Such variables give a tactical obsessive like Mikel Arteta a lot to think about, but he is at least sure of his own structure. That won’t shift. The main question will be over personnel, and how much that changes the emphasis of the team; whether it’s Riccardo Calafiori or Piero Hincapie at left-back, for example. Martin Odegaard is expected to return to the bench, and Jurrien Timber may start.
The winner of the Carabao Cup final could also land a psychological blow in the title race (Action Images/Reuters)
Arsenal, in short, have a lot less to think about. That is very different to when the two sides qualified for this final, way back at the start of February. At that point, the trophy was seen as psychologically crucial to Arsenal sustaining both momentum and the idea of superiority over City, a key part of the wider pursuit for the first Premier League title in 22 years. The weight was all the greater since it had looked like this final could be the first in a grand and unprecedented English series, maybe four or five matches to decide everything.
The very week before the final has put paid to that. City have already been eliminated from the Champions League in that match against Madrid, which followed a frustrated 1-1 draw at West Ham to allow Arsenal an even greater gap in the title race.
Their hopes in the Premier League haven’t gone yet, but their aura has. The old City sense of foreboding isn’t there.
This Arsenal team may badly need to win their first trophy together, but it doesn’t quite feel as essential when this City don’t look like the trophy machine of before.
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As such, there’s been a twist before the game starts. It now feels like this Carabao Cup final is bigger for City than it is for Arsenal.
That would have sounded absurd for most of the season – and the past few years – especially with how Guardiola has repeatedly subjected his former assistant to second places, but that’s how this season is going. The fact everyone is talking about this being the City manager’s last season, which the club still describe as “speculation”, only adds to that. Guardiola certainly won’t want to leave on a barren campaign, in any case.
Winning a fourth Carabao Cup for the coach and a historic ninth for City would be valuable in and of itself, but more significant is what it might do for everything else. It would be a reminder to Arsenal of what the order has been. It would put the league leaders back in their box, after a period when City haven’t even beaten Arteta’s side in three years.
Arsenal have the psychological momentum after City were knocked out of the Champions League and dropped points in the title race (PA Wire)
Maybe most crucial of all, however, is that it would create new doubt for Arsenal just at the point when confidence is building; when Max Dowman seems to have helped banish all the angst. Talk of the quadruple is tentatively rising. This could swiftly end that, but do more. If the six-year wait for silverware were to go on that bit longer, into at least May, it creates greater space for collapse.
This is nevertheless the prospect facing City, too. To see two trophies disappear in two matches, alongside the increasing distance to top spot, could be debilitating. From that, if City were to lose on Sunday, it isn’t impossible that they could fall apart.
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Duly, City have constantly looked a team on a thin line on the actual pitch. It is like almost every game can go either way. There are spells when spectacular attacking is suggested, only for a defensive fallibility to immediately be exposed. City often sublime and ridiculous in the same five minutes of football, as was seen against Madrid.
Much will depend on the mood going into this game, which is said to be one of focus and trying to remind everyone of the force that this team has been. Down at Arsenal’s Colney base, a mere 13 miles from Wembley, a first final since the 2020 FA Cup win is being downplayed. There is a calmness, which many say has been welcome. This season has been characterised by ramping up most of the matches, after all. Perhaps a softening mood is also natural, given this is a break from all the noise around the title.
Arsenal have a tried and tested blueprint, whereas Guardiola may tinker with his formation yet again (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
The greater gap in the league, of course, helps that, especially as Arsenal now know they will be nine points ahead of City until 12 April at the earliest. It was why last weekend was so crucial. Of course, this weekend might end up being seen as even more crucial, depending on how it goes.
Arsenal right now feel good about the title race, but that can dramatically change if their main chasers beat them, to once more shift that momentum. Out of that, this is yet another Carabao Cup final that is cast as being about more than the Carabao Cup, as so many are. It is about what it can mean for the future.
That’s partly why Newcastle United’s win last year was so distinctive, since it was about the trophy alone. You arguably have to go back to Swansea City in 2013 for similar.
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Consequently, as regards Arsenal, you don’t really need to read the same old lines about how Chelsea’s 2005 victory invigorated the Jose Mourinho era, or Brian Clough’s quote about how the Anglo-Scottish Cup gave his great Nottingham Forest team “a shot of something positive that only a trophy, whatever it is, can bring”. The times are different. The situation is different.
Pep Guardiola will have the opportunity to become the most successful manager in League Cup history when Man City face Arsenal at Wembley (Getty Images)
This is nevertheless the first League Cup final involving both of the top two since 1978, and a meeting between Liverpool and that Forest team. Clough’s side won to eventually complete a League Cup and title double.
