Michigan State center Carson Cooper (15) and guard Jeremy Pierce Jr. (1) defend UCLA guard Donovan Dent (2) during the second half of the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Friday, March 13, 2026, at the United Center in Chicago. Donovan Dent had 23 points and 12 assists and Trent Perry had 22 points to lead UCLA to an 88-84 win over No. 8 Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday in Chicago.
The sixth-seeded Bruins (23-10) faced seventh-seeded Purdue in Saturday’s semifinals.
UCLA came up short, fending off a late challenge from third-seeded Michigan State. Bruins starting forward Tyler Bilodeau scored five points in 10 minutes before leaving the game late in the first half with a right leg injury.
Jeremy Fears Jr. paced Michigan State (25-7) with 21 points and 13 assists. The Spartans, who trailed by 15 points with 15 minutes, 11 seconds left, pulled to within two when Kur Teng hit a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left.
UCLA scored eight of its final 14 points, including four free throws by Perry in the final 12 seconds, to seal the win.
Michigan State was unable to build its advantage in a 23-point home win over UCLA on Feb. 17. The Spartans shot 45.2 percent compared to the Bruins’ 55.6 percent while committing 12 turnovers.
Carson Cooper and Teng each had 13 points for the Spartans, while Koen Carr had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Eric Dailey Jr. had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds for UCLA. Skyy Clark scored 15 points.
UCLA led by as many as 13 points in the first half and led 44-33 at halftime.
Through the first 20 minutes, Dent (12 points) and Perry (10 points) held the Bruins to 8-for-13 shooting. In the first half, UCLA shot 63% and Michigan State shot 32.1%.
A fast-paced start helped the Spartans gain an early advantage. Carr, leaping with Cooper, took an alley-oop feed from Fears with 16:09 to play for a 9-5 lead.
But ball control problems soon arose. Michigan State had as many turnovers (7) in the first half as field goals (9).
Michigan State fell to 0-4 this season while trailing by double digits in the first half.
UCLA led 69-67 against Purdue on Jan. 20 on Bilodeau’s 3-pointer with 8 seconds left.
–Field level media
