Indiana men’s basketball is set to take on UCLA this Saturday on the road at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. It’s the Hoosiers first trip to Los Angeles since UCLA and USC joined the Big Ten last season.
UCLA has had something of a disappointing showing in 2025-25. The Bruins are by no means a bad team nor worth taking lightly, but conference title contention seems a difficult height for this group to reach after a bumpy start.
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Here’s three key factors to know about the Bruins including their last game, a standout stat and a player to watch:
Last time out: 73-57 W at Oregon
UCLA is good but unfortunately this may say more about Oregon.
The Ducks sit at 8-13 on the season with seven consecutive losses, plummeting to the doorstep of sub-100 status in KenPom’s efficiency metrics. The Bruins dealt with them as such, stifling a poor offense on the road while doing enough with the ball to earn a comfortable win.
It was an average performance for UCLA that was a few made 2s away from being even more of a blowout.
Key Stat: Average possession length, defense
UCLA drags its opponents as deep into the shot clock as it can, forcing less than ideal attempts that keep an offense from getting comfortable.
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It’s a method common in Rick Pitino’s coaching tree and hasn’t really steered Cronin, perhaps its most prominent member, wrong up to this point. The Bruins play pretty slow offensively as well, but the defense is where their tempo truly presents itself.
Indiana is built to play a bit faster and get up and down the court. Playing deep into the clock with all the movement they run and a lack of bench production could prove to be a nightmare in the second half as wear and tear becomes apparent.
Player to know: Senior F Tyler Bilodeau
Donovan Dent may have the ball in his hands the most, but Tyler Bilodeau has been key to UCLA’s offense all season.
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Bilodeau leads the Bruins in scoring, averaging 18.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 52.4% from the field and 44.7% from 3-point range in 30.5 minutes per game. He’s the primary scoring threat beyond the 3-point line, leading UCLA in makes and attempts from deep. He does it all at 6’9” so he’s a pretty tough cover. He’s also key to the Bruin defense as a shot blocker and overall presence around the rim.
He’s not necessarily a guy who’s gonna put the ball on the floor, he’s gonna do most of his damage off the ball as a cutter, from deep and around the high post. He’ll probably match up with Tucker DeVries and either of Sam Alexis or Reed Bailey at times. He’s crafty about creating contact, so Indiana will need to be careful in contesting without fouling.
