PHILADELPHIA — Tyler Bilodeau took a pass, rose from near the free-throw line and swished a jumper. On the other end of the court, Donovan Dent made a step-back jumper.
All signs pointed toward UCLA’s two leading scorers returning Friday when the Bruins open the NCAA Tournament inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Both players had been sidelined since suffering injuries last week in the Big Ten Tournament.
Bilodeau sprained his right knee late in the first half against Michigan State in a quarterfinal. A day later, Dent hurt his calf while making a move against Purdue.
They both returned to practice earlier this week and appear ready to play when the seventh-seeded Bruins face 10th-seeded UCF.
“I’m doing good, feeling good,” Bilodeau said Thursday as he sat in front of his locker. “I’ve just been taking it day by day, getting a little better each day.”
Bilodeau said he hurt the same knee that he had injured earlier this season and kept him out of the team’s loss to California in late November. When he went down last week, he feared it might have been a significant injury.
“Yeah, I think that always goes through your head when you go down like that,” said Bilodeau, who wore a protective black sleeve over his right leg Thursday, “but I’m just very fortunate, very lucky that it wasn’t too serious.”
Dent also expressed confidence in his ability to play after getting almost a week to recover.
“I had a lot of time getting back to 100%,” Dent said.
No one had to tell either player what was at stake for his team.
“This is March Madness,” Bilodeau said, “so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
