UCLA rides fast begin to rout of UNC Asheville in NCAA competition opener

SACRAMENTO-- Concerns about UCLA center Adem Bona's health were looming ahead of the Bruins' NCAA competition opener. Each time Coach Mick Cronin responded to concerns about Bona's left shoulder, his response stayed consistent, stating the 6-foot-11 freshman was "improving."

It's what he said on Selection Sunday. It's what he stated on Wednesday, too, while UCLA fans fretted about how the Bruins were going to manage Drew Pember, a 6-foot-10 UNC Asheville forward who averages a double-double.

Bona fit up for UCLA's first-round game, but he never played-- not since he couldn't-- but because he didn't require to as the second-seeded Bruins cruised to an 86-53 success over the 15th-seeded Bulldogs on Thursday night in the Golden 1.

UCLA (30-5) will deal with seventh-seeded Northwestern, a 75-67 winner against Boise State, in the 2nd round on Saturday.

Jaime Jaquez scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting to choose eight rebounds and five takes, Amari Bailey included 17 points with six assists and 3 steals, and David Singleton pitched in 11 points, consisting of three 3-pointers. Centers Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne each scored 10 points and integrated to go 9 for 9 from the field as UCLA shot 54% as a team.

Nwuba started at center for UCLA in place of Bona, who was available if the Bruins required him, but within minutes it was obvious that was never going to be the case. UCLA started the game on a 14-0 run and made its very first seven shot attempts. Singleton struck a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 21-5, and later on Bailey hit a mid-range jumper to make it 28-5.

Jaquez scored 14 of his 17 in the very first half, leading a dominant inside effort for the Bruins. They outscored the Bulldogs 32-8 in the paint in the very first half and finished the night with a 56-24 advantage in the secret. UCLA had helps on 24 of its 34 field goals and had 11 takes while forcing Asheville (27-8) into 16 tunrnovers.

It was a clinic.

The Bruins led 46-25 at halftime, 64-41 with 10 minutes left and 74-41 with seven minutes staying. The lead never dipped listed below 19 points.

Cronin spoke extremely highly of Pember on Wednesday afternoon.
" They utilize him a lot, like we utilize Jaime … … high post, top-of-the-key area. It's the old Dirk Nowitzki position, which is now the Joker, (Nikola) Jokic position," Cronin stated. "If you lead the nation in free-throw attempts, you truly know how to play."

Jaquez took the project of securing Pember and held the Big South Conference Player of the Year to simply 13 points, well below his 21 ppg average, and just 4 free-throw efforts. Bailey and business took on the task of Tajion Jones, Asheville's all-time leading scorer, and held him to 11 points and 5-for-12 shooting.

More to come on this story.