That season was the first time the feat was managed, and both City and Arsenal are hoping to make this the 12th. City have already managed it four times, with Guardiola responsible for three of those.
As befits the occasion in the modern era, however, both sides are also going for more. City are aiming for a domestic treble. Arsenal are going for the quadruple. The League Cup has never had so much on the line, which marks quite a shift. The final itself may well mark another.
Bjorn Baker might operate without the extensive stable sizes or financial muscle of Australia’s premier outfits, yet he’s poised to compete fiercely on Golden Slipper day at Rosehill.
Baker boasts five entrants across four Group 1 fixtures, highlighted by colts Warwoven and Paradoxium in the $5 million centrepiece, alongside Pericles for the George Ryder Stakes (1500m), Stefi Magnetica in the Ranvet Stakes (2000m), and Green Spaces contesting the Rosehill Guineas (2000m).
Third on the metropolitan trainers’ premiership, Baker trails exclusively Chris Waller and Tulloch Lodge, sustaining his remarkable form from the prior season when Waller alone produced more Sydney winners.
“Compared to the big stables and big bloodstock agents, we’re at a much lower level in terms of numbers and quality, so to get two runners in the Golden Slipper is really a dream,” Baker said this week.
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“It’s very much about small steps to get into these races. Even when I came here (from his native New Zealand), you’ve got to start winning races and slowly building quality up.
“Two runners in the race suggests we’re going in the right direction.”
Pericles squares off against the hot property Autumn Glow in the George Ryder Stakes, with the mare favoured at $1.30 in Winx territory, and Pericles listed at $16 in the next betting group.
Baker’s Godolphin gelding boasts consistency, never worse than fourth in five starts, bolstered by a strong return win in the Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield recently.
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Baker remains confident and unwilling to concede despite the favourite’s dominance in Pericles’s path.
“You’ve got to back yourself. You’re in the wrong game if you want to put the white flag up every time there is a superstar,” Baker said.
“If there is ever a horse that is capable of knocking off a superstar, it’s Pericles. He’s got an exceptional record.”
The Doncaster Mile titleholder Stefi Magnetica attempts a new voyage at middle distances in the Ranvet, a formidable proposition.
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Baker concedes luck is essential to beat Aeliana and Sir Delius, but insists her preparation exceeds her prior seventh in the All-Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington.
“It was hard to get a line in Melbourne. It didn’t work out, it was a very firm track, and second-up she can be a little bit vulnerable as well,” Baker said.
“It’s going to be a tough race with Sir Delius and Aeliana and co, so she is going to need to get a good run in transit and have everything go her way, but she’s in good order.”
Complementing the Group 1 efforts, Baker has four fillies and mares lined up in the Group 3 Birthday Card Stakes (1200m), with Monte Supreme his best shot at $9.50.
The pressure of the Big Dance wasn’t the only thing making players from Georgia, Virginia, Iowa and Fairleigh Dickinson sweat on Saturday afternoon.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City does not have air conditioning, and an unseasonably warm day meant the temperature inside the 43-year-old building soared to over 80 degrees with a 26% humidity rate during the first-round games of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Virginia won a thriller in the first game of the day, defeating Georgia 82-73 in overtime to become just the second team to advance to the second round out of the First Four.
Per U.S. Climate Data, the average temperature in Iowa City in March is 48 degrees, but it got up to 84 degrees on Saturday, which broke the city’s previous record high for March 21 of 78 degrees. The sell-out crowd of over 15,000 only added to the heat inside the arena.
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“That was really cool,” Virginia guard Kymora Johnson said of the Iowa fans cheering for Virginia. “Obviously Iowa gets a lot of fans, and it was really cool to see the stadium fill up, although it was very hot.”
The temperature and humidity inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena during Virginia’s win over Georgia
ESPN
“What I try to focus on, sometimes to a fault, you just control the controllables,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said earlier this week when asked about the weather.
“I’m glad you brought it up because maybe I better try to talk about it. I’m older, I’m in my fifties right, so I can be like we can’t control that, suck it up. But when you’re younger and it is really hot and it’s been cold in Carver most of the year because it’s winter in the Midwest, might need to chat about it. But I do think the focus will be great. Hydrate up. Both sides will have to have a lot of water if the crowd does heat it up in there. But I think that we’ll be pretty smart about we gotta do what we gotta do whether it’s 80 or 20,” she added.
