Trent Perry, Eric Dailey Want Fans at Bruins' matchup Saturday

The UCLA Bruins haven’t gotten off to as good of a start to Big Ten play as they had hoped, but they’ll have a chance to right the ship in their conference play home opener.

After falling to #25 Iowa, and Wisconsin on the road to open up Big Ten play, the Bruins will take on the Maryland Terrapins for their first home game of Big Ten play. After starting the season with high expectations, the Bruins are 10-5, and 0-2 in conference play through the first 15 games of the season, they’ve fallen from being ranked #12 in the AP Poll to start the season, to not being ranked at all.

Dec 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UC Riverside Highlanders forward Dylan Godfrey (23) and UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry (0) chase down a loose ball in the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Ahead of their matchup with Maryland, guard Trent Perry spoke about the importance of getting their first win in conference play, and winning in front of their home fans.

“It’s always a good opportunity to play basketball in front of our fans,” Perry said. “We owe them a win for tomorrow, so just going to try and prepare as much as we can, and go out there and try to get a win.”

“I don’t think there’s really an issue,” Perry added regarding the slow start to Big Ten play. “Internally, we’ve got to come out with more fire and intensity.”

Perry has been key to the Bruins this season, averaging 9.9 points per game in 14 appearances (3 starts), while shooting 38 percent from three-point range. He’ll look to provide UCLA a spark against the Terrapins.

Guard Eric Dailey Jr. also spoke at length about the Bruins’ need for a turnaround as conference play starts to ramp up, especially given the team’s attendance issues so far this season.

Dec 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) is defended by Cal Poly Mustangs guard Hamad Mousa (10) as he goes up for a basket during the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

“It’s part of the basketball experience — it’s part of the college experience,” Dailey said. “Having fans cheering, we work really hard during the year to put on a show for the students, and for all the Bruins fans. We would definitely love for them to come out, especially this weekend.”

“Just play a full 40 minutes of basketball,” Dailey added regarding what needs to change on the court. “We have spurts where we play really good, and it’s really just playing the whole complete game like that.”

The Bruins will look to get back on track against Maryland as they try to avoid a disastrous 0-3 start to Big Ten play after entering the season with lofty expectations.

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