UCLA leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau has a mild right knee strain but is expected to be available for the NCAA tournament, a school spokesman said Saturday.
Bilodeau was ruled out for the Bruins’ Big Ten tournament semifinal against Purdue — and likely for a possible conference title game — but the injury update was positive for a Bruins team listed as a No. 7 seed in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracket projection.
The senior forward suffered the injury during UCLA’s upset win over No. 8 Michigan State in the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday. Bilodeau went down clutching his right knee when his leg buckled with a noncontact injury as he tried to defend Carson Cooper in the post late in the first half.
He had to be helped off the court and spent the second half on the sideline with his right knee wrapped. After the game, Bruins coach Mick Cronin had all but ruled out Bilodeau against No. 18 Purdue, saying it would take “literally a miracle for him to play.”
Bilodeau, who leads UCLA in scoring (17.6 PPG) and rebounding (5.6 RPG), had shown positivity about the injury, saying, “I’m good.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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