PHILADELPHIA (AP) Mick Cronin raised a plastic cup to another NCAA Tournament victory for UCLA Bruins with an energy drink he brought with him to the podium.

“I'm not Coach Pitino,” he said.

The Bruins coach laughed in a nod to Rick Pitino of St. John's and the postgame beer he sipped in celebration of winning a conference tournament.

Cronin, though, will gladly enjoy another round.

Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points, Xaiver Booker had 15 points and eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Tyler Biloudeau and seventh-seeded UCLA withstood every serious challenge to beat 10th-seeded UCF Knights 75-71 on Friday night.

“During the year, we have been in games where we have been down and come back,” Dailey said. “All that was practice for this moment.”

The Bruins (24-11) - with guard Skyy Clarkminus a tooth - will play No. 2 seed UConn on Sunday.

Jordan Burks scored 22 points and hit six 3-pointers - including one that made it 72-69 with 10 seconds left - to almost single-handedly carry UCF (21-12) into the second round.

Under the comical and combustible Cronin, the Bruins are back in the second round for the second straight tournament after missing out in 2024.

Cronin preached for his team to hit the reset button after losing in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and skipping the NCAA selection show. With every alley-oop dunk the Bruins looked rested and sent the UCLA fans into a frenzy.

For every run the Knights went on - most notably in the second half when Burks hit consecutive 3s that pulled them within three points and sent “UCF!” chants rolling through the arena - the Bruins brought them back to reality.

Trent Perry hit back-to-back layups that sparked a 12-1 run for the Bruins and seemingly put some distance between them and the Knights.

But, Burks hit another 3 that cut the deficit to nine points with 2:01 left in the game and he made a layup to make it 68-62.

The Bruins converted their free throws and ran out the clock to win for the seventh time in nine games.

Bilodeau seemed on track to play but remained sidelined because of a sprained knee suffered last week against Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament.

He averaged 17.6 points and was an All-Big Ten third-team selection.

Cronin said Bilodeau had a good practice a day earlier but woke up stiff. Cronin said he made the decision to give Bilodeau the game off. Cronin said the next status update would come ahead of Sunday's game.

Donovan Dent played through a calf injury suffered in the conference tournament and had 10 points.

UCF 7-foot-2 center John Bol accidentally scored a basket for UCLA when the ball popped straight out of his hands when he jumped on a defensive rebound attempt.

The blooper bucket gave UCLA a 35-31 lead.

Clark lost a tooth late in the game when he dove for a loose ball and appeared to get elbowed in the face by a UCF defender. The tooth went flying and members of the UCLA staff scurried around to try and find it.

UCLA walk-on Jack Seidler found the loose tooth.

Clark - who flashed a toothless grin in the locker room and said he was at about a nine on a 1-10 pain scale - hit the final throw to secure the win.

“I had my adrenaline going so I really didn’t feel it,” he said.

UCF coach Johnny Dawkins never played a game inside the 76ers’ current arena - built after he retired in 1995 - but has plenty of fond memories of his time with the team. He played five seasons for the Sixers from 1989 to ’94.

“When I come to Philly, it’s always fondness for me. I love the city and what it represents,” Dawkins said. “You come in here and have a chance to compete again, although not playing anymore, but with my team, it was special. I don’t know how many times you have a moment like that where you get a chance to come back to a city you’ve enjoyed for so long and have a chance, to come in and compete in NCAA Tournament.”

UCLA remains in the hunt for a 12th national championship.

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