There is nothing like a home gym.

Especially when the Bruins play at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA men’s basketball (19-10, 11-7 Big Ten) is 16-1 at home thus far this season, upsetting both then-No. 4 Purdue and then-No. 10 Illinois, and it would be undefeated if not for a double-overtime loss to Indiana on Jan. 31.

And Tuesday night, the squad will play its final home game of the 2025-2026 season at Pauley Pavilion against No. 9 Nebraska (25-4, 14-4), where the team will honor its senior class, which includes senior starting guards Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark and senior forward Tyler Bilodeau.

Coach Mick Cronin is no stranger to the benefits of home-court advantage.

“In college basketball, I’ve said this to you, it’s the most home-court advantage sport in all of North American sports,” Cronin said during a press conference following 2025’s Selection Show. “75 percent, roughly, of games are won by the home team.”

With March Madness on the horizon, every win becomes more imperative, with each victory – whether it’s in the final two regular-season games or the Big Ten tournament – moving the needle closer and closer to an end-of-season trophy.

The Bruins will have to continue the offensive efficiency they boasted against the Golden Gophers on Saturday to start the home stretch on the right foot. The Bruins shot 50.9% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc, primarily fueled by Bilodeau’s 32 points, along with Clark and junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr.’s combined 35 points.

But beyond Bilodeau, Clark and Dailey, the rest of the Bruins combined for just six points, with Dent and sophomore guard Trent Perry netting just three points on a combined 1-for-13 shooting from the field.

In order to beat the nation’s fifth-most efficient defense, UCLA may need a complete offensive performance.

And playing under the friendly cheers of the Bruin faithful and on the familiar Pauley Pavilion hardwood may elicit a well-rounded offensive performance.

“It’s a blast. The students are in here an hour before the game, giving us energy,” Dent said after the squad’s USC victory on Feb. 24. “That’s a fun atmosphere. Hopefully, we have that for more games coming up, against Nebraska and all that. It’s a great atmosphere, it’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”

Two of Nebraska’s losses came on the road, and two came against UCLA’s two home upsets in Illinois and Purdue. However, in all four losses, the Cornhuskers held opposing teams to a sub-48% field goal percentage and sub-31% 3-point percentage.

UCLA may struggle to net buckets, but the atmosphere of a ranked game on Senior Night – when the Bruins need a win to improve March Madness seeding – could swing the tide.

“We can really shoot,” Cronin said after UCLA beat USC on Feb. 24. “I mean, 7-for-20 is a bad night for us from three. We’ve got great fans. Our students are great. I mean, sure, it would be great to have every game sold out, but we’re not in the truck stop.”

In both of UCLA’s top-10 upsets this season, the squad has shot 50%-plus from the field and 39%-plus from beyond the arc and could mirror its big-game performances against Nebraska on Tuesday night.

The Bruins have also consistently followed up disappointing results with bounce-back performances. After losing to Arizona on Nov. 14, UCLA won back-to-back games and did the same thing after falling to California on Nov. 25. UCLA also won three straight games after losing to Gonzaga on Dec. 13.

And this trend did not stop during conference play either.

UCLA won two in a row after falling in back-to-back contests to Iowa and Wisconsin to start 2026, upset Purdue and beat Northwestern after falling to Ohio State on Jan. 17, won back-to-back games after losing to Indiana on Jan. 31 and recorded two consecutive victories after losing both games on its Michigan road trip.

“How you look at adversity can go one or two ways. You can either fold, or you can push through it and come out stronger,” Perry said after UCLA defeated USC on Feb. 24. “I feel like right now we’ve grown closer as a team, and we have a great bond right now.”

Three days after losing its fifth road game of the season to Minnesota – a squad that ranks No. 11 in the conference – UCLA has another chance to show its resilience before playing its final regular-season game against USC on Saturday.