UCLA Cruises in Season-Opening Win Over Sacramento State, 76-50
The Bruins ran away with this game as you would expect.
Season-opening games are hard to write about. UCLA will typically play an outmatched opponent, let them play close for a bit, and then start blowing them out. A lot of guys will see the court, we get a general feel for some early-season storylines, and then we move on.
That’s basically what happened in this game. UCLA let Sacramento State hang around for a bit, then turned up the defense to expand out a lead that they would never relinquish, ultimately winning by the final score of 76 to 50. The freshmen (save one) got some needed experience against college players, the seniors were able to work out some kinks, and Jaylen Clark announced his presence.
Let’s start with that last one first. Jaylen Clark had himself a game tonight. He had a slow start in the first half but turned it on in the second, finishing with an unreal stat line of 17 points on 7-7 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists, and seven steals. There were things to nitpick, like his five turnovers including two offensive fouls, but he was a complete force for the Bruins. What I loved the most was Clark’s postgame interview with Bill Walton, where he said his main goal every night is to eliminate the opposing team’s best player, and that he keeps an internal count of how many times he gets beat. UCLA would certainly like Clark to score like he did tonight, but if he shows this level of defensive intensity every night, the Bruins will be hard to stop.
The senior leaders had interesting nights. Jaime Jaquez seemingly spent much of the game taking it easy and choosing his spots to attack, almost as if he’s a veteran of multiple years and knows how long the season is. I can’t fault Jaquez, especially because every time he did choose to attack it became abundantly clear that the Hornets had no real shot at stopping him. Tyger Campbell was a bit more erratic, tying Jaquez with 14 points but needing 14 shots to do it. Campbell was clearly hunting for his shot a lot more in this game, which is the directive of Cronin this season, but I’d like to see him take those shots more in the flow of the offense.
Moving on to the freshmen, we start with Adem Bona, who did not make his debut in this game. UCLA released that he was serving a one-game suspension with the NCAA over an eligibility issue, but reporting suggests this was a known factor for everyone involved and that he’ll be good to go for the next game.
The freshmen that did play very much looked like freshmen getting their first true college action. Amari Bailey looked shaky on offense early but began to settle in as the game went on, finishing with 10 points including a dunk with 0.6 seconds left that was significant for some. I have faith that Bailey will contribute more offensively as the season rolls on, but the best sign for him was to see him fighting to the ground for a loose ball with the Bruins up big late in the second half; there was no real reason for him to do this, but it was a message to the Bruin faithful that Bailey is not a typical high-level recruit and has completely bought into Coach Cronin’s style of hard-nosed basketball. Dylan Andrews looked perfectly fine for what he was asked to do, and continues to reaffirm that he can handle backup point guard minutes. Abramo Canka saw some action and looked nervous with the ball, but you could see athleticism he possesses, so hopefully he develops as the season progresses.
The lack of Adem Bona put more of a spotlight on the interior. Kenneth Nwuba got the start and was fine, but really struggled to lock things down defensively, especially in the first half when the Hornets started targeting him on drives. But with the Bona news also came the reveal that Mac Etienne was ready to play in a basketball game for the first time in over a year. Etienne looked very good in his debut, showing off the tantalizing length that Bruin fans last saw in 2021, and while he still has a way to go offensively, he showed he can provide some good interior defense when called upon. The backup minutes behind Bona are going to be interesting to watch going forward.
Jaylen Clark led the Bruins with 17 points. He also had the team lead in rebounds with eight and tied Tyger Campbell for the team lead in assists with four. Zach Chappell and Cameron Wilbon led the Hornets with 10 points apiece.
Three Takeaways
Player of the Game: Jaylen Clark - UCLA fans likely considered Clark to be the X Factor for this year’s team, but Clark played as if he wants to be in the conference Player of the Year discussion. Clark did it all for the Bruins, leading the team with a 17/8/4 slash line to go with seven steals.
Easing into Things - You could recognize early on that some of the Bruins weren’t going to exert full effort in the season opener, which makes perfect sense considering the opposing talent level of Sacramento State. Jaime Jaquez and Tyger Campbell were fine, but they seemed more willing to take a backseat in a game they did not dominate in. It’s a long season, this was fine.
Interior Surprises - Two big pieces of news broke right before the game. First, Adem Bona would be sitting out in order to not run afoul of NCAA rules, though he is reportedly fine to go the rest of the season. Second, Mac Etienne was ready to play his first basketball game in over a year, and he looked good in 15 minutes of action. I would assume he’s on a pitch count currently, but if he can continue to produce defensively like he did today, UCLA’s interior depth will look much better.
The Bruins will next play on Friday when they take on Long Beach State. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM PT.
Go Bruins!
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I would have liked to see Cronin give Bailey the green light more. With his style of play, he needs a couple of Iso plays where he's driving and dishing, and learning to take the contact / get to the FT line.
Singleton was also very efficient tonight, added much needed outside shooting to our team.
Good write up, Dimitri. On the money with all your observations.
Personally, I thought it was a very good first game for the Bruins. It was good to see the freshmen get minutes, something I'd like to see continue moving forward unlike last season, when Cronin never gave Watson enough time on the floor to find his role with the team. With 6 players gone from last season's team, there will be plenty of situations when Bailey, Andrews, McClendon, Etienne, and Bona will have to make big contributions for this team to make a deep run although I assume Bona will play on the first unit when he's cleared by the NCAA. Every time I see or hear his name mentioned, it's usually in conjunction with the word "beast" so let's get him on the floor so we can witness this. I can hardly wait to see Bona go up against Oumar Ballo.
I love the path that Jaylen Clark has taken by embracing defense as his calling card. NBA players who can run, jump, and shoot are a dime a dozen. Guys who play team ball and play lock down defense are few and far between. Jaylen's offensive game is still a work in progress. He worked on his shot which looks much better, the handles needs improvement, but that will come in time. But the defense will get him a long career in the NBA, much like it has for guys like Caruso, GP2, and Marcus Smart. He says he wants the conference DPOY and he's going to get it.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that Abramo Canka turns out to be a sleeper and Cronin's ace in the hole. I've watched a lot of his FIBA U20 film and he looks like he's got a good combination of skills and athleticism. Here's the best scouting report that I could find on him:
https://kuzeykl-41267.medium.com/abramo-canka-scouting-report-526f8ca1a2d7
Looking forward to Friday's game against CSULB which should be a step up from Sac State.