March 13, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Fletcher Royer (2) shoots a free throw in the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Image Purdue dropped three losses in its last four regular season games and was unable to find a head start in the Big Ten Conference tournament in Chicago.
As it turned out, the 18th-ranked Boilermakers had no problem getting back into the groove.
Seventh-seeded Purdue (25-8), which downed 11th-seeded and second-seeded Nebraska 74-58 in Friday’s quarterfinals, will look to keep it going in Saturday’s semifinal against sixth-seeded UCLA (23-10).
The winner will face either top-seeded Michigan or fifth-seeded Wisconsin in Sunday’s title game.
“Yeah, it’s March. It’s about working on growth. It’s about working all offseason,” Boilermakers senior Fletcher Loyer said. “Obviously we want to build on our resume in the regular season, but now is the time to really do it. It’s just getting the message out. We’ve played pretty well the last few games and it’s nice to see we’ve gotten some in the winning department.”
Loyer had 19 points to lead four Boilermakers scorers in double figures as Purdue rolled past Nebraska on Friday. The Boilermakers never trailed and pushed the lead up to 20 points.
While Oscar Clough (12 points), CJ Cox (12 points) and Trey Kaufman-Len (10 points) rounded out the balanced attack, Braden Smith helped turn things around with 10 assists.
Purdue knows it needs more plays like the veteran Smith as UCLA and the NCAA Tournament approach. As Boilermakers coach Matt Painter sees it, it’s not a problem.
“He’s worked really hard to put himself in this position,” Painter said of Smith. “But you have to follow through with actions and he does that. He plays hard. He cares and he wants Purdue to win.”
UCLA avenged a lopsided regular-season road loss to Michigan State with an 88-84 win over the No. 8 and third-seeded Spartans in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Donovan Dent (23 points, 12 assists) and Eric Daley Jr. (14 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles for the Bruins and Trent Perry had 22 points.
UCLA will likely be without Tyler Bilodeau as a starter against Purdue after suffering a right leg injury late in the first half. As Bilodeau returned to the bench in the second half to cheer on his teammates, Bruins coach Mick Cronin said “it would take a modern-day miracle” for Bilodeau to play on Saturday regardless of his health.
UCLA showed solid versatility to open the conference tournament, winning four straight and six of its last seven games. After limiting Rutgers’ shooting to 37.9% in Thursday’s third-round win, the Bruins shot 55.6% against Michigan State.
“This is big time. We want to be able to win the game any way we can, whether it’s offense or defense, whatever we need that night,” Dent said. “It shows how good a team we actually are.”
UCLA won 69-67 when visiting Purdue on Jan. 20 when Bilodeau hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left.
With the Bilodeau injury, the Bruins are struggling to keep their defense steady, which is a calling card for their run downs.
“It’s just our defensive intensity. Just talking and executing the game plan.” Perry said. “Even when adversity comes our way, we keep moving forward. We stay together as a team and we keep fighting.”
–Field level media
