Bruins' Mentality Going Into Big Ten Tournament

The UCLA Bruins are days away from their first Big Ten Tournament. Are their sights set on Friday's quarterfinal? Or on the NCAA Tournament, next weekend?

Dec 8, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks guard Jackson Shelstad (3) battles for the ball against UCLA Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) and guard Lazar Stefanovic (10) in the first half at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

The UCLA Bruins (22-9, 13-7) are two days away from their first Big Ten Tournament as they travel out to Indianapolis to win their first conference tournament championship since 2014. The question that stands: Is this team focused on the next game or the first round of March Madness?

Following the Bruins' home rivalry win over the USC Trojans, Coach Mick Cronin spoke to the media and was asked about the upcoming Big Ten tournament. He met the question with a response that both bragged about the history of UCLA basketball while posing other questions.

"We got to make sure these guys are fresh when The Big Dance starts because around here, they they ain't gonna to hang no banner if we win the Big Ten Tournament," Cronin said after his team's win over USC on Saturday.

" ... A little small one in our practice gym. It ain't going in Pauley. You don't win the national championship around here, they don't hang the banner out there, It's just the way it is."

Those comments from Cronin are motivating that his program is playing for something bigger, yet they still have another important task at hand before March Madness begins. Questions began to swirl around how serious the Bruins will be in attempting to win the upcoming Big Ten tournament.

On Tuesday, senior leader Lazar Stefanovic and junior forward Tyler Bilodeau spoke to the media, answering questions regarding the conference tournament. Even though the national tournament may be the bigger achievement, both guys are stopping at nothing to win more games.

"I think it goes back to just focusing on one game at a time," Bilodeau said. "We want to win as many games we can, we want to win this tournament, so I think just focusing on that first, before the NCAA tournament is key."

The mentality was the same for Stefanovic.

"Yeah, you're fighting for a title, for a Big Ten Championship, so [that] means something and every game you go into, you go to win," he said. "So that show we are preparing, nothing else changes. We go game-by-game and then we'll see from there. But yeah, we're trying to win."

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