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Short-handed UCLA men hold off UCF in NCAA Tournament opener

March 21, 2026

PHILADELPHIA — Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points, Xaiver Booker had 15 points and eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau and seventh-seeded UCLA withstood every serious challenge to beat 10th-seeded UCF, 75-71, in an NCAA Tournament opener on Friday night.

The Bruins (24-11) will face either No. 2 seed Connecticut or 15th-seeded Furman in a second-round game on Sunday.

Trent Perry had 15 points and five rebounds for UCLA, while point guard Donovan Dent shot just 4 for 17 from the field but found other ways to contribute, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals. Skyy Clark had eight points, and Booker added four blocked shots.

Jordan Burks scored 22 points and hit six 3-pointers – including one that made it 72-69 with 10 seconds left – to almost single-handedly carry UCF (21-12) into the second round.

Bilodeau was ruled out with a knee sprain shortly before the game, despite a UCLA spokesperson telling reporters earlier that he would play. He was previously listed as questionable to play on the team’s injury report.

Bilodeau sustained the injury in the Bruins’ Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal victory over Michigan State last week. An MRI later revealed a mild sprain, enough to knock him out for their Big Ten semifinal loss to eventual tournament champion Purdue. The senior forward, an All-Big Ten third-team selection who averaged 17.6 points per game this season, was expected to be available for the NCAA Tournament.

Despite Bilodeau’s absence, the Bruins are back in the second round – with one player minus a tooth – for the second straight tournament after missing out in 2024.

Combustible coach Mick Cronin preached for his team to hit the reset button after losing in the Big Ten semifinals and skipping the NCAA selection show. With every alley-oop dunk the Bruins looked rested and sent the UCLA fans in the arena into a frenzy.

For every run the Knights went on – most notably in the second half when Burks hit consecutive 3-pointers that pulled them within three points and sent “U-C-F!” chants rolling through the arena – the Bruins brought them back to reality.

Perry hit back-to-back layups that sparked a 12-1 run for the Bruins and seemingly put some distance between them and the Knights.

But, Burks hit another 3-pointer that cut the deficit to nine points with 2:01 left in the game and he made a layup to make it 68-62.

The Bruins converted their free throws and ran out the clock to win for the seventh time in nine games.

UCLA’S CLARK NEEDS A DENTIST

Clark lost a tooth late in the game when he dove for a loose ball and appeared to get elbowed in the face by a UCF defender. The tooth went flying and members of the UCLA staff scurried around to try and find it.

UCLA walk-on Jack Seidler found the loose tooth.

Clark hit the final throw to secure the win.

UCF’S BOL SCORES FOR UCLA

Seven-foot-2 UCF center John Bol accidentally scored a basket for UCLA when the ball popped straight out of his hands when he jumped on a defensive rebound attempt.

The blooper bucket gave UCLA a 35-31 lead.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

News Details

Short-handed UCLA men hold off UCF in NCAA Tournament opener

UCLA’S CLARK NEEDS A DENTIST

UCF’S BOL SCORES FOR UCLA

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