March Madness games are not won in early December.
But teams can start building the form they want to reach come postseason.
In Wednesday’s victory over the Sun Devils, the Bruins showed who they can be.

This post was updated Dec. 17 at 11 p.m.
News of Mick Cronin’s summer contract extension was met with mixed reactions Sunday morning.
UCLA’s loss to Gonzaga on Saturday – which knocked Cronin’s team from the top 25 – evoked the coach’s previous March shortfalls and was yet another example of the Bruins failing to live up to their No.

Saturday’s loss to then-No. 8 Gonzaga came down to failing to follow the scouting report.
At least, that was coach Mick Cronin and his squad’s verdict.

This post was updated Dec. 16 at 8:21 p.m.
The Bruins’ 2025-26 campaign took another hit. Then-No.25 UCLA men’s basketball (7-3, 2-0 Big Ten) fell to its second-ranked team of the season, losing 82-72 to then-No.

This post was updated Dec. 14 at 12:12 a.m.
SEATTLE – Some teams are hammers, and some are nails.
And in the history of UCLA vs.

UCLA has yet to play a ranked team since a late-game collapse to then-No. 5 Arizona on Nov. 14.
And in the squad’s 69-65 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats, the Bruins were outrebounded 35-28, prompting coach Mick Cronin to identify crashing the glass as a point of growth.

This post was updated Dec. 6 at 6:50 p.m.
Late game collapse avoided once more.
After beating Washington by just two points Wednesday night in Seattle – despite holding a 16 point lead with 4:45 remaining in the contest – senior forward Tyler Bilodeau emphasized the importance of preventing complacency.