NET Rankings | National Top 25 Polls (March 3-4)
Big Ten Weekly Release – March 5
If all goes as planned, UCLA and USC women will renew rivalry in Big Ten tournament
INDIANAPOLIS — Timea Gardiner buried a corner three-pointer inside a high school gym here Thursday afternoon, commencing an almost daily tradition for the UCLA women’s basketball team.
Clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap.
Coach Cori Close’s gesture signaled it was the end of practice, players quickly following her lead.
Clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap.
Everyone gathered in a circle, feet touching in a show of unity. Anyone who wanted to say something about the practice could speak. Gardiner said she felt the team was locked in. Other coaches and players shared equally positive messages.
USC SPORTS
It was a familiar routine in unfamiliar territory, the Bruins joining rival USC among the newcomers in their first Big Ten women’s basketball tournament.
After dominating their new conference counterparts during the regular season, the top-seeded Trojans and second-seeded Bruins are widely expected to meet again in the tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Should the anticipated title matchup materialize, the Bruins can avoid going uh-oh-and-3 against the Trojans after dropping the first two games, including an 80-67 setback Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.
“The silver lining,” Close said of the latest defeat, “is that there has been an unbelievable response from our player leadership.”
Close said point guard Kiki Rice and forward Gabriela Jaquez convened a players-only film session Monday morning that was universally described as difficult but necessary. Breakdowns were acknowledged. Grievances were aired.
“It’s just unacceptable,” Jaquez said Thursday of the way the team played as she said on the bleachers inside the Arsenal Technical High gym, “and what I appreciate most about this team is it’s going to do whatever it takes and we’re not satisfied and we did not feel good by any means after that, so it’s like, how can we change?
“That’s why I respect all the girls, and we took accountability with each other. We’re the ones on the court, and we need to be better.”
To reach the game everyone in Los Angeles — and much of the rest of the country — wants to see, the Trojans and Bruins must avoid the sort of stumbling blocks they have nimbly sidestepped all season.
In conference games not involving each other, USC and UCLA are a combined 31-1 (those confounding Iowa Hawkeyes!). Fortunately for the second-ranked Trojans, their path to the championship game does not include Iowa, which is on the other side of the bracket from the team it defeated by seven points last month in Iowa City.
After notching its first conference regular-season championship in 31 years, USC (26-2 overall, 17-1 Big Ten) will open the tournament at 9 a.m. PST Friday against ninth-seeded Indiana in a quarterfinal. Fourth-ranked UCLA (27-2, 16-2) will play Nebraska at 3:30 p.m.
To emphasize the point that nothing is guaranteed this time of year, Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb told her players that even their opening game in the conference tournament could be as difficult as a second-round game in the NCAA tournament. Five Big Ten teams are nationally ranked, and 13 are projected by ESPN to make the NCAA tournament.
UCLA SPORTS
“In this league, if you’re an eight, nine seed — shoot, if you’re a 10, 11 seed in our conference — you’re probably an eight, nine seed in the NCAA tournament,” Gottlieb said. “So we look at each game as, this is a one-and-done situation and these are really good teams that can beat anyone on any given night.”
History suggests that the Trojans and Bruins will get their third meeting.
In Big Ten play, USC outscored its conference opponents by an average of 16 points per game. UCLA was nearly as dominant, outscoring its opponents by an average of nearly 14 points.
The stakes this week go well beyond staging a third rivalry game. While USC is seeking a second consecutive conference tournament title after winning the final Pac-12 tournament a year ago, UCLA has not won a conference tournament since 2006.
There’s also the need to jockey for NCAA tournament positioning. Should the Trojans or the Bruins prevail in the Big Ten tournament — particularly by knocking off the other team in the championship — they would have a strong claim to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
Of greater importance would be ensuring a top seeding in one of the Spokane regionals that feeds into the Final Four in Tampa, Fla.
Then again, Close said she wanted her team to think about what it needed to do to win rather than what winning would mean.
“I think we felt the pressure of what was at stake in that last home game, and I didn’t think we played our competitive best,” Close said. “I think we need to focus on our process, I think we need to focus on our preparation, and then we need to surrender the outcomes and just give everything to each other.
“I’m trying to stay away from all of that because I think they all know, everyone has big dreams and big goals on this team, but I think focusing on what’s at stake — eh — I don’t know if it helps us get to where we want to go.”
As far as this week goes, there’s no doubt about the intended destination. It involves a renewal of the crosstown rivalry, halfway across the country.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.
DODGERS
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
SPORTS
SPORTS
UCLA SPORTS
DODGERS
SPORTS
Subscribe for unlimited access
Site Map
Follow Us
