Perry, Dailey Stress 'Next Man Up' After UCLA Star Injuries

For the UCLA Bruins, not only did they suffer a defeat in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals, but they also suffered two massive losses throughout the tournament.

First, Bruins star Tyler Bilodeau suffered a knee injury during the quarterfinals against Michigan State. He has been the team’s best player offensively this season, averaging a team-high 17.6 points per game on 52/46/87 shooting splits. Fortunately for the Bruins, they were still able to pull off an 88-84 upset over the Spartans despite Bilodeau only being able to watch from the sideline.

Dent Suffers Injury In Big 10 Semifinals

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) passes the ball against Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

As if that wasn’t bad enough, starting point guard Donovan Dent, who has been on a tear of late, suffered a calf injury in the Semifinals against Purdue.

Dent had arguably the best player in the conference tournament before suffering his injury, ushering in the first triple-double in Big Ten Tournament history in the 3rd round against Rutgers, and then scoring 23 points with 12 assists and 6 rebounds in the win over Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

Mar 13, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) drives to the basket against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Dent has been on fire since the last few weeks of the regular season, dishing out 78 assists to just six turnovers in his last eight games. With the NCAA Tournament nearing, they’ll need Dent and Bilodeau to have any chance of going on a deep run. UCLA already dealt with a long-term injury to Skyy Clark in the middle of the season, and these new injuries are the last thing they need right now.

After their loss to Purdue, guards Trent Perry and Eric Dailey Jr. talked about the team’s mentality despite the injuries they’ve been faced with.

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry (0) shoots against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Perry, Dailey Share Thoughts

Mar 14, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry (0) brings the ball up court against Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

“It’s just next man up,” Perry said. “We had Skyy out early in Big Ten play, at the end of the day, it’s next man up. We have a lot of great players on this team. Everybody’s capable of stepping up, and I feel like a lot of people showed that tonight.”

“Next man up, next man has got to play hard, and play for their team,” Dailey added.

Mar 13, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Eric Dailey Jr. (3) is defended by Michigan State Spartans forward Jaxon Kohler (0) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Bruins are no strangers to dealing with injuries, and they’ll need to manage them once again at the most important time of the season, arguably. They’ll hope that their two best players will be good enough to go for the Big Dance, but in the meantime, other players will have to prepare to shoulder much more responsibility should they be unable to perform at their highest level.