Cronin Shares What He Has Learned About UCLA This Season

The UCLA Bruins have had a strange season, yet they still find themselves with a chance to go on a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite some ups and downs, the Bruins enter the tournament as the 7th seed in the East Region and will square off with the 10th-seeded UCF Knights. They carry a record of 23-11 overall and a 13-7 record in Big Ten play, which put them into the tournament.

Mar 13, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin yells at his team in the game against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

They’ve gone through a lot this season, from dealing with injuries to Mick Cronin ejecting his own player from a blowout loss, then snapping at a reporter in the postgame presser. It hasn’t been an easy season for the team by any stretch, but they’ve somehow made it work, and enter the tournament as a potential sleeper team to make the Sweet Sixteen.

After bouncing out of the Big Ten Tournament to Purdue in the semifinals, Cronin was asked if there is anything he had learned about his team this season.

Cronin’s Thoughts

“I was happy with the way they’ve competed,” Cronin said. “We’ve got talent, we just haven’t always had our mind on defense, which is very rare for teams I coach. But, we’ve got great guys. Since [we played Nebraska], it’s been a noted change in our team, we’ve just got to keep it up.”

Mar 13, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin directs his team against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

“We’re at UCLA,” he added. “No matter who we take the floor against in the NCAA Tournament, we’re going to run out there and we're going to be the ones wearing the baby blue and the four letters, so we believe in ourselves.”

UCLA Injury Updates

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) falls on the court due to injury during the first half of Big Ten tournament quarterfinal against Michigan State at United Center in Chicago on Friday, March 13, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bruins will be dealing with some slight injury concerns throughout at least the early part of the big dance. Both Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent suffered injuries during the Big Ten Tournament.

The Bruins’ two best players should be good to go for the NCAA Tournament, but it will be something to monitor going forward. Bilodeau has been the team’s most consistent player this season, and Dent has been on fire of late, dishing out 78 assists with just six turnovers over his last eight games.

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) drives to the basket against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

With their full attention on the tournament, the Bruins will look to prove many of their doubters wrong by embarking on a deep run. Nothing that happened during the regular season matters now, and UCLA will need to come together to put forth a strong showing in the tournament despite its inconsistencies.