HomeSportsAday Mara doesn't miss in crunch time, as UCLA's resurgence beats Washington

Aday Mara doesn’t miss in crunch time, as UCLA’s resurgence beats Washington

The big man did it again.

Three days after his breakout game, Aday Mara kept UCLA from faltering with two huge baskets in the final two minutes.

The Bruins had no choice but to use the 7-foot-3 center heavily on Friday night after forward Tyler Bilodeau twisted his ankle early in the game and was limited to just three minutes.

Mara didn’t disappoint in his career-high 30 minutes at Alaska Airlines Arena, dominating on both ends during UCLA’s 65-60 win over Washington.

“What he does in these last few games is what he does every day in practice,” point guard Dylan Andrews said of Mara, who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots. “Aday is a monster and I’m glad people are starting to see that.”

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With Washington mounting what looked like an epic comeback, Mara collected a loose ball along the baseline for a jump hook that put the Bruins up six points with 1 minute 59 seconds left.

After Washington’s DJ Davis buried a three-pointer, Mara made another jump hook to put UCLA up five.

Huskies guard Zoom Diallo’s putback pulled his team within three with 41 seconds left, but Andrews—who had made just three of 12 shots to that point—countered with a step-back three-pointer with 17 seconds left.

“I just stepped back,” Andrews said, “and, man, thank God I saw a shot to go in.”

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After UCLA guard Skyy Clark came up with a steal and was fouled, sending him to the free-throw line, a crowd that just moments earlier surged toward the exits as a few pockets of Bruins fans started an eight-cap.

It was UCLA’s first road triumph in the Big Ten since early December against Oregon, when Andrews hit a game-winning three-pointer.

This time, Washington disrupted the play the Bruins wanted, forcing Andrews to improvise. He has credited late-night shooting sessions and others with boosting his confidence in that big moment.

“Just my teammates and coach talking to me, letting me know, just, next shot, don’t worry about the last one you missed,” Andrews said.

Winners of three straight, the Bruins (14-6 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) are on a roll heading into Monday’s crosstown rivalry game against USC at the Galen Center.

They needed a collective effort against the Huskies without Bilodeau, their leading scorer. Clark finished with 12 points and forward Kobe Johnson had 11 points and nine rebounds. Guard Sebastian Mack contributed two 3-pointers to go with a steal and a charge taken during a critical sequence in the second half.

Forward Great Osobor scored 19 points for Washington (10-10, 1-8), which has lost six straight games.

After steamrolling Iowa by 24 points and winning on a flurry of offense against Wisconsin, the Bruins showed they could win a slugfest against Washington. After committing eight turnovers in the first half, they had just three over the final 20 minutes.

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“It just shows that no matter what happens in a game,” said Andrews, who finished with nine points, three assists and three turnovers, “We can get through it no matter what.”

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The latest unrest came just a few minutes into the game when Bilodeau went down and pulled over to the bench and ended up hitting a trainer’s table with his hand in disgust. Bilodeau reentered the match a few minutes later, but was removed after just 35 seconds, never to return.

“I put him in and I didn’t like the way he moved,” said UCLA coach Mick Cronin, “So I’m more concerned about his career and the rest of our season, and like I told the team, we’ I have enough players – I have confidence in you.”

His faith in Mara continues to rise, especially after the big man showed he could hold more than his own Washington front line, including 6-11 Franck Kepnang alongside the smaller but more mobile Osobor.

Cronin suggested that Mara had more to offer for the rest of the season.

“Sometimes he gets too cute and when he gets too cute, Washington had two, three guys on him,” Cronin said. “You know, he just has to be confident and turn and score. He’s going to shoot 50% – minimum – and I’ll take that any night.

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“You know, when you can’t tackle him and what happened early was just mind-bogglingly unbelievable with the forearm stuff [Washington used to defend Mara]. If you have to play him right away he’s hard to stop, I keep telling you this and you see it now. “

Mara said he was not tired after his 51 minutes in the last two games exceeded his usage over the previous eight games combined – including one game in which he was left on the bench due to a feared decision by the playing coach.

“I knew Tyler wouldn’t be able to play because of his injury,” Mara said, “so I just tried not to make stupid mistakes, I tried to get a rhythm, so I’m not too tired.”

How did he feel after the match?

“I’m surprised I didn’t get that tired, I’m surprised about that,” Mara said, “but I felt good.”

The Bruins felt even better about their prospects given the way their big man stood tall again.

“We love Aday on the field,” Andrews said. “He’s 7 feet, he takes up so much space, rebounds for us, gives us energy, so who doesn’t want a guy like Aday?”

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

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