UCLA
7-3,2-0Big Ten
Gonzaga
10-1,0-0WCC
No. 25 UCLA Falls to No. 8 Gonzaga, 82-72
December 13, 2025 | Men's Basketball
SEATTLE โ The No. 25-ranked UCLA men's basketball team fell to No. 8-ranked Gonzaga, 82-72, at Climate Pledge Arena in a non-conference contest on Saturday night.
Tyler Bilodeau scored a team-high and season-best 24 points for UCLA (7-3), having made 7 of 13 shots from the field. He added four rebounds and two blocks. Donovan Dent and Xavier Booker also finished in double digits for the Bruins. Dent totaled had a double-double (12 points, 10 assists), while Booker finished the game with 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
Graham Ike led Gonzaga (10-1) with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field. He added five rebounds and five assists.
ย
"We just couldn't get the job done, defensively," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We tried zone, man, double, triple-team in the post. You name it and we couldn't get the job done. When you foul as much as we had to foul, you're out of position, out of position, against good teams. That's how you end up fouling."
ย
The Bruins trailed by five points at halftime, 45-40, and by as many as eight points early in the second half, trailing 53-45 with 17 minutes remaining, before using a substantial scoring run to get back into the game.
UCLA took its first lead, at 54-53, with 14:33 left in the second half, courtesy of a 9-0 run. Bilodeau connected from deep to start the run, before two steals and a block contributed to a layup on the break by Brandon Williams, a dunk by Eric Dailey Jr., and a layup for Dent. That sequence helped put UCLA on top of Gonzaga, 54-53. The lead marked UCLA's first since the 10:23 mark of the first half.
Gonzaga made a run of their own to take a 66-60 advantage, before Dent found Booker for the slam to get the Bruins within four points, 66-62. Dent followed with a jump shot to reduce Gonzaga's deficit to two points, 66-64.
Bilodeau continued his hot shooting in the second half, connecting on a 3-point basket from well behind the 3-point arc to get the Bruins within two points, 47-45, early in the second half.
Late in the game, Gonzaga's Mario Saint-Suprey sank a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up 70-64, with just over seven minutes remaining. Gonzaga extended the lead to 74-64 with 4:22 left in the game, and unfortunately for the Bruins, they could not close the gap in the game's final minutes.
UCLA shot 57 percent in the first half, while Gonzaga shot 58 percent. UCLA closed the game against Gonzaga having shot 49.0 percent overall and 46.7 percent from 3-point distance (7-for-15).
Bilodeau paced all scorers in the opening half with 16 points, including a crucial 3-pointer to cut the Bruins' deficit to four, 41-37. Jamar Brown added another triple on the next Bruin possession to keep UCLA within 43-40 of Gonzaga.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of the opening half, at 23-22, with 10:51 to go. Gonzaga's Adam Miller cashed in from behind the arc. Gonzaga extended its lead to 33-25 before a Booker slam dunk, and a Bilodeau triple got the Bruins within five, 35-30, just under four minutes remaining before the intermission.
ย
UCLA raced out to a 7-0 run to begin the game, with Skyy Clark knocking down a triple early on. Gonzaga closed the gap to 13-12, before Clark nailed his second 3-pointer of the contest to push the Bruins lead to four, 16-12, with 11:59 remaining in the half.
The Bruins will host three non-conferences contests in Pauley Pavilion over the next two weeks. UCLA will host Arizona State on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Game time this Wednesday is 7:30 p.m. (PT). In addition, upcoming home games include non-conference showdowns with Cal Poly (Dec. 198) and UC Riverside (Dec. 23). UCLA's contest against Arizona State this week will be nationally televised on FS1, with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery on call from Pauley Pavilion.
ย
