UCLA basketball needs bigs to step up with Tyler Bilodeau going down

CHICAGO – Nobody has to tell Mick Cronin how crushing injuries can be this time of year.Three years ago, with his best UCLA team widely considered a national championship contender, forward Jaylen Clark went down in the final regular-season game with a torn Achilles.Two games later, center Adem Bona suffered a shoulder injury.Missing two starters and eventual NBA players, the Bruins lost to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.Cronin finds himself confronted by another injury conundrum after his leading scorer, Tyler Bilodeau, went down late in the first half Friday night at the United Center, holding his right knee.

He needed assistance to leave the court and never returned, finishing with five points in 10 minutes.While the Bruins pulled together without the star forward to beat Michigan State, 88-84, in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal, it appears they’ll be without Bilodeau for at least one game and probably the rest of the weekend.Cronin said it would take “a modern miracle” for Bilodeau, who was expected to undergo imaging on his knee, to play against Purdue on Saturday afternoon in a semifinal.“It would take literally a miracle for him to play [Saturday], meaning that I would let him play,” Cronin said.“Right now I’m just — you know, I don’t want to speculate, trying to stay positive that he’s got some sort of sprain.”The likely absence of Bilodeau means that the Bruins will need more production from centers Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II and forward Brandon Williams.

Williams was the best of the bunch on Friday, tallying nine points, four rebounds and three steals in 19 productive minutes.California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedInCalifornia Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, XCalifornia Post Opinion California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!California Post App: Download here!Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!“Obviously,” Cronin said, ...