This is not the first time that Carver-Hawkeye’s lack of air conditioning has been an issue. Last spring, when the Indiana Fever played the Brazilian national team in a WNBA preseason game in the building, former Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark warned her Fever teammates about the heat.
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“I warned everybody, like, there’s no air conditioning in Carver-Hawkeye, and usually they don’t play basketball games there in May,” Clark said. “So hopefully, hopefully it stays a little cool in there. I don’t know what the humidity is looking like, but we’ll see how it goes. Might be a little toasty.”
Serge Gnabry bagged a brace and Harry Kane inched closer to the Bundesliga single-season goals record as Bayern Munich beat Union Berlin 4-0 at home on Saturday. Michael Olise also got on the scoresheet as Bundesliga leaders Bayern went 12 clear. Borussia Dortmund can return the gap to nine points with a win at home to Hamburg in Saturday’s late game. Kane’s second-half goal took him to 31 goals this campaign — the same number Union have scored all season — and 10 short of Robert Lewandowski’s mark from 2020-21, with seven games to play.
“It’s still possible, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing,” Kane told reporters about the record.
“All it takes is a hat-trick or a couple of braces in a row and then it’ll look a bit more likely.”
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Bayern now have 97 goals this season, four short of the best mark set in 1971-72, when Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Mueller helped the Bavarian giants tear through the Bundesliga.
Coach Vincent Kompany made five changes from the side which thumped Atalanta on Wednesday to set up a Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid, but kept Kane front and centre.
Union had never beaten Bayern in 14 clashes and held out until the 41st minute, when Olise collected a punted Leon Goretzka pass and curled the ball into the top corner.
Gnabry made it two just before the break, knocking in a rebound at the far post.
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Kane pirouetted and curled in Bayern’s third just after the break, boosting his tally to 48 in 40 games in all competitions this season.
Gnabry was again in the right place to volley in with 67 minutes gone and add gloss to another big Bayern win.
Bayer Leverkusen’s top-four hopes took a hit with a 3-3 draw at rock-bottom Heidenheim after leading 2-0 at half-time and 3-2 with five minutes remaining.
The draw leaves Leverkusen sixth, four points behind RB Leipzig, Stuttgart and Hoffenheim, who are all level on 50 points. Stuttgart have a game in hand.
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“I’m speechless,” goalkeeper Mark Flekken told DAZN. “We talked at half-time about not getting complacent.”
Hoping to bounce back from Tuesday’s Champions League exit at Arsenal, first-half goals to Malik Tillmann and Patrik Schick had Leverkusen on course for a routine win.
Heidenheim fought back to level the match through a Hennes Behrens goal and a Marvin Pieringer penalty. Schick once again gave Leverkusen the lead with a header but Pieringer levelled things up from a corner with 85 minutes gone.
Justin Njinmah scored the only goal as Werder Bremen won 1-0 at Wolfsburg to push their hosts closer to a first ever Bundesliga relegation.
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Second-last with just one victory in the calendar year, 2009 German champions Wolfsburg could be six points from safety if St Pauli beat Freiburg on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Rhine Derby rivals Cologne and Borussia Moenchengladbach played out a 3-3 draw.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
WWE Superstar Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch recently took to social media to drop a massive teaser related to an upcoming announcement. The two shared a collaborative Instagram post.
Both Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch currently perform on Monday Night RAW. The Man is in a heated feud with AJ Lee, and they are expected to clash for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 42. Meanwhile, many reports suggest that Bron Breakker will return soon to set up a match against The Visionary at this year’s Show of Shows.
Thanks for the submission!
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On the Road to WrestleMania 42, the husband-wife duo has shared a massive teaser. Rollins and Lynch recently took to Instagram to share a collaborative post about an upcoming announcement, teasing that they are launching something major.
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Although they didn’t mention the details of this announcement, many fans believe it could be related to their coffee project with Dayglow Coffee, which Big Time Becks teased last month. They also confirmed that the reveal will happen on March 23, 2026.
“ANNOUNCEMENT INCOMING. 03.23.2026. From Us, With Love. R+C,” the post read.
Check out the Instagram post below:
WWE star Seth Rollins dropped a major retirement tease
The Visionary added that he still had a lot to give back to pro wrestling and was excited that he was a part of the Road to WWE WrestleMania 42.
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“I’m closer to the end of my career than the beginning, but I still feel like I have a lot to give. I’m excited to be able to do that as we march forward to WrestleMania,” Rollins said.
It remains to be seen what the Triple H-led creative team has planned for the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion at this year’s Show of Shows.
