The 2023–24 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

during the

2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with th ...

. The

Bruins Bruin, (from Dutch for "brown"), is an English folk term for brown bear. Bruin, Bruins or BRUIN may also refer to: Places * Lake Bruin, ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River located in northeastern Louisiana ** Lake Bruin State Park * Bruin, K ...

were led by fifth-year head coach Mick Cronin, and they played their home games at

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. Th ...

as a member of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. It was the Bruins' final season as a member of the Pac-12 before joining the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

on July 1, 2024. UCLA had seven

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary school, post-se ...

on their roster, and eight newcomers overall, along with three

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

s. The Bruins won their first three games and started the season 5–2. The team was limited offensively. On January 11, 2024, they lost 90–44 to

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

for their eighth loss in nine games. The 46-point defeat was the second-worst in the program's history, behind a 48-point loss (109–61) to

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. On January 27, UCLA defeated

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

65–50 at the

Galen Center The Galen Center is a multipurpose indoor arena and athletic facility owned and operated by the University of Southern California. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Ang ...

. It was the Bruins' first win in their crosstown rivalry under Cronin on the Trojans' home court, ending a five-game losing streak at the site. For the first time since

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, the teams faced each other both with losing records. UCLA beat

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

71–63, dropping the Ducks to second place, for their third straight win and fifth in their last six games. They extended their winning streak to six games, and had won eight of their last nine, leading up to their rematch against Utah. However, the Bruins lost 70–69 to the Utes on a last-second basket. They also lost their following game to USC to fall to 14–13 overall and 9–7 in the conference, needing to win the Pac-12 tournament to advance to the NCAA tournament. UCLA lost their third game in a row, dropping back to .500 after allowing a season high in points in a 94–77 defeat to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The Bruins won their regular-season finale 59–47 at home against

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

to end a five-game losing streak, including three at Pauley Pavilion. In their Pac-12 tournament opener, Dylan Andrews scored a career-high 31 points to lead No. 5-seed UCLA to a 67–57 win over 12th-seeded

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

. The Bruins were eliminated in the following game in the quarterfinals, losing 68–66 to No. 4-seed

. With 4.4 seconds remaining, Andrews took the inbounds pass, drove downcourt, and shot a

floater Floaters or eye floaters are sometimes visible deposits (e.g., the shadows of tiny structures of protein or other cell debris projected onto the retina) within the eye's vitreous humour ("the vitreous"), which is normally transparent, or between ...

inside the

free throw line In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

over

N'Faly Dante N'Faly Dante (born 19 October 2001) is a Malian basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for t ...

as the buzzer sounded, but the ball bounced off the back of the rim. He ended the game with 24 points, and averaged 21.2 points over the final six games. Cronin's personal streak of 12 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances ended.

Offseason

2023 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, Pac-12 regular season , - !colspan=12 style=,

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

Awards and honors

* March 12, 2024 – Adem Bona was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. * March 12, 2024 – Sebastian Mack was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team UCLA Bruins men's basketball seasons

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

UCLA Bruins basketball, men UCLA Bruins basketball, men