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IU basketball begins a two-game trip to the West Coast on Saturday against UCLA. The Bruins, winners of three straight and five of their last six, are 15-6 overall and 7-3 in Big Ten games.
Tipoff at Pauley Pavilion is set for 5 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBC Sports Network.
Indiana earned a pivotal win against Purdue in Bloomington on Tuesday to get back to .500 in Big Ten play. The road, however, gets tougher this weekend as the Hoosiers head west to begin a road trip that includes stops at UCLA and USC.
The Bruins are unbeaten this season at Pauley Pavilion with a 12-0 mark that includes a win against Purdue and a 4-0 record on their home floor in conference play. The matchup against the Hoosiers is the first of a three-game home stand for Mick Cronin’s team that also includes games against Rutgers and Washington.
The Hoosiers are back in the NCAA tournament conversation thanks to their strong numbers in the NET, KenPom and Bart Torvik, but have work to do in the back half of the league schedule to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2023.
MEET THE BRUINS
UCLA’s record is solid and the Bruins are on their way to finishing in the top half of the league, but they have underperformed expectations to this point. A preseason top 10 KenPom team, UCLA is No. 39 through Thursday’s games and has been shaky on the road.
Fortunately for UCLA, Saturday’s game against Indiana is in Los Angeles and it offers a strong opportunity to extend the program’s winning streak to four games.
The Bruins are led by 6-foot-9 senior big man Tyler Bilodeau, a legitimate inside-out threat who gets to the line and can stretch the floor efficiently. Bilodeau leads UCLA in scoring at 18.2 points per game and is second in rebounding at 5.4 per game. He’s shooting 52.4 percent from the field, 86 percent from the free throw line and 44.7 percent on 3s on a team-high 85 attempts.
He’s joined in the starting front court by 6-foot-11 Indianapolis native Xavier Booker and 6-foot-8 Eric Dailey.
Booker, a 2023 McDonald’s All-American, signed with Michigan State and played two seasons for the Spartans before transferring to UCLA. Booker has scored in double figures seven times this season, but hasn’t scored more than nine points in a game since Dec. 13 against Gonzaga. He’s shooting 61 percent on 2s, is 11-for-25 this season on 3s and averages a team-high 1.3 blocked shots. He’s sixth on the team in scoring at 6.9 points per game and he averages 19.3 minutes per game.
Dailey, in his second season at UCLA after beginning his career at Oklahoma State, is UCLA’s best rebounder. He’s 21st in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding percentage and 16th in defensive rebounding percentage. Dailey is only 5-for-28 (17.9 percent) on 3s in Big Ten play and 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) from the free throw line. He averages 10.8 points and six rebounds in 27.5 minutes per game.
(Shot charts via UMHoops)
The rest of the front court rotation includes 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Brandon Williams and 6-foot-10 senior Steven Jamerson.
Williams, who redshirted last season, has been a low-efficiency offensive option through 20 games. He’s shooting only 48.5 percent on 2s and 21.1 percent on 3s and spends most of his time at the four.
Jamerson, a transfer from San Diego, is shooting 70.8 from the field and averages 2.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12 minutes per game off the bench.
The UCLA backcourt has been missing Skyy Clark for the last seven games due to a hamstring injury. Clark was listed as questionable for the Oregon game on Wednesday night but did not play. The return of the 6-foot-3 guard is expected to happen sooner rather than later. Clark is UCLA’s second-leading scorer at 13.5 points per game and he’s shooting 48.6 percent on 3s.
If Clark returns, Cronin will have a decision to make with sophomore Trent Perry, who has been excellent since moving into the starting lineup in Clark’s absence. Perry is averaging 15.5 points as a starter over the last seven games. He’s shooting 40 percent on 3s in Big Ten play and has been hard to keep off the free-throw line. Perry’s free-throw rate (FTA/FTA) in conference games is 46.4, 16th best, and he’s shooting 92.3 percent at the line in 39 attempts.
Donovan Dent, a key transfer portal addition last spring for the Bruins, has been up and down in his first Big Ten season. Dent is UCLA’s third-leading scorer at 13.1 points per game and also leads the Bruins with 6.6 assists per game. He’s shooting just 42.2 percent from the field, 60.4 percent from the line and 21.2 percent on 3s.
Senior guard Jamar Brown and freshman Eric Freeny round out the guard rotation. Brown, a 6-foot-5 senior transfer from Kansas City, is a capable 3-point shooter. He’s 21-for-53 on 3s, good for 39.6 percent.
Freeny, who redshirted last season, will be the odd man out once Clark returns from injury. Freeny has been ineffective in limited minutes this season and has the lowest offensive rating on the roster.
TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW
(All conference rankings below in parentheses are through Thursday’s games.)
The Bruins are a strong defensive team, ranking fifth in the Big Ten in defensive efficiency and fourth in opponent turnover percentage. UCLA’s Big Ten opponents are averaging 19.7 seconds per offensive possession, the longest average possession length in the conference.
Defensive rebounding has been an issue for the Bruins, who are allowing conference opponents to grab 36.3 percent of their missed shots.
Offensively, UCLA is fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage and 15th in 2-point field goal percentage. The Bruins, however, have the lowest 3-point volume in the conference with just 34.9 percent of their field goal attempts coming from the perimeter. The Hoosiers are taking 53.2 percent of their shots in Big Ten play from 3, the second-highest in the league.
Indiana’s chances on Saturday will hinge heavily on taking care of the ball, making 3s and avoiding unnecessary fouls. The Hoosiers have the third-worst opponent free-throw rate in the league and the Bruins are fifth-best among Big Ten teams at getting to the line.
WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO
The KenPom projection has UCLA by two points with a 41 percent chance of an IU win. Bart Torvik likes UCLA by one point with a 49 percent chance of a Hoosier victory.
The recipe for IU winning games this season is clear: the Hoosiers have to limit turnovers, make 3s at an efficient rate and clean up the defensive glass. Darian DeVries has preached the importance of taking care of the ball and defensive rebounding going back to the summer. And the 3-point shot is the fuel for IU’s offense.
UCLA is an impressive 12-0 at home, but the Bruins haven’t drawn particularly impressive crowds at Pauley Pavilion and an early Saturday afternoon tip won’t provide the most intimidating atmosphere. Of IU’s five remaining road games, this is one of the three most favorable, along with USC and Ohio State. The Hoosiers will need to find a way to win at least one of those contests to bolster their resume ahead of Selection Sunday, which is just over six weeks away.
(Photo credit: UCLA Athletics)
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