UCLA
20-9,11-7Big Ten
Purdue
20-9,12-6Big Ten
Men's Basketball Falls at No. 20 Purdue, 76-66
February 28, 2025 | Men's Basketball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The UCLA men's basketball team fell to No. 20-ranked Purdue, 76-66, in a Big Ten Conference game on Friday evening at Mackey Arena.
Tyler Bilodeau registered team highs of 15 points and seven rebounds for the Bruins (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten). Sebastian Mack scored 10 of the team's 30 bench points.
Trey Kaufman-Renn posted a game-high 29 points for the Boilermakers (20-9, 12-6). Braden Smith added 23, making six of 10 attempts from 3-point distance, and dished a game-high eight assists.
Purdue ended the game on a 21-10 scoring run after UCLA led the contest, 56-55, with 8:26 remaining. The Boilermakers shot 7-for-14 from 3-point distance in the second half (and were 11-for-22 from long-range in the entire game).
"Our defense wasn't quick enough to win," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We had too many turnovers. We had 14 turnovers and we were minus five on the turnover chart. We don't do that, and they were unforced. To give Purdue credit, their backs were against the wall tonight and we got their best effort. We couldn't handle it. I thought it was a close game. We took a few iffy shots, but then the bottom line was we couldn't stop them."
With the Bruins ahead, 56-55, Kaufman-Renn hit a pair of free throws to give Purdue a one-point lead. After a missed shot by the Bruins, he sank a floating jump shot to put the Boilermakers ahead, 59-56. Purdue continued its scoring run with a second-chance basket from Kaufman-Renn at the 5:35 mark, before Camden Heide buried a 3-pointer with 4:49 to play. That 3-point basket pushed Purdue's advantage to eight points (64-56) with fewer than five minutes remaining.
UCLA had taken the lead at multiple instances midway through the second half after having trailed, 29-19, with under six minutes to play in the opening half. A layup by Kaufman-Renn with 5:59 to play in the first half put Purdue ahead, 29-19. The Bruins answered as Mack knocked down a 3-pointer to jump start an 8-0 scoring run. Mack scored on each of his first four first-half shot attempts, including a pair from beyond the arc.
The Bruins made six of their last seven shot attempts before halftime, entering the intermission behind by a 37-35 tally. The Boilermakers were successful on 15 of 25 shot attempts (60 percent) in the game's opening 20 minutes, but UCLA held a 20-7 advantage on the boards.
The second half at Mackey Arena featured 10 lead changes. The Bruins took their first lead of the game at 42-40, after Bilodeau converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 17:29 remaining. Neither team claimed an advantage of any larger than five points until Purdue used its 12-0 scoring run in the game's final seven minutes.
Purdue led the Bruins, 50-46, with 14:22 to play before UCLA stormed back. The Bruins led 53-52 at the 11:24 mark on a jump shot by Bilodeau. Purdue countered on a 3-point basket by Smith with 10:25 to play, and UCLA tied the game (55-55) on a jump shot by Dylan Andrews. William Kyle III's free throw shot put the Bruins on top, 56-55, before Purdue's 12-0 scoring run.
Friday night's contest marked the first meeting between UCLA and Purdue since the two programs faced each other in a home-and-home series in Dec. 1999 and Dec. 2000. UCLA had won those two matchups.
The Bruins have just two regular-season games remaining. Up next, UCLA will play at Northwestern on Monday, March 3. Game time in Evanston, Ill., is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT (8 p.m. CT, in Illinois). The game at Welsh-Ryan Arena will be nationally televised on FS1.
UCLA's season-finale against crosstown rival USC is set for Saturday, March 8, at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. UCLA's game against the Trojans will take place at 5 p.m. (PT).
