PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points, Xaiver Booker had 15 points and eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Tyler Biloudeau and seventh-seeded UCLA withstood every serious challenge and beat 10th-seeded UCF 75-71 Friday night in the NCAA Tournamen t.

Bilodeau came into Friday's first-round NCAA Tournament matchup against UCF with a questionable status. However, as the game approached, he was ruled out. The forward, who has been dealing with a knee injury reportedly experienced some soreness that led to the team holding him out for the contest.

It was UCF vs. UCLA in Round 1 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Bruins survived the Knights, who played their first March Madness game since 2019.

Getting one of its top two players back was enough. Donovan Dent returned from injury, Tyler Bilodeau didn’t and UCLA moved on Friday night after persevering in its NCAA Tournament

Central Florida coach Johnny Dawkins got a nice cheer from the crowd when the former 76er was introduced as the Knights’ head coach. But No. 7 seed UCLA controlled most of the rest of Friday evening’s opener,

Eric Dailey Jr. finishes with 20 points and Skyy Clark overcomes losing a tooth as No. 7 UCLA defeats No. 10 UCF 75-71 to advance to the second round.

UCLA guard Skyy Clark sported a gap-toothed smile on Friday that would make a hockey player proud. Clark dove to the court to fight for a loose ball late in UCLA’s 75-71 win over UCF. As he was on his back,

Here is what you can expect from UCLA against UCF.