The Big Ten is notorious for physicality, hustle and hard-nosed teams that dominate on the glass and in the paint.

But the conference has adapted to changing styles and trends. Now, those same old-school college basketball teams live and die by the 3-point line.

And Saturday afternoon’s contest between UCLA men’s basketball (15-6, 7-3 Big Ten) and Indiana (14-7, 5-5) at Pauley Pavilion could very well be decided by who defends the arc and who excels from deep. The Hoosiers are No. 24 in the nation in 3-pointers attempted, while the Bruins rank second in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage and No. 21 in the country in 3-point defense – managing 37.6% from deep while holding opposing teams to a 29.6% clip.

“Three things I would tell you about Indiana – because we’re all paranoid as coaches. They’re a great shooting team,” said coach Mick Cronin. “They have three of the best shooters in the country, not the Big Ten – Wilkerson (guard Lamar Wilkerson) , Dorn (guard Nick Dorn) and Tucker (forward Tucker DeVries). Secondly, they’re smart. They pass the ball and put you in a lot of tough situations to defend their shooters.”

Wilkerson – who ranks sixth in the conference in scoring with 19.4 points per game – excels from deep and could catch heat if he sees his first couple go in. Wilkerson shoots 39.7% from beyond the arc on 8.3 attempts per game, while Dorn boasts a 45.1% clip on 4.8 attempts per contest.

And while DeVries has struggled with shooting efficiency, showing just a 39.9% field goal shooting clip so far this season, he has the ability to convert on contested shots and could trigger issues for the Bruins’ defensive pressure.

[Related: https://dailybruin.com/2026/01/30/scouting-report-ucla-mens-basketball-vs-indiana]

Other than the Bruins’ staunch perimeter defense, the home crowd of Pauley Pavilion could stifle the Hoosiers’ 3-point efforts. UCLA has played just three home games since the new year, but are embarking on a three-game homestand starting Saturday.

“In American sports, college basketball is the biggest homecourt advantage in all American sports, statistically, so you’d prefer to be at home,” Cronin said. “And then, you’re in a great conference, you better win at home – so hopefully our fan base will give us a great boost against Indiana.”

A lack of continuity on the Hoosiers’ roster could also plague their efforts to upset the Bruins in Westwood. Just one player returns from last year’s Indiana squad, with coach Darian DeVries bringing in a virtually all-new roster.

And while Indiana has felt the growing pains of a freshly built roster, it seems that the Bloomington squad has begun to settle in after 21 games.

“Coach DeVries’ son has played for him, and I think Enright (guard Conor Enright) played for him at Drake, so it’s taken his team a while to become who he wants them to become. And he’s done a great job – they’re a vastly improved team from the beginning of the season,” Cronin said.

Forward Sam Alexis has been an integral part of the Hoosiers, taking their full form. Alexis has started the last 12 games after beginning the season on the bench behind forward Reed Bailey. While Alexis averages just 7.1 points per game, he is a tenacious rebounder who could transform a team that ranks No. 16 in the Big Ten in boards per game into a Bruin nightmare.

The Bruins have been outrebounded in four of their eight games since the new year – a dramatic improvement after facing rebounding struggles throughout the season.

A critical aspect of UCLA’s increased rebounding efforts comes from junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr, who has grabbed seven or more boards in six of the last nine contests.

“It’s not, ‘Eric, will you go rebound?’ but it’s like, we need to rebound to win the games. Like last year, we used to have a problem with getting outrebounded just because we were undersized,” Dailey said. “This year, I feel like I’ve got some of my athleticism back, where I can go in there and get those big boards and be effective and bang a lot more.”

Saturday could also mark senior guard Skyy Clark’s return to the hardwood after being sidelined for seven games due to a hamstring injury suffered against Iowa on Jan. 3. Before his injury, Clark averaged 13.5 points per contest on a 48.6% clip from beyond the arc.

Clark’s reentrance to the team could mean fewer minutes for sophomore guard Trent Perry, who has started in Clark’s absence. Perry excelled with an uptick in minutes, posting double-digit points in eight of the last 10 contests.

But regardless of whether Perry starts on the hardwood or sees reduced minutes on the bench, he made one thing clear.

“I’m in favor of winning,” Perry said.