UCLA Plays Like a Real #2 Seed, Defeats UNC Asheville 86-53
The Bruins played like a team on a mission to open the NCAA Tournament.
The UCLA Bruins won the opening tip. They scored the first 14 points of the game. They held a 21-point halftime lead, and instead of resting on their laurels, came out with even more energy in the second half. Jaime Jaquez was efficient. Amari Bailey was aggressive. Adem Bona was able to sit out the entire game, as Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne both put up career-highs in points. It was about as perfect an opening win as one could imagine.
Ok, it could have been better I guess. Jaylen Clark could have walked onto the court and revealed his Achilles injury was all part of a long con to raise UCLA’s odds to win, thus allowing Martin Jarmond to wipe out UCLA’s debt with one well-placed bet, but you get my drift.
Opening-round games are always a nervous affair. Bruin fans are no strangers to that feeling, having had to watch the Bruins struggle mightily against Akron in the 1st round just last year. And after watching fellow Pac-12 member and #2 seed Arizona pull off an impressive choke job even by their standards earlier in the day (which, again, was still incredibly funny), I’m sure UCLA fans were on pins and needles before tip-off. Even if you were confident in the team, I’m sure a week full of pundits predicting doom and gloom for the Bruins did not help matters on that front.
But then the ball went up and UCLA decided they were going to spend the rest of the game making a statement.
The Bruins were by far the more aggressive team in this one, with guys flying around the court, jumping into passing lanes, and forcing the Bulldogs into mistake after mistake. It was a textbook example of how a team with superior talent is supposed to play, and not really something UCLA fans have grown accustomed to this year as the Bruins would often play with their food before eventually locking in to explode their lead. And what was encouraging was how they never let up as the game progressed - the UCLA bench came in with the same hectic energy, and even when the game seemed over in the second half, the Bruins still played with their now-trademark maniacal defensive energy, forcing the Bulldogs into 16 turnovers and 37.3% shooting. A lot of ink was spilled heading into this game about the ability of UNC Asheville’s Drew Pember, but he was completely held in check, only scoring 13 points on 4-8 shooting and having a number of turnovers as he was completely taken out of the game by the UCLA defense. Jaime Jaquez drew the assignment on Pember for most of the game, but this was a defense-by-committee approach, as UCLA aggressively switched screens and wasn’t afraid to leave even a smaller defender like Tyger Campbell on Pember.
It also helped that UCLA’s bigs played exceptionally. Kenneth Nwuba was sensational in this game, flying out on hedges and challenging any Bulldog who entered the paint. He also scored a career-high 10 points on a variety of dunks and easy points next to the hoop, as UNC Asheville was never ever to stop UCLA from breaking them down off the dribble. Nwuba’s performance was such that it did not matter that Mac Etienne struggled in his few first-half minutes, but once the second half began Etienne settled down and played much better. He too scored a career-high 10 points, taking over late in the game as the Bulldogs had no answer for his size and length. Nwuba and Etienne were so good that coach Mick Cronin was able to give Adem Bona some extra recovery time; the UCLA big had injured his shoulder last week against Oregon but was reportedly available to play today, going through warm-ups and sitting on the bench in uniform. This is a best-case scenario for the Bruins, and I’m pretty confident Cronin might try to get away with it again against Northwestern on Saturday.
Offensively, the only thing that stopped UCLA from scoring was themselves. The UCLA offense moved the ball with their usual efficiency, and that was a problem for the Bulldogs who clearly looked flustered by the level of play exhibited by the Bruins. Jaime Jaquez was a force offensively, scoring 17 points on a hyper-efficient 8-14 from the field, and it really felt like he could score on every possession if he really wanted to. Amari Bailey similarly had an excellent game, also putting in 17 points and showcasing the aggressiveness that he first showed against Colorado last week. David Singleton did a better job of hunting for his shot than he did against Arizona, and he too finished with double-digit scoring, putting in 11 points on 4-8 shooting (3-7 from deep). Tyger Campbell had a quiet game from the field, only scoring seven points on 2-9 shooting, but he also had 10 assists so we can forgive him here. The bench even contributed offensively, with Dylan Andrews putting up five points and Will McClendon adding four. Even Abramo Canka, who got five minutes of run at the end of the game, was able to put up five points and showed off an outside shooting stroke that should see him get increased run next year.
