How to Watch Northwestern Men's Basketball vs UCLA: Preview, Predictions, TV Channel

How to tune in to the Wildcats' effort to return to a .500 record against the Bruins.

Jan 20, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin reacts toward officials after not getting a foul call in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The 9-10 Northwestern University Wildcats will look to snag their second straight L.A. upset — and their second straight Big Ten win — on Saturday night, when they'll square off against Mick Cronin's 13-6 UCLA Bruins.

Northwestern is riding high after a surprise 74-68 road victory at the Galen Center on Wednesday, against the supposedly superior USC Trojans.

True freshman point guard Jake West, making his third start this season (Jayden Reid is now Chris Collins' sixth man), enjoyed a big scoring night for once — notching 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the floor (2-of-5 from deep) and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line, plus five assists and three rebounds.

Sophomore transfer swingman Max Green drew his first start, notching nine points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor (1-of-4 from deep), three dimes, three boards and a swipe in 31 minutes.

Likely All-American senior Wildcats small forward Nick Martinelli needs offensive release valves to help keep opposing defenses honest.

With Arrinten Page and Reid now demoted, Chris Collins is clearly hoping young guns like West, Green and freshman forwards Tyler Koop and Tre Singleton can fulfill that role midseason.

Game Preview

UCLA has gone 3-1 across its last four contests, with Tyler Bilodeau, Trent Perry, and Donovan Dent alternately leading the charge from a scoring perspective. The club boasts five double-digit scorers on the season, and is fairly elite from deep. The Bruins are connecting on 37.3 percent (the 31st-best in college) of their 20.1 triple tries a night.

The Bruins are not much of a threat inside. UCLA has taken just 387 free throw attempts this season (231st-best in the NCAA) and grabbed a scant 604 total boards (338th).

Northwestern X-Factors

Northwestern's erratic starting lineup points to a bigger issue: Chris Collins might just not have a true second option on offense.

The Wildcats need to drive inside, and where possible exploit size mismatches for easy buckets. Northwestern sometimes can settle for jumpers even when they're not hitting. But UCLA won't offer much resistance in the paint.

Martinelli needs to be unafraid of pursuing fouls and getting to the line.

Predictions

The Wildcats will keep things close late, but the inconsistent scoring of their young pieces could doom them down the home stretch — assuming Martinelli's hero ball can't help Northwestern pull off a narrow win.

Final Score Prediction: UCLA 65, Northwestern 62.

How to Watch, Listen

• Matchup: Northwestern (9-10, 1-7 B1G) vs UCLA (13-6, 5-3 B1G)
• When: Saturday, January 24
• Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
• Time: 5 p.m. CST 
• Watch: FS1 (TV)
• Listen: WGN Radio 720 AM, The Varsity Network

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