(If you managed to find this in the sea of signing day articles, thank you)
Radio: Huskies Gameday App, Sports Radio KJR
Betting Line: Washington Huskies +1.5
UCLA Bruins 2025-26 Statistics:
Points For per Game: 77.0 (146th)
Points Against per Game: 63.1 (15th)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 115.6 (61st)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 96.7 (18th)
Strength of Schedule: 319th
G- Donovan Dent, Sr. 6’2, 185: 11.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 6.7 apg, 35.8% FG, 9.1% 3pt, 56.7% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: +4.8 BPR (3rd), 112.5 Adj Off Eff (6th), 97.3 Adj Def Eff (8th)
Dent was an All-American last season at New Mexico averaging 20.4 points and 6.4 assists per game on 41% 3-point shooting. It has been a very rough adjustment for Dent since getting to Los Angeles although part of that may be due to health as he has missed one game and been limited in a few others. In their last game against Cal, Dent had just 3 points on 1/8 shooting plus 6 turnovers. He has the potential to be one of the most electrifying players in the country so hopefully he doesn’t break out of his slump tonight.
G- Skyy Clark, Sr. 6’3, 210: 10.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 45.8% FG, 41.7% 3pt, 85.7% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: +5.2 BPR (2nd), 114.4 Adj Off Eff (4th), 91.7 Adj Def Eff (4th)
Clark is on his 3rd stop after starting out his career at first Illinois then Louisville but found a home last year after transferring to UCLA. His three-point and free throw percentages have improved every season of his career and he’s now a truly elite shooter as well as a defensive pest on the perimeter who gets a ton of steals. He’ll be a challenge for UW’s guard rotation on both ends of the court.
G- Trent Perry, So. 6’4, 190: 11.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.9 apg, 52.9% FG, 36.8% 3pt, 69.6% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: +3.2 BPR (5th), 108.9 Adj Off Eff (9th), 92.9 Adj Def Eff (7th)
Perry struggled to shoot the ball coming off the bench last season as a freshman but has made major strides so far this year. He has been playing on the ball more often and has doubled his assist rate while keeping his turnover rate identical which isn’t easy to do. Perry has been serving as more of the backup at both the 1 and the 2 rather than truly the starting SF but is in the top 5 in minutes so gets included here.
F- Tyler Bilodeau, Sr, 6’8, 230: 14.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 ast, 51.9% FG, 41.2% 3pt, 86.7% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: +3.8 BPR (4th), 109.9 Adj Off Eff (8th), 100.0 Adj Def Eff (9th)
A native of Kennewick, WA, Bilodeau started his career at Oregon State before transferring to UCLA last offseason. He’s on pace to finish with between 13.5 and 15.0 points for the third straight season and is one of UCLA’s top offensive options as a true stretch 4 that can score both inside and outside. He has missed the last two games for UCLA due to injury but there’s a good chance he is able to return to play tonight.
F- Xavier Booker, Jr. 6’11, 245: 10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.9 blk, 65.2% FG, 44.4% 3pt, 83.3% FT
Evanmiya.com Stats: +1.3 BPR (9th), 114.8 Adj Off Eff (3rd), 101.1 Adj Def Eff (10th)
Booker transferred in from Michigan State this year after averaging 5 points and 2 rebounds per game as the backup center for #2 seed Michigan State. He has been the primary rim protector for UCLA averaging nearly 2 blocks per game but is a subpar rebounder for someone with his athleticism and the team has been worse on defense with him on the court so far this year. Booker doesn’t exactly demand the ball but has been incredibly efficient when he gets it, currently ranking 31st nationally in true shooting percentage.
UCLA came into this season with Final Four ambitions but the early returns suggest that may have been overly optimistic. The Bruins have played 7 games this season and 5 of them have been at home against teams currently ranked between 246th and 282nd at KenPom. Unsurprisingly, UCLA is undefeated in those games although two have been 11 points or fewer. The other two games were against former Pac-12 conference-mates Arizona and California (both in the state of California but at non-college arenas) and UCLA is 0-2 including an 8-point loss to Cal in their most recent game.
That one has many folks in Los Angeles concerned because it coincides with the struggle of what was supposed to be the team’s best player. There were concerns in the offseason about how Dent’s free-flowing style of basketball would fit in with Mick Cronin’s preferred slow-it-down and grind pace. So far it appears the answer is that it doesn’t mesh well. Dent can’t seem to make an outside shot and while UCLA has had really good ball movement, they still are only average in terms of pace on offense.
Other than ranking 38th in assist rate, UCLA really hasn’t been better than merely good in any other category when they have the ball. They’ve been missing Tyler Bilodeau for a few games who was their best offensive player last year but the schedule has been so weak that there’s no excuse for merely middling results. They’re 118th in 3pt%, 111th in 2pt%, 91st in offensive rebounding rate, and 162nd in turnover rate. If that’s how they’ve fared playing 5/7th of the schedule against bottom one hundred teams in the country then how will it look against Big Ten competition starting on the road tonight?
The good news for UCLA is that the defense has generally been better to this point in the season. The Bruins are 19th in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom and have been really good at forcing turnovers and eliminating isolation basketball. Opponents take a long time to get a shot off but have one of the highest assist rates in the country because they’re being forced to pass the ball. Washington can’t rely on getting out in transition and UCLA will force the Huskies to work it in the half court which hasn’t been their recent strength.
Washington’s good news is that UCLA doesn’t have the overwhelming size of Colorado that stymied them last week. UCLA will sometimes play with a 6’7/6’8 small forward but Xavier Booker is the only rotation player over 6’10. If Washington can get Hannes Steinbach back from injury then they will have the size to be able to go toe-to-toe with this UCLA roster. Coach Sprinkle said on Monday that Steinbach has returned to practice and will have a chance to play tonight but made it clear they’re not going to jeopardize a setback and rush him back if he isn’t quite ready.
My feelings on this game largely depend on Steinbach’s availability. It’s not quite as clear cut as if Steinbach plays they win and if he doesn’t then they won’t but I have a tough time seeing them come through is Steinbach isn’t able to go. This one appears to be a coin flip based on the predictive metrics and the betting odds and so I’m going to side with the Huskies hoping they’ve learned some lessons from last Thursday’s terrible 1st half versus Colorado.
Washington Huskies– 74, UCLA Bruins- 71
Season picks: 6-1 straight up, 4-3 against the spread
