How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins vs. #4 Purdue Boilermakers

The Bruins host Purdue as UCLA honors John Wooden's legacy.

Tyler Bilodeau hit four of seven three-pointers en route to 30 points on Saturday against Ohio State. (Photo Credit: Jan Kim Lim/uclabruins.com)

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UCLA and Purdue will forever be linked in college basketball. The reason should be obvious. In case it isn’t, it’s because John Wooden played college basketball for Purdue and he coached UCLA. Both schools have Wooden statues outside of their basketball venues.

So, it seems fitting that, tonight, UCLA will give away a John Wooden bobblehead to the first 7,500 fans in attendance.

I’m going to take a moment for a shameless plug. When I first saw an email about the giveaway, I intended to go to tonight’s game…until I saw the date and I knew that I had something else on my schedule which I can’t miss. So, if anyone going to tonight’s game had an extra Wooden bobblehead, I’d,love to take it off your hands. Please email me if you do.

That said, let’s get back to business.

It’s been a heck of a year for Purdue so far. In fact, you could argue that it’s been Woodenesque. The Boilermakers come into tonight’s game with a 17-1 record. The only blemish was an 81-58 loss to then-#10 Iowa State on December 6.

Purdue is coached by Matt Painter, who is now in his 21st season coaching his alma mater. The Boilermakers are 488-216 under Painter, and he has made the NCAA Tournament 16 of 19 times. They are just two seasons removed from playing for the national championship, though they lost to UConn.

This year’s squad features four seniors in the starting lineup, which consists of three guards, a forward and a center. Let’s look at Purdue’s starting five.

Purdue Boilermakers’ Starting Five

The Boilermakers are led by guard Braden Smith. Smith is having an amazing season. He is averaging 14.7 ppg and his 169 assists are almost as many as the rest of the team combined. He also leads the team in steals with 35 and his 42.9% three-point percentage is the best on the team among players who have tried more than 40 attempts.

Fletcher Loyer will be another of the starting guards. He is second on the team in scoring with an average of 13.4 ppg. His 89.7% free throw percentage is second-best on the team. His 38.6% three-point percentage is tied for second-best among the starters, though he is more dangerous than Smith from long-range because he takes more shots beyond the arc.

The final starting guard will be sophomore C.J. Cox. The only non-senior starter, Cox is also the only starter who is not averaging in double figures. He averages 8.4 ppg. While his 90.9% free throw percentage is the best on the team, he’s only tried 22 shots from the line. He’s tied for second among the starters in three-point percentage with Loyer and he’s made just three fewer than Smith on the same number of attempts.

Trey Kaufman-Renn will start at forward and he leads the team in rebounding with an average of 9.1 rpg. He’s second on the team in assists with 41 and he is averaging 12.7 ppg.

Center Oscar Cluff will be the final starter for Purdue. His 76.3% shooting percentage leads the team and he is averaging 12.2 ppg. He is second in both rebounding with 8.2 rpg and blocks with 10.

Painter has played three of his reserves in every game. Sophomore center Daniel Jacobsen has probably contributed more off the bench than anyone. He’s averaging 7.8 ppg and he leads the team in blocks with 35. That’s more than every other player on the team combined. He is also third in rebounding with an average of 4.1 rpg. Freshman guard Omer Mayer is another player who has played in every game. He’s averaging 5.4 ppg. Sophomore guard Gicarri Harris is the third guy to play in every game off the bench. He is averaging 4.8 ppg and is second on the team in steals with 15.

Redshirt freshman guard Jack Benter is the fourth reserve who is typically in Painter’s rotation. He’s played in 17 of Purdue’s 18 games and he’s started twice. He’s averaging 5.4 ppg.

Analysis

At this point in the season, UCLA and Purdue only have two opponents they have boh played. UCLA played both Penn State and Iowa on the road while Purdue played both teams at home. The Bruins defeated the Nittany Lions and lost to the Hawkeyes. While the Boilermakers defeated both teams, they only beat Penn State by eight points while UCLA beat them by 11.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t tell us a lot because Purdue beat Iowa at home while the Bruins lost to them on the road. At the same time, UCLA beat Penn State by more on the road.

Generally, on paper at least, I don’t have a lot of faith that UCLA will be able to win tonight’s game even though they certainly should have a better change at beating the Boilermakers in Pauley than they’d have on the road.

At this point in the season, the Bruins really need to pick up a win against a very good Purdue team. A win tonight would definitely help UCLA’s chances to make the NCAA Tournament in what is turning out to be a pretty mediocre year.

But can they do it? I don’t think so.

Listen to the Game With TMB

Tonight’s game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network and streamed on Peacock with Brandon Gaudin, Nick Bahe, and Kylen Mills on the call. Of course, you can opt to listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray on the radio or online instead. To listen online, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to tonight’s online.

This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. Purdue Boilermakers game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream tonight’s game:

UCLA Men’s Basketball (12-6, 4-3)

• Opponent: Purdue Boilermakers (17-1, 7-0)

• Series Record: UCLA leads, 10-4

• When: 7:00 pm PT, Tuesday, January 20, 2026

• Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA

• TV: NBC Sports Network (where available) with Brandon Gaudin, Nick Bahe, and Kylen Mills

• Live Stream: PeacockTV.com and the Peacock app

• Radio/Audio

  Local Radio: KABC AM 790 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray

  Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 389 (UCLA Call)

  Online: uclabruins.com

• Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast

• Game Notes:
  UCLA

  Purdue

Go Bruins!!!

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