It’s all on the line tonight in Lexington.
2-seed Tennessee is moving on to the round of 32 after their win over Wofford on Thursday night. Their opponent will be the UCLA Bruins, who thumped Utah State in the first round. The 7-seed Bruins won by 25 points, holding Utah State to just 4-31 from the three-point line.
UCLA, a team with a defense-first approach, will run into a similar team on Saturday night. Tennessee ranks third in defensive efficiency, per KenPom. UCLA ranks 15th in that same metric.
“Mick’s teams always defend, very good ball pressure team, very good active in the gaps, really good hands, they do a good job with their hands,” Rick Barnes said of UCLA. “They know how they want to play. They’re going to — really good balanced inside-out game. They know who they are, they know what they’re looking for. They, to me, are just an extremely sound, fundamental team.”
Tennessee opened as a 4.5 point favorite against UCLA, according to Fanduel Sportsbook. That number has since moved out to 5.5 as of Saturday morning. The total of 130.5 is one of the lowest numbers of the weekend.
Rick Barnes will be hoping to keep Chaz Lanier hot, coming off of a 29 point performance in the opening round. Lanier connected on 6-13 shots from deep, powering Tennessee to a 77-62 win over Wofford.
UCLA will counter with a balanced attack, led by forward Tyler Bilodeau. The 6-9 junior averages 13.5 points per game and can stretch the floor with his shooting (40 percent from three). The Bruins also have former top prospect Skyy Clark, who led the team in scoring in their first round matchup.
Mick Cronin famously called his team soft back when conference play began. Ever since then? The Bruins have been a completely different team.
UCLA dropped four straight to open Big Ten play, then ripped off seven in a row in response. Cronin’s group turned up the wick defensively, saving their season and soaring back into the NCAA Tournament bracket. UCLA finished the season with mixed results, but you saw their potential on display during Thursday’s blowout win.
Tip-off between Tennessee and UCLA is set for 9:40 p.m. ET on TBS.