Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament: How to Watch and Game Thread - #6 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #7 Seed Purdue Boilermakers
The Bruins play the Boilermakers for a chance to play for the Big Ten Tournament title on Sunday.
Last night’s quarterfinals game against Michigan State was a great example of the March mantra “survive and advance.” Despite the fact that Tyler Bilodeau went down with an injury, UCLA had built a big enough lead that allowed the Bruins to hang on for the win even though Michigan State made a strong push near the end of the game.
As a result, the Bruins will now play #7 seed Purdue in the second Big Ten tournament semifinal this morning. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 pm PT or 25 minutes after the first semifinal between Michigan and Wisconsin (whichever is later).
Speaking of Bilodeau, the news this morning is about as good as it could be.
Interestingly, despite there being every indication that Bilodeau won’t play today, he is listed as questionable on the Big Ten Men’s Basketball availability report for today’s game. While I still don’t expect him to play today, that seems to indicate that there is a chance he could play after all. Why would he be listed as questionable instead of out if he isn’t going to play?
So, UCLA will probably have to adjust to not having Bilodeau for today’s game and, if they can beat Purdue again, tomorrow’s game, too, but the bottom line is that UCLA is looking to go deeper into the NCAA Tournament and, of course, that’s more important than a Big Ten Tournament they probably weren’t going to win anyway. Heck, did anyone really have them playing in the semifinals today? I know I didn’t.
Personally, I expect Cronin to start Xavier Booker instead of Bilodeau today. Compared to the last time the Bruins played Purdue, Skyy Clark is back in the UCLA starting lineup, meaning the net effect of the Bilodeau injury will mean that the net difference to UCLA’s starting lineup from the January game against the Boilermakers is Clark-for-Bilodeau.
Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue head coach Matt Painter has started the same five players in every game since the Boilermakers beat Alabama back on November 13th. Of course, that includes the game they played against the Bruins in January.
So, it’s pretty safe to say that Painter will start the same five guys today.
The fact of the matter is that Purdue’s game against UCLA sent the Boilermakers into a tailspin. Purdue entered that game with an overall record of 17-1 and a conference record of 7-0. Including the game against the Bruins, they finished the regular season by going just 6-7 to conclude with a 23-8 overall regular season record and a conference regular season record of 13-7. UCLA’s win in January knocked the Boilermakers out of a first place tie in the Big Ten and their tailspin dropped them to a #7 seed in the Big Ten tournament.
So, Purdue will be motivated to play the Bruins today, but as we saw last night, UCLA will be motivated too. It should make for a great game today.
Will UCLA be able to overcome the injury to Tyler Bilodeau? A big factor in determining that will be if Xavier Booker can stay out of foul trouble.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on CBS and streamed on CBSSports.com with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, and Tracy Wolfson 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. Michigan State Spartans Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream tonight’s game.
Big Ten Tournament Semifinals
Teams: #6 Seed UCLA Bruins (23-10, 13-7) vs. #7 Purdue Boilermakers (25-8, 13-7)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 11-4
When: Approx. 12:30 pm PT, Saturday, March 14, 2026 (25 minutes after end of Michigan vs. Wisconsin)
Where: United Center, Chicago, IL
TV: CBS with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, and Tracy Wolfson
Live Stream: CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports and Paramount+ apps
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 84 (National feed)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Tournament Notes:
UCLAPurdue
Go Bruins!!!
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Outstanding effort from the Bruins today.
Amazing effort. Down our two best players and Purdue still had trouble putting us away. If I’m Purdue I would not feel confident about the ncaa tourney based on today’s game.