How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins at Minnesota Golden Gophers
UCLA has lost their last three games against Minnesota.
This morning, the UCLA men’s basketball team plays their final long distance road game of the regular season when the Bruins visit the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Tip-off is set for 11 am PT and the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
Minnesota is in its first season under head coach Niko Medved. Prior to Minnesota, Medved spent seven seasons coaching at Colorado State where he compiled a 143–85 with the Rams. This season, he’s coached the Gophers to a 13-15 mark overall and a 6-11 conference record.
While it’s been a disappointing season, in general, for the Gophers, they have played better of late. They have won three of their last six games, beating Rutgers, Oregon and Michigan State. While one of those three losses came on the road to Michigan, they only lost the game by ten points, unlike the Bruins who were crushed by 30.
Minnesota Golden Gophers’ Starting Five
Medved will probably employ a lineup which seems close to a traditional lineup. The big difference is that two of the starters are listed as playing combo positions.
The Golden Gophers are led by senior Cade Tyson. Rather than playing as a traditional forward, Tyson is listed as a combo guard/forward. He leads the Gophers with an average of 19.6 ppg. While he is third on the team in rebounds with an average of 5.7 rpg, he averages more rebounds than anyone who will be available to play today. His 41.5% three-point percentage makes him Minnesota’s best three-point shooter as well.
Junior Bobby Durkin will fill the role of a traditional forward. Durkin is averaging 9.8 ppg and he is averaging just 2.9 rpg. While he has made as many threes as Tyson, Durkin’s three-point percentage is lower due to the fact that he has tried more threes.
The other combo position will be filled by redshirt freshman Grayson Grove. While Grove is listed on the Gophers’ roster as a forward, he is listed a forward/center in the probable starters list in Minnesota’s game notes. More importantly, however, is the fact that Grove is probably starting in place of injured Jaylen Crocker-Johnson. Losing Crocker-Johnson is a big loss in production for the Gophers as he is averaging 13.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg while Grove is averaging just 4.1 ppg and 2.8 rpg. It is worth noting that Grove may be responding to additional playing time. Against Oregon, Grove put up 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Grove’s 17 blocks makes him the Gophers’ best available shot-blocker.
Senior guard Langston Reynolds is third on the team in scoring with an average of 11.3 ppg. He leads Minnesota in assists with 125. Reynolds is also tied with Grove for second in steals with 25.
The final starter will be sophomore Isaac Asuma. He’s the final Gopher averaging in double figures with an average of 10.9 ppg, and he is second in assists with 110. Asuma leads Minnesota with 38 steals this year.
Analysis
The big key to this game will be the Bruins’ defense. The first question is: Can the Bruins shut down Grove? If Grove plays the way he played against Oregon, the Bruins will likely have their hands full. On the other hand, if UCLA wants to come away with a road win today, they will need to find a way to shut down the freshman.
Almost equally important is Tyson’s three-point shooting. If UCLA can’t stop him from outside, it could be a long flight back to LA for the Bruins. But if they can keep Tyson from scoring on a barrage of threes, their chances of winning get much better.
Ultimately, this game could come down to which team wants it more. That should be the Bruins because they stand to lose more if they don’t win this game. A loss today could put them back on the bubble. The Gophers don’t stand to lose much if they lose today. They’ve had a lackluster season and one more loss isn’t going to change that.
UCLA just needs to make sure they want today’s game they same way they wanted last weekend’s game against Illinois.
Watch and Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 and streamed on FoxSports.com with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery 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 at Minnesota Golden Gophers game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
UCLA Men’s Basketball (19-9, 11-6)
Opponent: Minnnesota Golden Gophers (13-15, 6-11)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 5-3
When: 11:00 am PT, Saturday, February 28, 2026
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
TV: FS1 with Noah Reed and Nick Bahe
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: KABC AM 790 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 117 and XM Ch. 195 (UCLA Call)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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Minnesota through the first 10 minutes: 71.4% from the field, 27 points
Minnesota through the second 10 minutes: 33.3% from the field, 13 points
So yeah, defense improved at the 10 minute mark and that's the big difference so far. Helps that Dailey saw a couple early shots go down and is engaged today.
Feels like Booker is struggling a bit. He doesn't look himself today.