Donovan Dent will be ready to go for Friday's matchup against UCF

Donovan Dent seems ready to go on Friday against UCF. The star transfer for the UCLA Bruins has seen his play improve over the last month. He remains a key part of the team and any run the Bruins plan on making he must be involved. He is seeing the floor very well passing the ball and he has also improved his shooting showing what UCLA was looking for when they nabbed him in the transfer portal. It is very possible if he played in the Big Ten tournament the rest of the Purdue game. They win that game and face off against Michigan for the title.

But things didn’t go the way UCLA had hoped and they ended up losing the Purdue game by a score of 73-66. Setting them up to get a No. 7 seed and a matchup with UCF in Pennsylvania. The extra day of rest will help with injuries even with the team having to travel across the country. Having Dent available to play will be a huge boost for this team. The hope is that no momentum was lost when he left with an injury.

UCLA is a very dangerous No. 7 seed. One that can make a run to either the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. Depending on how their health is and how they play on offense. But the talent is there for them, especially with Dent and Tyler Bilodeau healthy. This team has started to click on all cylinders at the right time. Bilodeau missed most of the Michigan State game and then all of the Purdue game. He is the Bruins leading scorer at 17.6 points per game.

UCLA will be delighted to get both of those players back for the NCAA tournament. Now it is time for them to continue the momentum they had before the injuries. Mick Cronin’s teams play well as a lower seed. Now they hope they can make a similar run to 2021 where they went from First Four to Final Four. The hope is that they can finish it off this time.