UCLA rides fast start to rout of UNC Asheville in NCAA tournament opener
SACRAMENTO — Questions about UCLA center Adem Bona’s health were looming ahead of the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener. Each time Coach Mick Cronin answered questions about Bona’s left shoulder, his answer remained consistent, saying the 6-foot-11 freshman was “getting better.”
It’s what he said on Selection Sunday. It’s what he said on Wednesday, too, while UCLA fans worried about how the Bruins were going to handle Drew Pember, a 6-foot-10 UNC Asheville forward who averages a double-double.
Bona suited up for UCLA’s first-round game, but he never played – not because he couldn’t – but because he didn’t need to as the second-seeded Bruins cruised to an 86-53 victory over the 15th-seeded Bulldogs on Thursday night in the Golden 1 Center.
UCLA (30-5) will face seventh-seeded Northwestern, a 75-67 winner against Boise State, in the second round on Saturday at 5:40 p.m.
Jaime Jaquez scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go with eight rebounds and five steals, Amari Bailey added 17 points with six assists and three steals, and David Singleton had 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Centers Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne each scored 10 points and combined to go 9 for 9 from the field as UCLA shot 54% as a team.
Nwuba’s 10 points was his career high, which he notched in the opening minutes, doubling his previous high.
“It feels amazing,” Nwuba said of his career night. “When your name is called, be ready to play.”
Nwuba started at center in place of Bona, who was available if the Bruins needed him.
“I think Adem could have played tonight. He didn’t get enough practice for me,” Cronin said. “There’s things I want to see him do comfortably.”
But within minutes it was obvious Bona could remain on the bench for the night. UCLA started the game on a 14-0 run and made its first seven shot attempts. Singleton hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 21-5, and later Bailey hit a mid-range jumper to make it 28-5.
Jaquez scored 14 of his 17 in the first half, leading a dominant inside effort for the Bruins. They outscored the Bulldogs 32-8 in the paint in the first half and finished the night with a 56-24 advantage in the key. UCLA had assists on 24 of its 34 field goals and had 11 steals while forcing Asheville (27-8) into 16 turnovers.
“You’ve got to dominate those teams physically,” Cronin said. “I coached at that level. If you don’t get dominated physically, you can win. You can physically dominate those teams, it’s hard for them.”
It was a clinic.
The Bruins led 46-25 at halftime, 64-41 with 10 minutes left and 74-41 with seven minutes remaining. The lead never dipped below 19 points.
Cronin spoke very highly of Pember on Wednesday afternoon.
“They use him a lot like we use Jaime … high post, top-of-the-key area. It’s the old Dirk Nowitzki position, which is now the Joker, (Nikola) Jokic position,” Cronin said. “If you lead the nation in free-throw attempts, you really know how to play.”
Jaquez took the assignment of guarding Pember and held the Big South Conference Player of the Year to just 13 points, well below his 21 ppg average, and just four free-throw attempts. Bailey and company took on the assignment of Tajion Jones, Asheville’s all-time leading scorer, and held him to 11 points and 5-for-12 shooting.
“I was extremely flustered,” Pember said. “I had no idea what it was going to be like … those first four minutes, your adrenaline, emotions are extremely high, and I didn’t handle that well.”
Jaquez said he channeled his inner Jaylen Clark when defending Pember. The injured Clark, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, is not with the team.
“My entire thought process going into the game was doing whatever I could to stop (Pember) from getting going,” Jaquez said. “I took a page out of (Jaylen’s) book, trying to get steals, trying to be active with my hands, try to do it for him.”