UCLA basketball receives good news on Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent

In his first three seasons not shortened by a global pandemic, Mick Cronin made this sort of thing seem easy.

The UCLA basketball coach led his team to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament each time, reaching the Final Four in 2021.

The Bruins haven’t been back to the Sweet 16 since.

Could they be on the verge of something even sweeter over the next few weeks?

They certainly seem capable of some March magic, having beaten three top-10 teams.

UCLA also won four consecutive games before injuries sidelined its top two players – both of whom are expected back for the team’s first-round game against Central Florida on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Here are five things that must go right for the Bruins to make a deep run:

No more injuries

Cronin jokes that he still has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from 2023, but he’s probably only halfway kidding.

That year, the Bruins were among the favorites to go all the way before losing forward Jaylen Clark and center Adem Bona to injuries. They still put up a fight, reaching the Sweet 16 before Gonzaga made another heartbreaking shot to beat the buzzer and the Bruins.

The latest injury report seemed encouraging. Donovan Dent proclaimed himself recovered from his calf injury and Cronin said Tyler Bilodeau should be able to return to practice from his sprained knee by midweek.

Nobody else can go down if the Bruins want to do anything this month.

‘D’ can’t disappear

Remember that recent Minnesota game?

The Bruins surely wish they could forget it after allowing the Golden Gophers to make 12 3-pointers and shoot 58 percent overall.

It’s the sort of thing that can’t happen again. 

UCLA seemed to have learned its lesson, locking down its next three opponents and playing good defense even while down two starters against Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament.

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Bench must deliver

The late-season emergence of Eric Freeny has been one of the team’s most encouraging developments.

The reserve guard has added defense and rebounding to a team deficient in both departments. He’s also started to make some shots after going scoreless for weeks at a time earlier in the season.

Brandon Williams has also delivered some needed toughness off the bench, but the Bruins are going to need others to come through with big moments. Xavier Booker must grab rebounds, Jamar Brown must make a few 3-pointers and Steven Jamerson II must avoid his foul-a-minute pace.

Push the right buttons

UCLA fans may never forgive Cronin for some of his NCAA tournament decisions – failing to deploy eventual national defensive player of the year Clark on North Carolina’s Caleb Love in 2022, for one – but the coach always has his team peaking this time of year.

He’s already identified the best starting lineup by putting Trent Perry alongside fellow guards Dent and Skyy Clark while also moving Bilodeau back to center. His most important decisions now will be bringing the right players off the bench at the right times.

It seems that the more Freeny can play, the better.

Super sophomore shines

If there was a Most Improved Player Award in the Big Ten, Perry would have been a runaway winner.

He’s gone from a shaky freshman to someone capable of taking over games. Perry’s emergence is reflected in Cronin’s lobbying efforts to keep him for next season.

If his price keeps going up based on what he does over the next few weeks, Cronin would surely love to pay that tab.