INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- It's tough to find the hunger to move on when you suffer a beatdown, especially late in the season. But UCLA is going to have to do just that, as the Bruins now turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament after taking a tough 86-70 loss to Wisconsin in Friday's Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
The UCLA Bruins ended their first season as a part of the Big Ten conference by sweeping their in-state rivals, the USC Trojans. The Bruins saw a lot more success than their rivals this past season, finishing with a record of 22-9 and finishing in fourth place in the Big Ten standings.
Kobe Johnson made a huge career decision when he chose to spend his final season with the rival team of a program he called home for three seasons. Johnson, who had been a USC Trojan for three seasons, transferred to UCLA last offseason as one of six transfers the Bruins were able to land.
The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of the inventor of basketball (in 1891), Dr. James Naismith.Can you name every men's college basketball player who has won the Naismith Award?
The UCLA Bruins (21-9, 12-7) are just one game away from wrapping up the regular season and heading into postseason play. On Sunday night at Pauley Pavilion, they will square off with bitter rival, USC (14-15, 6-12), honoring three seniors.
All year, the UCLA Bruins (20-8, 11-6) have relied on aspects of the game outside of scoring to become one of the top teams in the Big Ten. One player that has perfectly represented the way the Bruins' style of play is senior guard Kobe Johnson.
Despite dropping their last game to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the UCLA Bruins have been on a decent run as of late. Of course, no one likes losing, but the Bruins did put up a fight to the very end in the losing effort.
After UCLA let a 17-point first-half lead slip away in a shocking 64-61 loss to Minnesota, the Bruins were left searching for answers. While Coach Mick Cronin didn’t hold back in his criticism, the players also took accountability, acknowledging their defensive lapses and missed opportunities.
Dylan Andrews sank two clutch free throws with four seconds remaining to help UCLA avoid a late-game collapse in a 72-68 win over Indiana on Friday in Bloomington, Ind.
The UCLA Bruins (18-6, 9-4) are quite lucky for the decision that senior guard Kobe Johnson made this offseason to transfer from bitter rival, USC, to join the Bruins for his final year of college basketball.
The UCLA Bruins continue to play their best basketball of the season, as they took down the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, 78-54. While the team has flourished and meshed well together on this winning streak, the game was a big one for UCLA senior Kobe Johnson.
Kobe Johnson scored 15 points, Skyy Clark and Sebastian Mack each netted 14 and UCLA dominated the turnover battle to roll past Penn State 78-54 on Saturday in Los Angeles.
UCLA's success in the transfer portal has translated over to its 2024-25 campaign. The Bruins' top leading scorers, junior forward Tyler Bilodeau and (13.9 points per game) and sophomore forward Eric Dailey Jr.
Friday night’s 79-61 loss to Maryland was another tough setback for UCLA, but the postgame reflections from sophomore forward Eric Dailey Jr. and senior guard Kobe Johnson shed light on the deeper challenges the team is navigating — both within the game and beyond.
The turnover struggles that the No. 22 UCLA Bruins (11-5) worked the past month and a half to fix has begun to plague them once more after allowing an ungodly amount of giveaways in an ugly loss to the Maryland Terrapins (12-4) on Friday night.
While the UCLA Bruins have hit a rough patch in their season, the veteran members of the squad have been consistent in their gameplay. While junior forward Tyler Bilodeau leads the Bruins in average points per game, the continued unsung hero has been senior guard Kobe Johnson.
The UCLA Bruins fought valiantly but were unable to stay undefeated in Big Ten Conference play, as Nebraska walked away with the victory on Saturday. The largest loss margin for the Bruins this season could have been more, had it not been for senior guard Kobe Johnson.
In 2023, the UCLA Bruins did not have the best stretch over their first 15 games. Going 6-9 over that stretch, the Bruins did not look like the team they do now.
The No. 22 UCLA Bruins took down the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs in what came down to the final seconds of the game. Though he did not get a shot off in the final efforts to initially land the victory, senior guard Kobe Johnson surely did his part for the Bruins in the winning effort.
The UCLA Bruins will go into their holiday break sitting with a record of 10-2 with an undefeated record in conference play. While the Bruins have been an imposing offense this season, there are still areas of this young team's game that Coach Mick Cronin will try to get out of them.
The UCLA Bruins (9-1) have had several players step up in big moments, but nobody has impacted their early season more than transfer senior guard Kobe Johnson who is coming off another incredible game in a comeback win over the Arizona Wildcats (4-5).
The UCLA Bruins fought and clawed and ultimately came away with the biggest victory of the season against the Oregon Ducks on Sunday, improving to 8-1 on the young season.
USC Trojans junior wing Kobe Johnson has had something of a down year in 2023-24, like many of his fellow Cardinal and Gold upperclassmen. After the 6’6” swingman was named to the 2023 Pac-12 All-Defense Team as a sophomore, many pundits (yours truly included) anticipated that Johnson would take a huge leap on offense this season.
The USC Trojans finally came away with a big win against Cal on Wednesday night, effectively snapping the team's two-game losing streak. Despite the win, the team is currently at 7-7. Simply being at .500 won't be enough for the team to carry into the NCAA tournament, which should be the ultimate goal.