Bruins Battle, Fall to Tennessee in Second Round of NCAA Tournament

The No. 7-seeded UCLA Bruins' (23-11) season ended in defeat as they fell to the No. 2-seeded Tennessee Volunteers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in Lexington, Kentucky. After a strong first half, the Bruins were not able to keep pace with a hot-shooting Volunteer team.

The Bruins battled tough through the first 20 minutes of the contest, holding a lead at multiple stages of the half until the Volunteers went on an 8-0 scoring run to end the first half, putting the Bruins down by seven. The lead would only grow larger, and the Bruins ultimately were bested, 67-58.

Tennessee was red-hot from 3-point land, shooting 50% and knocking down 11 triples. Senior guard Chaz Lanier posted a game-high 20 points, going 4-5 from downtown, while adding four rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Zakai Ziegler finished with 15 points, six assists and three steals.

Despite the strong 3-point shooting from Tennessee, the Bruins were unable to establish themselves in the rebound game. They were -10 in rebounds, leading to 13 second-chance points. The Volunteers also scored 15 points off of UCLA's turnovers -- it finished with 11.

For the Bruins, they struggled to shoot the ball for a majority of the contest. After the fast start, they went ice cold, finishing the game shooting 35.8% (19-53) from the field and 30.4% (7-23) from triple range.

Junior guard Skyy Clark did not play much in the first half but gave the Bruins somewhat of an offensive boost with a team-high 18 points while adding two steals. The only other Bruin to score in double figures was junior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who recorded 15 points and four rebounds.

Sophomore center Aday Mara was a force in the first half, scoring 7 points with five rebounds, three assists and three blocks. In his first two tournament games, Mara had eight total blocks and is going to be a promising piece for this team over the next two seasons. His ceiling is extremely high.

Even though the season is over, the Bruins have to be proud of what they were able to do this year. This was a team that had very little chemistry entering the season with a litter of first-year transfers and was able to compete atop the Big Ten while making it to the Round of 32.

Immense credit goes to UCLA seniors Kobe Johnson and Lazar Stefanovic. Two of the hardest-working leaders on the team benefitted this group in more ways than one and will be cherished as memorable members of this program. The road to the 2026 Final Four starts now.

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