UCLA ruled out its leading scorer, Tyler Bilodeau, just before the Bruins’ first-round NCAA Tournament game against UCF on Friday in Philadelphia.
Bilodeau, who suffered a right knee sprain in the Big Ten tournament last week, experienced soreness during warmups and was held out, a UCLA spokesperson told the California Post.
Bilodeau left UCLA’s quarterfinal win over Michigan State due to the injury and missed the next game, a loss in the semifinals to Purdue.
He averages 17.6 points and 5.6 rebounds over 31 games (30 starts) this season. Bilodeau also shoots 46.4% from 3-point range.
Big man Xavier Booker took Bilodeau’s place in the starting lineup for the second straight game. The Bruins are the seventh seed in the East Region, facing the 10th-seeded Knights.
