Aday Mara gets first start, shines alongside Adem Bona as UCLA routs LIU – Daily News

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LOS ANGELES — Adem Bona had his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds and 7-foot-3 freshman Aday Mara delivered a strong performance in his first college start to power UCLA to a 78-58 win against Long Island University on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

“I was really excited, you could see me from the bench I was celebrating … because I know there’s so much to come from him and there’s so much the country hasn’t seen,” Bona said when asked about Mara. “He’s an amazing player and he’s going to continue to grow.”

It was the second 20-point game of the season for Bona, who also had three blocked shots and three steals. Mara, a center, had 14 points and four blocks and freshman guard Jan Vide had 12 points and seven assists off the bench.

“I know Aday, we played against each other in Spain,” Vide said. “At first, I hated him because he scored lots of points on us and I know his game. I know his vision when he has the ball on the low post, so I talked to him about that and I said to him when he’s going to get the ball low post, I’m going to cut and try to move without the ball, so he found me like three times. Playing with him is easy, he’s 7-3 looking over everything.”

UCLA coach Mick Cronin agreed with most of Vide’s scouting report on Mara.

“Very skilled player,” Cronin began when asked about Mara. “Great passer, can shoot it from 15 (feet) and in, consistent. He made his two free throws as well. He’s got to be a little stronger with rebounds, he has to realize, that when you’re as tall as him refs, he had a play in the first half on a rebound they called over the back, an embarrassing call. Embarrassing call, the guy is 7-3, he’s allowed to reach for the ball but people aren’t used to seeing somebody like him.”

UCLA’s trio of high scorers combined to shoot 20 for 28 as the Bruins (3-0) shot 57% (30 for 53) from the field despite missing all five of their 3-point attempts for the first time in 792 straight games, dating to an 0-for-14 showing in a home loss to Stanford on Feb. 3, 2000.

“Tonight was the best we’ve done but we’ve got to do better,” Cronin said.

UCLA closed the first half on a 13-3 run to lead 35-17 at the break then stretched the margin to 30 points before the midway point of the second half against an overmatched LIU team that shot just 35% overall and was outrebounded 41-20.

Mara, from Zaragoza, Spain, started alongside Bona, sophomore guard Will McClendon, junior guard Lazar Stefanovic and freshman guard Sebastian Mack. Mara shot 6 for 9 from the field and added four rebounds and two assists in his 24 minutes.

Mack added 11 points and three rebounds for a Bruins team that scored 48 points in the paint but had 14 turnovers, a statistic that did not sit well with Cronin.

“Our big problem right now is we’re not getting enough shots off,” Cronin explained. “We had too many turnovers so if point guard play doesn’t improve for us, we’re going to be in trouble until it does.”

An early putback dunk by Mara, immediately followed by a block on the defensive end, showed his tantalizing potential to be an impact player. Mara’s basket provided the first two points of a 10-0 run, which put the Bruins ahead 12-5 with 13:38 left in the first half.

Bona’s steal and emphatic fast-break dunk capped a 16-2 run that extended UCLA’s lead to 18-7, as the 6-10 sophomore had eight of UCLA’s first 18 points.

Bona had 12 points (on 5-for-7 shooting), six rebounds, two steals and one block in 13 minutes in the first half.

Mara, who had four points in the first half, quickly settled in after halftime. He made two free throws, scored on a nice step-through layup and showed his mid-range game with a jump shot from the free-throw line, which pushed him into double figures early in the second half.

The Bruins’ largest lead came at 57-27 with 11:16 left, but UCLA only outscored LIU 43-41 in the second half and won by 20 points.

“We’re too young right now, we’re not tough enough,” Cronin said. “That’s just the truth. We’re not hard and tough enough to be able to play 40 minutes. We don’t have enough guys who can play hard enough, long enough.”

Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews, who started UCLA’s previous game against Lafayette last week, dressed but did not play. Cronin said Andrews’ lack of playing time was a “coach’s decision” but he did not elaborate. Freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel remains ineligible as he waits to be cleared by the NCAA.

It was Cronin’s third straight game starting two post players, something he said fans must quickly grow accustomed to after he spent the majority of his first four years in Westwood with one center, surrounded by perimeter players like Tyger Campbell, Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

LIU (0-3) is coached by former NBA point guard Rod Strickland and led by his son, junior guard Terell Strickland, who had 18 points and five assists. Freshman guard Eric Acker also had 18 points for LIU.

“I’ve got my work cut out for me – a young team, we’ve got to learn the things that we need to do to give ourselves a chance in a real game against a team that has a chance,” Cronin concluded. “I respect guys that don’t quit, I respect toughness and fight. We got up 30, we quit and they played hard until the final buzzer so credit to their coaching staff and their players.”

UP NEXT

UCLA will play No. 4 Marquette on Monday at 8:30 p.m. PT in the first round of the Maui Invitational, which has been relocated to Honolulu because of the fires in Lahaina earlier this year.

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