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Lerone Murphy called for a title shot after beating Aaron Pico (Getty)
Elsewhere on the UFC London card, Paddy Pimblett’s teammates Luke Riley and Shem Rock step out to represent Liverpool, Michael “Venom” Page and Sam Patterson meet in an all-British bout, and fan favourite Nathaniel Wood is in action.
The event will take place at the O2 Arena on Saturday 21 March. The prelims will begin at 5pm GMT (10am PT / 12pm CT / 1pm ET), with the main card following at 8pm GMT (1pm PT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET).
How can I watch it?
In the UK, the main card will air live on TNT Sports and is also accessible via Discovery+, EE TV, Virgin Media, Amazon Prime Video, and Sky Sports; beforehand, the early and regular prelims will stream live on UFC Fight Pass. In the US, Paramount+ will stream the action.
Hubert Davis’ future as the head coach at North Carolina is in doubt, sources told CBS Sports.
Davis did not have contact with his staff for nearly 24 hours from Friday morning into Saturday’s previously scheduled team meeting, a source said, adding to speculation and growing expectation that a massive change could be coming in Chapel Hill. If there is a reverse-course that allows Davis to stay on for a sixth season, it would be a surprise to a lot of people in and around the program.
UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham added some clarity on Saturday morning, telling CBS Sports that no decision has been made on Davis’ future.
“Every year at the end of the season, it’s important to evaluate all facets of the program and look for ways to improve,” Cunningham texted. “The Chancellor, [incoming athletic director Steve Newmark] and I are doing that together now and will continue to have discussions over the coming days.”
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If a change is coming, it’s not expected before the end of the weekend. Davis is meeting with North Carolina brass on Saturday. The team had a regularly scheduled meeting on Saturday as well, which, per sources, was business as usual.
The potential impending change was catalyzed by the Tar Heels blowing a 19-point lead with 14 minutes remaining against No. 11 VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The collapse was the largest by any team in the first round in the history of March Madness and was also a third straight loss to end UNC’s season.
The Tar Heels were without their best player — star freshman and projected top-10 pick Caleb Wilson — who missed the final nine games due to two separate hand and thumb injuries.
If a move is made, it would be an earthquake for college basketball. North Carolina is unequivocally considered one of the four best and most prestigious jobs in the sport alongside the likes of fellow blue bloods Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. In the eyes of some, the Tar Heels job sits at No. 1. A split with Davis would also signify profound move. For the first time in 74 years, the program would almost definitely go outside of the Carolina family to find its next men’s basketball coach.
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The lineage dates back to 1952, when Frank McGuire was brought on. McGuire won a national title in 1957 and stayed until 1961, when then-assistant Dean Smith was promoted and went on to build out one of the most impactful and legendary coaching careers in college sports history. From Smith to Bill Guthridge to Matt Doherty to Roy Williams to Davis, every men’s basketball coach at UNC has been linked from one tenure to another for seven-plus decades.
Davis, a 55-year-old UNC alum, was handed the blue blood job in 2021 after Roy Williams’ retirement at the conclusion of that season. Davis, who starred at UNC from 1988 to 1992, has been with the program since 2012. As a head coach, he has a 125-54 record (.698) and made the NCAA Tournament in four years. The one year he missed, in 2023, infamously came after the Tar Heels were the preseason No. 1 team, making UNC the only school to ever not make the Big Dance after being awarded a preseason No. 1 ranking.
🏀 How each UNC season under Hubert Davis has ended
Season
Finish
Result
Notes
2025-26
NCAA Tournament
First Round loss (vs. VCU)
Blew a 19-point lead in a historic collapse
2024-25
NCAA Tournament
First Round loss (vs. Ole Miss)
Advanced from the First Four, then fell in the Round of 64
2023-24
NCAA Tournament
Sweet 16 loss (vs. Alabama)
No. 1 seed and ACC regular-season champion
2022-23
No postseason
Missed NCAA Tournament
Declined an NIT bid after becoming the first preseason No. 1 to miss the field
2021-22
NCAA Tournament
National runner-up (lost to Kansas)
Beat Duke in the Final Four in Mike Krzyzewski’s final game
A primary group of boosters met late Friday afternoon with UNC stakeholders, a source said, to gain clarity on whether keeping Davis was feasible. The verdict: If Davis stays, the money for roster-buildilng next season would likely be flimsy. North Carolina has the No. 26 recruiting class in 2026, including the nation’s No. 8 player Dylan Mingo, who is committed but not signed. The Tar Heels last transfer cycle brought in four blue-chip talents to pair with Wilson out of the high school ranks, a big spend that did not deliver the expected return on investment at the end of the season.
