Diverted flight pushes back UCLA’s game against Marquette by seven hours

MILWAUKEE —  A cracked windshield in the cockpit forced the UCLA basketball team’s flight bound for Milwaukee to divert on Friday to Denver, where the plane landed without incident and the team spent the night in a hotel near the airport.

The fourth-ranked Bruins’ game against Marquette on Saturday at Fiserv Forum, which was originally scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Pacific, was pushed back to 6:30 p.m. by mutual agreement. The game will now be broadcast on FS2 instead of Fox.

The Bruins were scheduled to leave Denver on Saturday morning on a different aircraft bound for Milwaukee. UCLA (7-1) has not played since defeating Colorado on Dec. 1 at Pauley Pavilion; their game that was scheduled against Washington last weekend was canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Huskies’ program, granting UCLA a forfeit victory for Pac-12 standings purposes.

UCLA redshirt senior forward Cody Riley could make his long-awaited return against the Golden Eagles (8-2) on Saturday after being sidelined one month by the sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee that he suffered during the season opener.