Coach Mick Cronin made his thoughts on his players clear after his team’s Saturday loss to Ohio State.

“Highly disappointed,” Cronin said. “Our inability to play defense – I offer no excuses. Blame me. I recruited them. I signed them as free agents. We’re not going to win meaningful games if we can’t stop the other team. You can’t give up plus-80 [points] and win on the road. You can’t do it. Our defense was an embarrassment today.”

And while the Bruins have an opportunity to weather the storm and rise to the occasion at home after two consecutive road trips to start the new year, Tuesday could represent too tall a task.

UCLA men’s basketball (12-6, 4-3 Big Ten) will face No. 4 Purdue (17-1, 7-0 Big Ten) on Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion. The Boilermakers have lost just once this season, falling to then-No. 10 Iowa State on Dec. 6, and are riding a nine-game win streak. Meanwhile, the Bruins are 2-3 since the beginning of 2026 and 1-5 in quad one contests.

Aggression at the glass and on the defensive side of the court will decide UCLA’s fate, should they have a chance on Tuesday.

The Bruins were outrebounded by 10 against the Buckeyes – their third time getting outboarded by double-digits this season.

And in its 12-point loss to Ohio State, UCLA allowed three opponents to put up 20-plus points, all of whom shot at least 50% from the field. The Buckeyes’ 86 points marked the seventh time this season the Bruins have conceded 80-plus points.

“Last couple of games, it was great,” Cronin said after Saturday’s defeat. “Today, we couldn’t guard them. We had plenty of time to get ready and talk about it. In my opinion, we didn’t have anybody interested in rising to the challenge. Everybody wants somebody else to get the dirty work. We’re a team that struggles to have dirty work guys.”

The Boilermakers may confirm the Bruin head honcho’s statement, considering that they rank fifth in the Big Ten in rebounds per game with 37.7 and first in 3-point percentage with a 39.2% clip.

Purdue is led by the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and 2025 AP First-Team All-American selection in Braden Smith. The guard averages 14.7 points per game on a 42.9% clip from beyond the arc and leads the nation in assists, having already broken the all-time conference record in assists.

Smith is joined by guard Fletcher Loyer, who averages 13.4 points per game on 38.6% from 3-point land and stands to exploit the Bruins’ weak backcourt defense.

“They had two really tough guards,” said senior forward Tyler Bilodeau. “We just got to be more ready to play, step up to the fight. We knew they were a good rebounding team. Then again, I don’t think we were ready to fight on the glass either.”

Forward Trey Kaufman-Renn and center Oscar Cluff lead the Boilermakers’ rebounding efforts, averaging 9.1 and 8.2 boards per game, respectively. The duo’s tallies rank fourth and seventh in the Big Ten, respectively, while the Bruins do not have a player in the top 25.

The Bruins will need increased collective efforts on the glass to compete with the Boilermakers, particularly from junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. and UCLA’s frontcourt – redshirt senior forward/center Steven Jamerson II, junior forward/center Xavier Booker and Bilodeau.

Dailey leads UCLA in boards with 5.5 per game, and with Purdue lacking threats on the wing, the Palmetto, Florida, local could excel offensively and spearhead rejuvenated efforts in the rebounding department.

But it will not just come down to one guy on Saturday.

“We have to come together as a group,” Cronin said. We keep losing because we’re not rebounding. We keep getting outrebounded. We’re not talking as much. There was a totally different energy from Penn State to now, especially just like talking. Even myself. We were kind of quiet. We’ve got to pick it up.”