Bruins' Recent Loss Meant Little to Big Ten Title Race

The UCLA Bruins erased a four-game losing streak by winning seven straight. Despite that winning streak now having passed, the Bruins shouldn't hang their heads because their path to potentially winning the Big Ten is still very well in their grasp.

The Bruins fought until the very end against the Illinois Fighting Illinis, but luck was not on their side as they dropped another closely contested contest. Junior forward Tyler Bilodeau has continued to elevate UCLA to new heights when he is on the court, as he has become the Bruins leader.

Dropping 25 points, Bilodeau was a large part of the offensive effort, but what is UCLA's biggest strength could be its biggest weakness as well. If the Bruins become too reliant on Bilodeau, the chances of winning the Big Ten championship in the program's first year in the conference become more difficult.

When looking at the standings, UCLA holds an 18-7 record as it sits in fifth place in the standings and is 2.5 games out of first place. So, when you ultimately look at the standings, the loss didn't do much as the Purdue Boilermakers and the Michigan Wolverines flipped spots for first place, as Michigan beat Purdue and the Michigan State Spartans fell to the Indiana Hoosiers.

UCLA's remaining schedule should be in its favor, at least looking at it on paper. The program is set to travel to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers, a program that is fresh off its aforementioned win over Michigan State. The Bruins haven't fared well on the road throughout their campaign, but that doesn't mean they can't sneak away with a victory.

After its clash with Indiana, UCLA will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, followed by the Oregon Ducks, two teams that the Bruins rank higher than in the standings. If the Bruins can ride their 77.8 points per game average that they were riding on the win streak, there is no reason why they can't jump up in the standings.

If sophomore forward Eric Dailey Jr. can find his mojo again, especially in his shooting, the Bruins will not have to lean so heavily on Bilodeau for everything, opening up more shots as the defenders would have multiple shooting threats to guard.

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