This post was updated Jan. 31 at 1:11 a.m.
As Aday Mara stared down Oregon forward Brandon Angel after an emphatic block, senior guard Kobe Johnson finished a layup at the other end – and Pauley Pavilion was sent into a frenzy.
Though the sophomore center may not often lead the team in scoring – or even feature in the starting lineup – one thing has become clear: Mara is a fan favorite among the Bruin faithful.
UCLA men’s basketball (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten) completed its sweep of the Pacific Northwest with a thrashing of No. 16 Oregon (16-5, 5-5) by a score of 78-52. The Bruins’ 26-point win ties their largest margin of victory over the Ducks since at least 1998.
“Having a guy like Aday – when he’s 7-foot-3, he takes up so much space on the court. And not only that, he has the blocking,” said junior guard Dylan Andrews. “There’s not too many big guys that have the IQ like that of a guard. His IQ is crazy for his height.”
Though the matchup between the pair of 7-footers – Oregon’s Nate Bittle and Mara – was highly anticipated in this contest, it was of little relevance when the two squads met in Eugene, Oregon, on Dec. 8. Mara played just seven minutes and logged two points with no rebounds or blocks.
But this time, Pauley Pavilion reverberated every time he touched the ball.
Mara earned his first start of the 2024-2025 campaign at crosstown rival USC, finishing with his first career double-double. But with junior forward Tyler Bilodeau slated to return from injury Thursday night, Mara returned to the bench.
He would not be there for long.
Bittle, the Ducks’ leading scorer this season, struggled in the team’s previous contest against Minnesota. In 24 minutes, the 7-foot center finished with no points on just three field goal attempts.
However, a repeat of that performance was not in order against the Bruins. Bittle operated in the paint and behind the 3-point line early and often, stretching the UCLA defense thin and allowing Oregon to sink its first five attempts inside the 3-point line.
Though Bittle got into a rhythm early, guard Jackson Shelstad was thrown out of his.
“Shelstad – for him not to score, I don’t know if he’s not feeling well tonight,” said coach Mick Cronin. “For the last month, he’s been one of the best guards in the country.”
The guard posted six consecutive double-digit scoring performances coming into Thursday night’s contest but failed to register a tally in the points column against the Bruins.
As Bittle logged six points with the 6-foot-9 Bilodeau as his tallest opposition, Cronin looked to the 7-foot-3 Mara to control the paint.
“Having the 7-footer in there helps with rim protection. He gets blocks, and he can rebound and dunk,” said sophomore guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. “It helps us all out, having a bigger guy.”
The Zaragoza, Spain, local instantly imposed his will, tossing his defender into the spin cycle and throwing down a left-handed jam.
It was not just Mara earning the applause from the crowd of 9,288.
As a team, UCLA converted on 11 for 23 attempts from beyond the arc and shot 55.6% from the field while holding Oregon to just 41.2% from the field and 17.4% from deep.
“I’m really happy with our 19 assists. Our point guard play is elevating. Dylan (Andrews) is playing great. Skyy’s (junior guard Skyy Clark) got five assists – his defense is elite,” Cronin said. “But Eric Dailey was pretty dominant.”
Dailey connected on his first five attempts and finished 8 of 9 with a team-leading 21 points, while Andrews notched another double-figure outing – his fourth in the last five games.
“We had a new team coming in, all new guys, so it wasn’t going to be pretty at first. But I feel like we’re starting to click,” Andrews said. “At the right time, too.”