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One source told CBS Sports that there is “no conceivable way to fund a roster through donor money, it can’t be raised to fund the team next year” under Davis because almost most of the boosters at UNC have “lost faith in the program.”
That source also stressed that North Carolina is seriously cash-strapped due to the humongous investments in football under Bill Belichick.
And yet, in that meeting Friday afternoon, the big money people did voice a critical piece to all of this: They believe they could rally the money to pay off Davis’ remaining years on his contract and would doubly band the base together to fund the buyout for whatever big-name coach can be brought in over the next couple of weeks if a change is made.
Mike Tyson set many world records throughout his boxing career but one former heavyweight world champion looks poised to break one of them upon his return.
When Roy Jones Jr ended a five-year hiatus to box UFC star Anthony Pettis, ‘Captain Hook’ broke Jack Johnson’s record as the former heavyweight world champion with the longest boxing career, having fought professionally for over 33 years (12,384 days).
Another veteran who made a return, and maintained his activity, is former WBC heavyweight king Oliver McCall, who has boxed three times since November 2024, registering two stoppage wins and a draw.
At present, McCall’s professional career, which began in November 1985 and currently extends to June 2025, consists of a total of 14,458 days – just 41 short of Tyson’s record.
However, in an interview with World Boxing News, Jimmy Adams of Country Box, the promotional outfit which has staged McCall’s recent fights, confirmed that ‘The Atomic Bull’ will return to the ring during 2026.
“He is fighting again. For real, Oliver called me personally to say he wants to go again, and I’m looking to get him a date soon on Country Box,”
Any fight from this point onwards will see McCall become the new record-holder as the former heavyweight world champion with the longest professional career. Yet, another professional outing from Tyson cannot be ruled out, with his exhibition against Floyd Mayweather poised to take place next month.
Mar 8, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Washington Wizards guard Trae Young (3) reacts after a three-point basket against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Washington Wizards point guard Trae Young is dealing with a right quadriceps contusion and lower back irritation, the team announced Saturday.
“Both injuries are being treated conservatively and will not require surgery at this time,” the team said in a press release. “Further updates will be provided as appropriate.”
Young, 27, reinjured his quadriceps in the third quarter of Washington’s 125-117 loss to the Golden State Warriors and did not appear in back-to-back losses to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and Thursday.
The Wizards (16-53) take a 14-game losing streak into their Saturday game against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Acquired in a Jan. 9 trade with the Atlanta Hawks, Young made his Washington debut on March 5. It was the four-time All-Star’s first action since Dec. 27 due to a quadriceps contusion and an MCL sprain.
Young has averaged 15.2 points and 6.2 assists in five starts for the Wizards. He has been limited to 20.8 minutes per game, well below his career average of 34.1.
Since being drafted No. 5 overall in 2018, Young owns career averages of 25.1 points, 9.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 498 games (all starts) with the Hawks and Wizards.
In March Madness, it often comes down to the little things, but for UCF center John Bol, his blunder was not a little thing: he scored on his own basket.
In the first half of No. 7 UCLA’s 75-71 win over No. 10 UCF on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center, Bol tapped a rebound into his own basket.
With just under two minutes left in the first half and the shot clock winding down, UCLA guard Donovan Dent shot a desperation 3-pointer. Bol, instead of corralling Dent’s miss and turning the other way, tapped the ball into his basket to increase UCLA’s lead to 35-21.
UCF Knights center John Bol (7) reacts against the UCLA Bruins in the first half of a first-round game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 2026.(Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
It was the beginning of a rough night for Bol, who went 0-5 from the free throw line with an unorthodox free-throw motion. The 7-foot-2 center scored two points on the night, contributing as many points to his own team as he did to the other team.
Bol’s own basket was not the only odd event during the game, as UCLA guard Skyy Clark also lost a tooth during the game.
UCF Knights guard Riley Kugel (2) and center John Bol (7) react in the first half of a first-round game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 2026.(Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
UCF made it close late, erasing a double-digit deficit from the first half, but was not able to cap off the comeback, adding more significance to Bol’s own basket.
Jordan Burks led UCF in the loss with 22 points and six rebounds. Jamichael Stillwell (10 points), Themus Fulks (10 points) and Riley Kugel (13 points) were the only other players to score in double figures in the loss.
UCF Knights center John Bol (7) reacts in the first half of a first-round game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 2026.(Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
Eric Dailey Jr. led the Bruins with 20 points and five rebounds, while Trent Perry and Xavier Booker each had 15 points in the win.
UCLA will play No. 2 seed UConn in the Round of 32 on Sunday at 8:45 p.m. ET.
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