The UCLA men’s basketball team’s 2025-26 season has come to an end after a 73-57 hard-fought battle with the NCAA Tournament’s East Region’s No. 2 seed UConn Huskies at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Sunday.
The Bruins put up a spirited fight against one of the best teams in the country without leading scorer, senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, but they ended up on the losing side. Head coach Mick Cronin’s team put their bodies on the line and played with heart, but it wasn’t enough for a berth to the Sweet 16.
Booker’s moment
Junior forward Xavier Booker stepped in the starting lineup for the injured senior forward Tyler Bilodeau and led the team with 13-points and five rebounds. In the last three games, he put up 12 points against Purdue, 15 versus UCF and 13 against UConn. Although UCLA’s season has ended, the 6-foot-11 forward has stepped up when the Bruins needed him to this postseason.
Where’s the defense?
After a strong showing in the opening minutes, UCLA struggled to stop the Huskies explosive offense helmed by senior forward Alex Karaban, who ignited the Bruins defense on fire as he carved through them for a game-leading 27-points. He wasn’t the only one to shine against UCLA either with three other Huskies scoring double digit points as UConn ended the game shooting 47 percent from the field as they blazed past the Bruins.
Struggling stars
Redshirt senior guard Donovan Dent has struggled to consistently hit shots from the field. Sophomore guard Trent Perry has also been a bit of a shooting slump, with Dent and Perry making only 4-of-24 combined field goals against UCF. Both of them continued their shooting struggles into their game against UConn. The veteran point guard scored 11-points, but went 2-9 on his field goals. Perry had the fewest points of any Bruins starter with five-points while shooting 2-of-8 from the field.
Ran into a wall
UCLA’s offense struggled to find consistency and build momentum throughout the game, due to UConn smothering them on defense. The Huskies managed to steal the ball seven times and smacked down five blocks with senior center Tarris Reed Jr. leading the pack with a steal and three blocks.
Missed opportunities
Despite UCLA’s struggles, they had plenty of opportunities to increase their first half lead and even chances in the second half to mount a comeback. UCLA could have increased their six-point lead when the Huskies were starting the game disjointed and increase their chances of an upset if they would have prioritized making their shots and rebounding. Instead UCLA shot 39 percent from the field and had 24 rebounds compared to UConn shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and 36 rebounds.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: 5 takeaways: UCLA MBB’s season ends at the hands of the Huskies
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