The biggest issue offensively was turnovers. UCLA had eight turnovers in the game, which is not a lot even by UCLA’s standards, but still stands out considering how the rest of the offense looked. To be fair here, a lot of those turnovers were of the aggressive variety, and really only started once the Bruins had built a sizeable lead. I would chalk it up more to wanting to make the flashy play than anything else, and it’s not something I would expect to continue going forward. Besides, UCLA as a team had 24 assists, which is the second-most they’ve had all season in a single game and well above their season average of 14.2, so you can’t complain too much.
Overall, an excellent start to the tournament for the Bruins. Time to maintain that energy.
Jaime Jaquez and Amari Bailey tied for the team lead with 17 points each. Jaquez also led the team with eight rebounds, while Tyger Campbell led the team with 10 assists. Drew Pember led the Bulldogs with 13 points.
Three Takeaways
Player of the Game: Kenneth Nwuba - I could have rightfully gone with Jaime Jaquez or Amari Bailey here, but Nwuba’s performance was important for multiple reasons. For one, this was by far his best game as a Bruin, and yes I am even including the game where he ended Hunter Dickinson’s NBA prospects. Nwuba had a career-high in points and was excellent defensively, playing strong, clean basketball for 25 minutes (only one foul!). But just as importantly, his strong performance allowed Mick Cronin to give Adem Bona extra recovery time, which is crucial this time of year - just ask Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, who had to rush star Marcus Sasser back from a groin injury only to watch him reaggravate it and not play the second half of the Cougars’ opening game.
How to Not Get Upset? Just Win Big - I have to imagine Arizona’s loss to Princeton (again, lol) earlier in the day was looming in the back of every Bruins’ heads going into tip-off, so UCLA made sure nothing close to that would happen to them. They raced out to a quick 14-0 lead, only allowed UNC Asheville to get back to a nine-point deficit, and never let up the entire game. One way to make sure you don’t get upset? Jump all over your opponent and never let up.
A Defense More than the Sum of Its Parts - UCLA is without Jaylen Clark, the potential National Defensive Player of the Year, for the tournament (Mick Cronin all but confirmed that in the post-game press conference). They played this game without Adem Bona, another member of the Pac-12 First Team Defense. It didn’t matter, because Mick Cronin has every single guy on the roster playing maniacal defense on every possession. KenPom’s #1 defense refuses to skip a beat despite all the missing parts and is somehow getting better as they rise to the challenges presented. UCLA held the Bulldogs to 37.3% shooting, forced 16 turnovers, and held potential NBA prospect Drew Pember to an uninspiring day from the field. Not bad at all.
UCLA moves onto the second round, where they will take on #7 seed Northwestern, who handled business against Boise State 75-67 earlier in the day. Tip-off is currently scheduled for 5:40 PM PT.
Go Bruins!
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I also want to say, regardless of how we far we get this year, I’m glad that Mick molded and recruited these guys into high character players. I know Tyger, Jaime, and David are from the previous regime but they’ve developed into humble players that play for each other, not for themselves. They take losing personally and lift each other up to try to get the next win. It’s like we have a team of all Arron Afflalos.
Amari Bailey is Micks recruit and one thing that strikes me is that he is always helping the opposing teams’ players up. Tonight, there were times when Amari and a UNCA player were on the ground and Amari would jump up to help them up. Demonstrates great sportsmanship. I also love that even when he’s benched, he’s always one of the first to congratulate teammates for doing well. As he said earlier in the week, this is the most fun he’s ever had playing basketball and it shows. It’s a stark difference from the 5-star recruits we’ve seen from the late Howland years and Alford years
Just purchased my tickets for Saturday’s game. Off to Sacramento!