2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: How to Watch and Game Thread - #7 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #10 Seed UCF Knights
The Bruins open play in the NCAA Tournament with a game against the Knights.
It should be a good weekend for UCLA basketball with both the men and women playing in their respective NCAA tournaments. Of course, the women play tomorrow night at Pauley with tickets available now. Before that, the men’s team will take on the UCF Knights this evening at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Tip-off for tonight’s game is set for 4:25 pm PT (or 25 minutes after the conclusion of Tennessee vs. Miami (OH)) and the game will be broadcast on TBS.
This will be the first meeting ever between the Bruins and the Knights, and it is just the sixth time UCF has made the NCAA tournament. It’s their first appearance since 2019 when they were a number nine seed.
The Knights are led by a coach who should be familiar to Bruin fans. Former Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins was hired by UCF on March 23, 2016, just nine days after he was fired by the Cardinal. In eight seasons at Stanford, Dawkins made the NCAA tournament just once, which was the reason the Cardinal fired him.
Since joining the Knights, Dawkins has won at least 20 games four times including this season and last. They finished 9-9 in Big 12 play this year are one of a record-tying eight Big 12 teams in this year’s tournament. They played eight games this season against raannked opponents with their three wins coming against Kansas, Texas Tech at home and BYU on the road. Their four losses against ranked teams all came against teams ranked in the Top 10—Duke, Arizona twice, Iowa State and Houston.
UCLA and UCF shared just two opponents this season. The Bruins lost to Arizona in November and they beat Arizona State in December. UCLA beat the Sun Devils, 90-77, while the Knights beat them by three, 79-76.
UCF Knights Starting Five
Whenever I write about the starting lineup of one of UCLA’s opponents, I always look at that team’s game notes for stats and other tidbits of info to share with you, our devoted readers.
Before I discuss UCF’s starters today, I feel compelled to share one of those tidbits from UCF’s game notes. Right next to their list of the “Projected Starting Five,” there is a section titled “A Win Would…”, and I couldn’t believe what was listed first. I kid you not when I say that the first thing listed is “Be better than a loss.”
This made me curious. “Do they always say that?” I wondered. So, I checked the game notes for a few of UCF’s regular season games, and sure enough, I learned that, not only is the “A Win Would…” section always there, but it always begins with “Be better than a loss.” I don’t know how that started, or more importantly, why it continues, but now you know about this very deep thought from the UCF athletic department. Personally, I always thought that was kind of understood, but maybe it isn’t in Orlando. I guess that’s how things go when your program has only won one NCAA tournament game ever.
Alright, let’s get to Johnny Dawkins’ starting lineup. He’s started the same lineup in 27 of UCF’s 32 games. The Knights are led by senior guard Riley Kugel, who is averaging 14.4 ppg. He transferred to UCF this season after spending last year at Mississippi State and starting his collegiate career at Florida. His 56 three-pointers are the most on the team.
The other starting guard is transfer Themus Fulks. Fulks joined UCF this year after playing last year at Milwaukee. While listed as a “fifth-year” student, Fulks is in his sixth season of collegiate basketball. He played 16 games as a freshman at South Carolina State before playing a year at Dodge City Community College. He moved on to Louisiana Lafayette for two years and then transferred to Milwaukee last season. He is averaging 14.1 ppg and his 214 assists is more than the next three players combined. While he shoots 40.8% from beyond the arc, he has only taken 49 attempts all season.
Junior forward Jordan Burks is at his third school in three years. He began at Kentucky before playing at Georgetown last year. This season, he is averaging 13.0 ppg and he is third on the team in both blocks with 16 and rebounds with an average of 4.8 rpg.
Senior forward Jamichael Stillwell is at his fourth school in four years. He played a season at Miami Dade College and another at Butler Community College before partnering with Fulks at Milwaukee last season. This year, he is averaging 11.7 ppg, and he leads the team in rebounds with an average of 8.0 rpg.
The final starter for the Knights will be sophomore center John Bol. While he is originally from South Sudan, he is not the son of late NBA star Manute Bol. Like each of the other Knights’ starters, he transferred to UCF this season. He played last year at Ole Miss. His 6.0 ppg average makes him the only starter who isn’t averaging in double figures. He leads the team in blocks with 34 and is second in rebounds with an average of 5.5 rpg.
The first two guys off the bench for Dawkins will likely be Chris Johnson and Devan Cambridge. Johnson is averaging just 6.4 ppg while Cambridge is averaging 5.4 ppg this season. There is a chance that one or both of these guys could start tonight because Kugel and Stillwell are listed as questionable for the game. Interestigly, UCF is 2-0 in games Johnson started and 0-3 in games Cambridge started, but the Knights haven’t had to play a game where both guys started.
Outlook
The outcome of this game is largely contingent on the health of both teams. The Player Availability Report for tonight’s game has been published. The good news is that Donovan Dent’s name isn’t on the report at all. The bad news is that Tyler Bilodeau is listed as questionable.
As long as Dent is able to play for UCLA, the Bruins should be able to give Bilodeau another day to rest and be ready for Sunday’s second round game.
Meanwhile, the Knights haven’t won a game without Stillwell.
But, it’s March.
If you let your guard down, an upset can happen easily. Just ask Wisconsin, North Carolina and St. Mary’s who all were upset yesterday.
If the Bruins can remain focused and they play hard for 40 minutes, they should come out of tonight’s game with a win.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on TBS and streamed on MarchMadness.com with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, and Evan Washburn on the call. Of course, you can opt to listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray on the radio or streamed on uclabruins.com instead. To watch or listen online, just right-click on the links so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below.
This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. UCF Knights NCAA Men’s Tournament First Round game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream tonight’s game.
2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First Round
Teams: #7 Seed UCLA Bruins (23-11) vs. #10 Seed UCF Knights (21-11)
Series Record: First meeting
When: 4:25 pm PT, Thursday, March 26, 2025
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
TV: TBS with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, and Evan Washburn
Live Stream: MarchMadness.com, the March Madness app and the Max app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 204 (National Call)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: MarchMadness.com
Tournament Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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Active defense, the now-typical efficient offense, and it's a recipe for success.
Not a great close to the half, but they survived the last 7 minutes without Skyy, so that should improve.