February 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA forward Xavier Booker (1) tangles with Illinois forward Ben Humlicious (3) under the basket during the second half at Foley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Image UCLA coach Mick Cronin enjoyed a few quiet days of preparation this week.
The noise is back in Chicago Thursday night.
Sixth-seeded UCLA (21-10) will take on 14th-seeded Rutgers (14-18) in the third round of the Big Ten Conference tournament. Rutgers advanced with a 72-67 win over 11th-seeded Minnesota on Wednesday night, while UCLA will make its conference tournament debut after starting the week with a double-bye.
“It’s really nice to have a few days without a game for these guys,” Cronin said. “(It’s) just a stress-free environment.”
Cronin led the team through practice without knowing what opponent they would face in the Bruins’ first tournament game. He said he was better prepared to handle the situation than he was as a young coach.
“We spend so much time preparing for our opponents, and the older I get, the better I get at it, so I forget about worrying about improving the team,” Cronin, 54, said. “So later in my career, I spend less time with my opponents and it helps me worry about my team. It’s better not to even think about other teams.”
Rutgers hopes to give UCLA cause for concern.
The Scarlet Knights relied on a strong second half to knock off Minnesota in their first conference tournament matchup. Tariq Francis scored a game-high 29 points to lead Rutgers, while Emmanuel Ogbole provided a dominant effort in the paint with 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell praised his team’s effort Wednesday night.
“Our defense was really good,” he said. “We’ve struggled with that all year. We showed some fighting spirit today. … “I’m proud of our guys. We’re getting better. We’ve been fighting all year. It’s a tough league,” he said.
The Scarlet Knights have won three of their last four games.
“Our young players are getting better and better,” Pikiell said. “They stayed the course.”
UCLA won 98-66 at home over Rutgers on February 3 in the teams’ only meeting of the regular season. Xavier Booker scored a game-high 24 points for the Bruins, Tyler Bilodeau added 19 points and Donovan Dent had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.
Kaden Powers led the Scarlet Knights with 18 points, including 5-point range from 3-point range. Francis (12 points) and Reno Mark (10 points) reached double figures in bench scoring.
–Field level media
