The Bruins are back in March Madness for its second consecutive year and fifth time in the coach Mick Cronin era. No. 7 seed UCLA men’s basketball (23-11, 13-7 Big Ten) will face No. 10 seed UCF (21-11, 9-9 Big 12) Friday night at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. If UCLA wins the Round of 64 matchup, it will face the winner of No. 2 seed UConn and No. 15 seed Furman on Sunday. Daily Bruin Sports editor Connor Dullinger breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the Knights ahead of the first-round game.

Personnel:

Coach: Johnny Dawkins

Starting lineup: G Themus Fulks, G Riley Kugel, F Jordan Burks, F Jamichael Stillwell, C John Bol

Best player: Themus Fulks

X-factor: Riley Kugel

KenPom ranking: No. 54

Adjusted offensive rating: 120.4 (No. 39)

Adjusted defensive rating: 105.4 (No. 103)

Adjusted tempo: 69.2 (No. 79)

The Knights did not rack up five quad wins with a middling squad.

Victories over then-No. 17 Kansas, then-No. 11 Texas Tech and then-No. 19 BYU did not occur by happenstance.

UCF earned its at-large bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

And the Knights’ resume was built on their offense.

The squad ranks No. 39 in offensive efficiency per KenPom, and is led in scoring by backcourt tandem Themus Fulks and Riley Kugel. The latter – who spent two seasons at Florida and one at Mississippi State – paces the Knights with 14.4 points per game.

Kugel’s production has hit its highlight during his senior season in Orlando. He is a volume scorer for the Knights, shooting a career-high 12.4 field goals and 4.8 3-pointers per game. He also hits a career-best 39.2% from deep.

The Orlando, Florida, local is most effective as a catch-and-shoot threat from beyond the arc, unafraid to rise from anywhere around the perimeter. Expect UCF to try and free Kugel up for 3-pointers early – using screens from the Knights’ frontcourt on the Bruins’ smaller three-guard lineup.

If Kugel gets hot early, it may be a problem for UCLA – once he heats up, he is hard to contain. This is evidenced by his 19-point game Jan. 3 against Kansas and 26-point performance Feb. 28 against Baylor.

Once he finds rhythm, he can hurt opposing teams – getting into his ISO pull up jumper, or pushing in transition using his 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame to slice through the interior.

Complementing Kugel in the backcourt is guard Fulks – an athlete Cronin already highlighted in a post-Selection Sunday press conference Monday.

Fulks is the true point guard of the Knights, and averages 6.7 assists per game. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, excels at finding open looks, working off the screen and roll or slashing into the paint.

He has an elite game sense and vision – even through interior defenders. Fulks consistently collapses the defense in or around the paint before finding open shooters at the top of the key or the opposite wing on the perimeter.

His speed moving downhill occasionally catches up with him, however, resulting in his 3.3 turnovers per contest.

Do not let Fulks’ facilitation prowess distract from his scoring ability. He shoots over 40% from deep, albeit on 1.5 3-pointers per game. Rather, Fulks’ offensive game centers around the mid-range and attacking the rim.

Fulks’ floater game makes him especially dangerous in the pick-and-roll. When he’s driving downhill, defenders must respect his ability to finish at the rim and his floater game. If he doesn’t shoot either shot, he tends to find open shooters for high-percentage looks, making him an effective guard.

Despite his 6-foot-2 frame, Fulks is not afraid to attack bigger defenders at the rim – as displayed throughout his 30-point performance against then-No. 1 Arizona on Jan. 17.

Expect senior guard Skyy Clark and redshirt freshman guard Eric Freeny to stick to Fulks for the entire 40 minutes, as Cronin looks to others to beat them.

Forwards Jordan Burks and Jamichael Stillwell take the three and four spots in the frontcourt for the starting five.

Burks is a capable 3-point scorer. He shoots 36% from deep on 4.7 attempts per game, often on passes from Fulks as he attacks the interior. Burks is a solid scoring option for the Knights, adding 13 points per game while contributing on the glass with 4.8 rebounds per game.

Nearly 50% of the forward’s shots come from beyond the arc. He excels as a catch-and-shoot 3-point scorer, always seeming to be in the right place at the right time. This is an asset for a guard like Fulks, who collapses defenses, allowing shooters to get open.

While he stands at 6-foot-9, he does most of his damage from deep, but still can give UCF points from the interior – primarily in transition or outnumbered attacks. Given his offensive skillset, expect sophomore guard Trent Perry to take Burks. While Perry is just 6-foot-4, Burks’ skillset should keep Perry from being overpowered on the interior.

Stillwell joins Burks from the four spot as an athletic forward who lives on the offensive glass. The forward paces the team with eight rebounds per game, including 3.2 on the offensive boards.

The Atlanta local is lives and breathes as a tenacious rebounder and fuels his scoring by grabbing boards and putting them back up, scoring through contact and elevating above the contest to finish at the rim.

He may lack a refined offensive skillset, but remains effective – scoring 11.7 points per game on 50.8% shooting from the field. Stillwell is also an underrated passer, averaging 2.2 per game and thriving in the high post or finding leaking players in transition.

Rounding out the starting five is John Bol. The center left the Knights last game against Arizona in the Big 12 quarterfinal with chest pain but should be ready for the Round of 64 matchup, Dawkins said.

Bol has started every game he has played in this season, although he only averages 18.7 minutes per game. But the 7-foot-2 center is effective in that time, grabbing 5.5 rebounds, scoring six points on a 72.7% field goal percentage and blocking 1.1 shots per game.

The UCF big man will be a defensive task for senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, junior forward/center Xavier Booker and redshirt senior forward/center Steven Jamerson II.

Bol does not have an expansive offensive skillset, but is impactful at what he does – protecting the rim, cleaning up the glass and scoring at a high clip. He could be the piece that makes the difference Friday night.