UCLA MEN’S BASKETBALL SECURES NO. 11 SEED IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Bruins have notched their 50th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament

LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men’s basketball team earned a No. 11 seed in the 68-team NCAA Tournament field, as announced Sunday when the complete 68-team bracket was revealed on CBS.

The Bruins (17-9) will compete in the “First Four” on Thursday against No. 11-seed Michigan State (15-12) at Purdue’s Mackey Arena (West Lafayette, Ind.). The winner of that game will face No. 6-seed BYU next Saturday.

UCLA’s game on Thursday will begin at 6:57 p.m. PT (9:57 p.m. ET, in Indiana) and will be televised on TBS.

This will mark UCLA’s second appearance in the tournament’s “First Four” round, a series of play-in games that began in 2011. UCLA also played in the “First Four” in 2018.

UCLA secured its 50th all-time berth in the annual NCAA Tournament (and the team’s first bid since 2018). Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, last season’s NCAA Tournament was canceled just three days in advance of Selection Sunday. None of UCLA’s available players for Thursday’s game have ever played in the NCAA Tournament (Chris Smith, who is currently injured, played in 10 minutes of one game in the 2018 NCAA Tournament).

The Bruins went 13-6 in Pac-12 play after having opened their league schedule with eight consecutive victories.

Most recently, UCLA absorbed an 83-79 overtime loss to Oregon State on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 Tournament. Oregon State defeated top-seeded Oregon on Friday and No. 3-seed Colorado in the tournament title game on Saturday night.

UCLA had a trio of sophomores named as All-Pac-12 selections last week. Tyger Campbell was one of 10 players in the league to secure first-team All-Pac-12 honors. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Johnny Juzang were among the five student-athletes selected as second-team honorees.

This marks the first season in which head coach Mick Cronin has led UCLA to the NCAA Tournament. Cronin, in his second year as The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach, has guided his teams to each of the past 10 NCAA Tournaments – including a string of nine consecutive appearances while at Cincinnati (2011-2019).

Cronin is one of just five coaches in the nation to have led his teams to the past 10 NCAA Tournaments. Joining him on that list are Mark Few (Gonzaga), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Bill Self (Kansas), and Roy Williams (North Carolina).

UCLA seeks its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2017 when the Bruins advanced to the “Sweet 16” with consecutive wins in Sacramento.