Thursday, March 28

Five Things: UCLA men’s basketball’s conference slate

Waving a final farewell to its longtime conference, No. 5 seed UCLA men’s basketball (15-16, 10-10 Pac-12) will battle No. 12 seed Oregon State (13-18, 5-15) in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament Wednesday afternoon. Read more...

Photo: Members of UCLA men’s basketball line up before a game. The Bruins’ finished their regular season .500 in conference play, handing them the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament. (Jeremy Chen/Photo editor)


Adem Bona wins Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, succeeding Jaylen Clark

This post was updated March 13 at 10:04 p.m. The conference’s best defender resides in Westwood, again.  UCLA men’s basketball sophomore forward/center Adem Bona won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday morning, marking his second conference award after earning Freshman of the Year last season. Read more...

Photo: Forward/center Adem Bona tips the ball on a block during UCLA men’s basketball’s game against Saint Francis. The sophomore had 57 blocks in his Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year-winning season this year. (Eden Yu/Daily Bruin staff)


Fresh eyes: Sebastian Mack, Brandon Williams spark freshman starts with tenacity

The multiverse is a theory that explains the existence of other universes beyond the observable one. In another universe, guard Sebastian Mack is playing at Florida State. Read more...

Photo: Freshman guard Sebastian Mack (left) lifts the ball while freshman guard/forward Brandon Williams dribbles (right). The two have become the most frequent freshman starters for UCLA men’s basketball this season, with Mack earning a nod in 28 games and Williams in 12. (Photos by (left to right) Joseph Jimenez/Daily Bruin senior staff, Brandon Morquecho/Photo editor. Photo illustration by Mikayla Kwok/Daily Bruin)


UCLA men’s basketball ends regular season with comeback victory over Arizona State

This post was updated March 10 at 10:27 p.m. “Go,” Mick Cronin yelled from the bench, attempting to spark the offense. It didn’t help. Brick after brick, the Bruins only scored six points – one 3-pointer from junior guard Lazar Stefanovic – across the first 10 minutes of the second half. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore Adem Bona soars over his defender for a dunk. The forward/center garnered a double-double Saturday night with 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. (Jeremy Chen/Photo editor)


23-point grand canyon separates UCLA men’s basketball from Arizona in home loss

The missing part of Mick Cronin’s formula has lain in Adem Bona’s hands all season. Keeping the sophomore forward/center – who averages 3.6 fouls per game – on the floor to catalyze the offense has been a repeated area of import for the fifth-year coach. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore forward/center Adem Bona attempts a dunk during the first half of No. 5 Arizona’s victory over UCLA men’s basketball at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night. Bona led all players with five blocks. (Eden Yu/Daily Bruin staff)



Unanswered questions: The final stretch of Pac-12 UCLA basketball

Question marks have surrounded both UCLA men’s basketball and No. 7 UCLA women’s basketball since before either of their seasons started. As the former enters the last two games of its regular season and the latter prepares for a conference tournament featuring five other ranked teams, some of those questions still linger. Read more...

Photo: Images of UCLA men’s and women’s basketball players fill the silhouettes of coaches Cori Close (left) and Mick Cronin (right). (Helen Quach/Design director)