Bruins' Four-Game Skid Changed Their Season

The UCLA Bruins suffered a disappointing four-game losing streak at the turn of the calendar year. They have become a different team since that point and are better for the adversity they went through in early January.

Jan 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin talks with guard Lazar Stefanovic (10) and guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) against the Southern California Trojans at the Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The UCLA Bruins (20-8, 11-6) have had a season riddled with ups and downs, but ever since their four-game losing stretch to begin the new year, they have been a completely different team for the better. All it took was a good smack in the mouth to define this team as a national contender.

The Bruins got out to a sensational start to the season with an 11-2 record. They had just earned a big-time win over then-No. 14 Gonzaga just before New Year's. They opened 2025 with four-straight conference losses that seemed to have crippled UCLA's season midway through the year.

A close 8-point road loss to Nebraska would be followed by the Bruins' first home loss of the season, falling to then-No. 24 Michigan by 19 points. They would lose their next two games by a combined 25 points to Maryland and Rutgers, both on the road.

In what many thought was a lost first year in the Big Ten, the Bruins responded better than any team in the country. They displayed incredible resiliency by responding with a seven-game win streak that brought them from a 2-4 Big Ten to 9-4 in conference play.

Since that losing streak, the Bruins have nine of their last 11 games and are the fifth-best team in the Big Ten standings. They will have a chance in the final three games of the regular season to earn a potential top-four spot and a double-bye in the upcoming conference tournament.

The midseason struggles were something that this team needed to realize their identity and find out what type of team they were going to be this season. If everything was sunshine and easy wins, they would never realize their weaknesses that must be improved on before the NCAA Tournament arrives.

For the teams that win all the time and never face adversity, they fail to realize what it takes to climb out of the depths of a losing skid to reinvigorate the team and fanbase with success and confidence. It is almost required that the Bruins lost those games to understand what it takes to be great.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.