BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – This story is part of a series that will continue through October. Is Indiana better than each of its Big Ten opponents?
Nine categories were chosen. There will be no ties in individual categories. Think of it like you would the Supreme Court.
The categories: Point guard play, free throw shooting, inside scoring, perimeter shooting, rebounding, perimeter defense, rim protection, how much proven Power Five talent is on the roster, and intangibles.
The daily series will cover both the men’s and women’s basketball teams, and it will alternate between the teams.
UCLA is our focus today. The Bruins have more in common with the Hoosiers than a great basketball tradition.
While Indiana is coming off an underwhelming season, UCLA is coming off an even worse campaign. The Bruins were 16-17 in 2024, their worst season since 2016 and only their third losing season since 2005. It was also just the third losing season in coach Mick Cronin’s 21-year career and his first since 2008.
Naturally, UCLA re-tooled, but it didn’t completely blow up the enterprise. Three of its four leading scorers return: guard Dylan Andrews (12.9 ppg), guard Sebastian Mack (12.1 ppg) and guard Lazar Stefanovic (11.5 ppg).
Added to that perimeter core is Oregon State transfer forward Tyler Bilodeau (14.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Southern California transfer forward Kobe Johnson (10.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg).
With that proven quintet, and a few other additions, UCLA is expected to be in the top half of the Big Ten in 2024-25. The Bruins were picked third in the media preseason poll, directly behind the Hoosiers.
Here’s how the battle between the Hoosiers and Bruins shakes out.
• Point guard play – Andrews runs the show for the Bruins. He averaged 3.7 assists and turned the ball over just under twice per game. Andrews will fire away from 3-point range, as he connected 32.4% of the time.
What tips the scale in Indiana’s favor is its point guard depth. Myles Rice, Trey Galloway and Gabe Cupps have all started at the Power Five level. UCLA can’t claim the same. Edge: Indiana.
• Free throw shooting – Stefanovic (86.8%), Andrews (80.8%) and Mack (72.7%) are enough on their own to top Indiana’s two players who shot over 70% in 2024. Bilodeau (79.8%), Loyola Marymount guard Dominick Harris (78.3%) and Johnson (72.6%) just extend the Bruins’ edge. Edge: UCLA.
• Inside scoring – Malik Reneau (15.4 ppg) and Oumar Ballo (12.9 ppg) form a formidable duo for the Hoosiers. But UCLA is one Big Ten team that will give Indiana a run for its money in the paint.
Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward, converted 60.3% of his 2-point shots. Johnson is adept at scoring inside and also on the arc. While he spreads the floor, he made nearly 50% of his shots inside the arc.
Where the Bruins will cause problems is with their depth. Cronin loaded up on big scorers. He wooed 6-9 South Dakota State transfer forward William Kyle III (13.1 ppg), 6-8 Oklahoma State transfer Eric Dailey Jr. (9.3 ppg) to Westwood and kept 7-3 Aday Mara (3.5 ppg). Edge: UCLA.
• Perimeter shooting – UCLA will be able to fill it up from beyond the arc, too. At Loyola Marymount, Harris (44.8%) led the West Coast Conference in 3-point shooting, the league that includes Gonzaga. Stefanovic (38.9%), Louisville transfer Skyy Clark (35.3%), Bilodeau (34.5%), Dailey (33.3%), Andrews (32.4%), and Johnson (31.1%) all exceed 30% 3-point shooting. While Indiana got better from the perimeter, it doesn’t have that level of 3-point production. Edge: UCLA.
• Rebounding – Stefanovic (6.1 rpg) is the leading returning rebounder for UCLA, but for all of the big scorers that Cronin added, they weren’t elite on the glass in 2024. Kyle (6.6 rpg) and Bilodeau (5.7 rpg) were the only players added to average more than five boards per game and only Bilodeau at the Power Five level. Ballo (10.1 rpg) and Reneau (6 rpg) should be able to hold their own. Mackenzie Mgbako (4.1 rpg) helps, too. Edge: Indiana.
• Perimeter defense – Neither team excelled in this category in 2024. Both were ranked in the 200s in 3-point defense. Both were ranked in the lower half of Division I in steals. The advanced stats for UCLA’s returning guards are better than that of Indiana’s guards, but that’s where the addition of Rice might pay off. Rice (1.9 spg) can force opposing offenses into mistakes. Cupps (2.3 defensive box plus-minus) can also be used as defensive stopper for Indiana. With help in the backcourt, Trey Galloway’s advanced defensive stats, which suffered in 2024, could return to the quality numbers he put up in 2021 and 2022. Edge: Indiana.
• Defense at the rim – Ballo averaged 1.2 blocks at Arizona, but he didn’t block shots at the same rate Kel’El Ware did for the Hoosiers in 2024. His defensive advantage is a big body that makes it hard for opponents to get to the rim in the first place.
UCLA’s big man additions help them. Kyle (1.6 bpg) was a supreme rim protector in the Summit League for South Dakota State. Though he played sparingly, 7-3 Mara blocked nearly 10% of the shots taken when he was on the floor, a very impressive rate. Ware, by all accounts an elite shot blocker, swatted 6.5% of his.
The question is whether proven production from Ballo and Reneau (0.6 bpg) tops the potential of Kyle and Mara. Shot-blocking generally translates from one level to the next, so the Bruins might have a slight advantage. Edge: UCLA.
• Proven Power 5 ability on roster – The standard here is whether a player averaged 25 minutes or more at the Power Five level at their current or former school.
All three of UCLA’s returning guards meet the minutes standard. So do Bilodeau, Clark and Johnson. Indiana has five players who meet the standard. UCLA is one of the few teams with more Power Five experience on their roster than the Hoosiers. Edge: UCLA.
• Intangibles – Both teams have the bounce-back dynamic to their seasons. Both teams added quite a bit of talent to pull it off. Neither fanbase will tolerate anything less.
I give Indiana an intangible edge partly because it knows the Big Ten better than UCLA, but primarily because Indiana won’t face the same travel burden the Bruins will. Cronin tried to turn a perceived negative into a positive at Big Ten Media Days when he said how excited his players would be to play in exciting new venues. But the grind will tax UCLA in a way Indiana won’t have to deal with. Edge: Indiana.
• Verdict – For the first time in this series, Indiana falls short 5-4. Nearly all of the categories were close. So when the Bruins come to Bloomington Feb. 14, it should be a heckuva game.
Previous Is Indiana Better Than Men’s Basketball Results
Oregon – Indiana 7-2.
Rutgers – Indiana 7-2.
Maryland – Indiana 6-3.
USC – Indiana 6-3.
Penn State – Indiana 5-4.
Minnesota – Indiana 6-3.
Michigan – Indiana 6-3.
