UCLA falls to Purdue in Big Ten semifinal without injured Tyler Bilodeau

Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times on Mar 14, 2026

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CHICAGO — His best shooter had already been ruled out. Then, midway through the first half, his star point guard left for the locker room.

It was the kind of worst-case scenario in the lead-up to March that UCLA coach Mick Cronin had probably only considered in his nightmares. But here was Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA’s leading scorer, dressed in an all-black sweatsuit on the bench, and here was Donovan Dent, the Bruins’ ascending senior point guard, slumped in his chair a few seats down, a sleeve wrapped around his injured leg.

Both Bilodeau and Dent should be OK by next week, a school spokesperson said, when UCLA is expected to draw a seventh or eighth seed in the NCAA Tournament. Bilodeau’s injury was a minor knee sprain suffered in the win over Michigan State on Friday, while UCLA said Saturday that Dent merely “tweaked” his lower leg. But the loss of both players ultimately proved too much for the Bruins to overcome in a 73-66 loss to Purdue

UCLA put up a valiant effort without them. With just over six minutes remaining, Skyy Clark stole a pass for a breakaway lay-in, then hit a corner three-pointer on the Bruins’ next possession to cut Purdue’s lead to just two points. Trent Perry pulled up from mid-range after that to tie the score at 60.

But with every swing from UCLA, Purdue punched back harder. Purdue’s 6-foot-11 center, Oscar Cluff, proved too much for the short-handed Bruins’ down low. The combined size of Cluff, who scored 17, and forward Trey Kaufman-Renn made matters difficult on the glass, where Purdue piled up 37 rebounds to UCLA’s 26. Cluff and Kaufman-Renn combined for 24.

UCLA hung tough until the end, but in the final minutes UCLA couldn’t muster quite enough to climb back.

Perry led the way with 15 points and nine assists. But he shot only four of 12 from the field.

Without Bilodeau, the Bruins were already entering the game without their most dangerous shooter. And while his absence wasn’t really felt Friday night, UCLA certainly could’ve used his offense on Saturday.

Losing Dent only made matters more difficult for a team that had grown accustomed to his extraordinary playmaking over the past month. Across two Big Ten Tournament games, Dent had already accumulated 35 points, 24 assists and 12 rebounds. He had just two points on 1-of-4 shooting when he left the game Saturday.

In less than four minutes of action, UCLA had already dug a 15-2 hole, and Purdue had already caught fire from the field, hitting three of its four attempts from 3-point range.

The Bruins eventually settled in, and the Boilermakers cooled down. Purdue missed its next nine shots and went scoreless for six minutes. UCLA climbed all the way back in a hurry, tying the score at 17. But in the process, it lost Dent, who limped up the tunnel at the 9:46 mark of the first half. When he returned several minutes later, he was wearing a white sleeve on his right leg.

Cronin ultimately chose to exercise caution with its pair of injured stars, hoping that his other contributors could deliver in a critical moment.

The bet paid off, as the rest of the rotation stepped up in their place. Guard Eric Freeny had eight points. Xavier Booker came up big in the second half with seven points, while Eric Dailey Jr. reeled in seven second-half rebounds and finished with 10 while scoring 11 points.

It wasn’t enough. But with both of UCLA’s injured stars expected back for the start of the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins are crossing their fingers that they found something special in Chicago that can carry over into next week.

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