Bruins Fall, 76-66, in Tough Road Battle With No. 20 Purdue

The UCLA Bruins fought hard but ultimately fell to the No. 20 Purdue Boilermakers on the road Friday night. A late run from the Boilermakers fizzled any chance of a Bruins win as they were unable to keep pace in the final minutes.

Purdue Boilermakers forward Caleb Furst (1), UCLA Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) and Purdue Boilermakers guard C.J. Cox (0) fight for a rebound Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. | Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The UCLA Bruins (20-9, 11-7) fell to the No. 20 Purdue Boilermakers (20-9, 12-6) in a hard-fought road battle on Friday night. After losing four straight, the Boilermakers bounced back with a necessary victory on their home floor, denying the Bruins of an upset.

Holding a 1-point lead with just over 8 minutes to play, the Bruins allowed an 11-0 scoring run that completely changed the outlook of the contest. The Boilermakers would go on to win the ballgame, 76-66.

The Bruins did not shoot the ball terribly, going 24-50 (48%) from the field, yet struggled once again from 3-point range, going 5-18 (27.8%). They were combatted with a stellar 51.9% shooting from the Boilermakers, a major factor for the loss.

Purdue's top two players went to work in a must-win game as they had lost four-straight coming in. Junior guard and arguably the Big Ten's best player this year, Braden Smith, dropped 23 points with a career-high six 3-pointers. He dished eight assists, adding three steals to his stat sheet.

Boilermakers junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn was the star of the night, posting a game-high 29 points with three steals of his own. Despite outrebounding Purdue by eight, the Bruins turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 15 points off of those giveaways.

The Bruins hung with one of the best teams in the Big Ten for a majority of the game, but a scoring drought in the final minutes was the killer. They were once again led by junior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

The only other notable scorer in double figures for UCLA was sophomore guard Sebastian Mack. He came off the bench, totaling 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. He would go scoreless in the second half, adding to the Bruins' scoring troubles in the final 20 minutes.

UCLA will continue its road trip on Monday night when it faces the Northwestern Wildcats (15-13, 6-11). It will be a bounce-back spot of its own, hoping to keep pace for one of the top four spots in the Big Ten standings and a chance at a double-bye in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.

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