UCLA Gets Good Exercise, Beats UC Davis 81-54
After a sleepy opening, the Bruins took over and never let go.
I did not pay much attention to this game. This is not to say I did not watch the game - I watched the entire thing somehow - but rather that there was no question about the end result, and so I was not as locked in on this game as I was for both games last week. Blame it on the opponent if you want, or maybe blame it on the 2:00 PM start time smack-dab in the middle of the day, but I spent most of this game in a state of disinterest.
Maybe that is too mean to UC Davis, but it is not as if this game played out in a way to dissuade me of my feelings. UCLA and the Aggies traded blows for the first five minutes, and the Aggies even led at the 12-minute mark of this game. But ultimately, UCLA is a really good team and they started asserting themselves, ultimately winning this game 81-54.
If you did not watch this game, you could probably guess at the general parameters. The big three of the Bruins took over at a certain point and put this game away, with Jaylen Clark putting up a ridiculous 18 points and 11 rebounds, Jaime Jaquez getting 14 points and eight rebounds, and Tyger Campbell scoring 17 points. Today’s wrinkle was a concerted effort to get Adem Bona more involved offensively; he looked a bit stiff at times but ultimately scored nine points on 4-10 shooting while grabbing six boards. More important is the fact that he played relatively-clean basketball, allowing him to play 28 minutes.
The big story coming out of the game will likely be the status of Amari Bailey. Bailey played fine - he still looks a little out of sorts at times but was much more assertive in the second half en route to seven points on 3-6 shooting - but late in the game he came down with a rebound, started running up the court, and immediately came up limping. On replay, it looked like Bailey turned his ankle, and now we’re left to wonder as to the severity of the injury. The good news is the Bruins won’t play for another week, so Bailey has time to rest and recover, but this will be something to monitor heading into conference play.
The other story, if you can call it that, was the minute allocation to the various bench pieces. Bona’s improved play meant fewer minutes at the backup post spot, but surprisingly all of those minutes went to Kenneth Nwuba, as Mac Etienne’s impressive Saturday against Kentucky did not earn him more playing time. Again, I imagine they are being cautious with Etienne as he returns from injury, but you would have liked to see him get more minutes in this game. Dylan Andrews and Will McClendon saw more play than they did against Kentucky, and Abramo Canka got a good amount of run. David Singleton got his usual swing minutes, though it seemed they were cut down a bit in order to give him a bit more rest.
Perfectly fine win to end the nonconference slate. Now for some well-earned rest before Pac-12 play really starts.
Jaylen Clark led the team with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He also tied Jaime Jaquez for the team lead in assists with three. Elijah Pepper led the Aggies with 16 points.
Three Takeaways
Player of the Game: Adem Bona - Ok, Jaylen Clark was the actual best player on the court, but I really just wanted to highlight Bona in this game. The Bruins clearly wanted to work on integrating him into the offense more, and you could see the flaws in his game when asked to create on his own. Still, there was not a big drop-off from the high level of play he had exhibited last week, and his clean play meant he was able to get 28 really good minutes in this game. The defensive growth these past few weeks is evident, and a great sign going into conference play.
Amari Ankle Watch - Amari had an up-and-down game in this one, but it’s his late ankle injury that is going to keep people up. He hasn’t looked fully healthy for awhile now, so this break likely comes at a great time for him to recover. Still, this is the story people will likely focus on heading into that first game.
A Relatively Successful Nonconference - If the Bruins had won one of their two games in Las Vegas, then this nonconference slate would have gone down as an unqualified success. As-is, this was still a good nonconference overall, punctuated by two impressive wins on the East Coast last week, and in the context of the rest of the sport, set the Bruins up in a prime position for a protected seed in the NCAA Tournament, which is the goal at this point.
The Bruins are now off for a bit, but they start league play in earnest next week when they head to Washington State on the 30th. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM PT.
Go Bruins!
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For this "practice" game against an inferior UCD team, it seems OK for Cronin to give Nwuba all of the minutes subbing Bona because he's a senior. But too bad he didn't put Stong in at the end... Happy Holidays, Bruins!
For comparison of common opponents, Nevada (10-3) defeated Norfolk State 78-66.