LEXINGTON, Ky. — This was the desire last spring, when Mick Cronin reassembled his roster to gird it for any possibility in the games that matter most.
A player is sidelined by injury. Another is limited by foul trouble. A third is having an off night.
No matter what happened, or who was doing what, UCLA would have a stockpile of players who could get the job done.
And if everyone happened to play well on the same night? Well, that’s just a bonus.
The Bruins enjoyed that sort of bonanza in their NCAA tournament opener Thursday night, withstanding an injury scare to Aday Mara to win so comfortably that walk-on Jack Seidler was able to dribble out the final seconds to cheers inside Rupp Arena.
There was more fun in the locker room after seventh-seeded UCLA walloped 10th-seeded Utah State, 72-47, in a first-round game in the Midwest Region, its seven players making their tournament debuts showing steady resolve.
Mara, who threw what might have been the game’s best pass to teammate Skyy Clark for a dunk and finished with 10 points, six rebounds, five blocks and two assists in just 20 minutes, joked about the assists he lost because teammates couldn’t complete the play.
“That one was my favorite,” Mara said of his assist to Clark, “because I threw the lob to E-Day [Eric Dailey Jr.] and he missed it and then this guy right here, he missed a layup too.”
Mara was referring to roommate Lazar Stefanovic, who happened to be walking by inside the locker room. Stefanovic cracked up, buoyed by his teammate’s humor and his team’s ball movement. UCLA had 22 assists on its 26 baskets to go with lock-down defense on the way to forging a showdown against second-seeded Tennessee on Saturday at 6:40 p.m. PDT.
“They were playing the zone,” Mara said of the Aggies, “so if we cut, we were open.”
Utah State guard Mason Falslev, left, and UCLA guard Kobe Johnson battle for a loose ball during the second half Thursday.
(Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
The key sequence for the Bruins (23-10) came early in the second half. Mara, who had been pulverizing the Aggies (26-8) on both ends of the court, rolled his left ankle and limped to the end of the bench while trainer Tyler Lesher tended to his injury.
What did the Bruins do for the next five minutes with their biggest difference-maker sidelined?
They increased an 11-point lead to 20.
Clark buried one three-pointer and Kobe Johnson followed a three-pointer from one corner with one from the other, kissing his fingers and raising them to the roaring crowd on a night their team played some of its best defense of the season.
“Defensive effort was awesome,” Cronin said. “Their spirit and their mind to be a great defensive team tonight just took Utah State out of their comfort zone. And uncomfortable teams shoot a low percentage.”
There were even more encouraging developments to come. Mara put a support wrap on his ankle and returned before UCLA closed out the Aggies with relative ease, the final minutes not resembling any late-game letdowns from earlier in the season. Dailey pushed through first-half foul trouble to score 12 of his 14 points in the second half.
In another uplifting sign, the Bruins received excellent guard play to go with Mara’s dominance. Clark made four of seven three-pointers on the way to 14 points and Dylan Andrews added lock-down defense on Utah State’s Ian Martinez (two points on one-for-11 shooting) to go with eight points and eight assists against only one turnover.
“Those eight assists were huge,” Clark said. “That’s one of the reasons we got the ball moving against their matchup zone. Super proud of him.”
UCLA arrived here needing a palate cleanser following its blowout loss in its Big Ten tournament opener against Wisconsin, who Cronin referred to as the Boston Celtics because of the Badgers’ similar ability to make gobs of three-pointers.
The Bruins locked in to ensure there wouldn’t be a repeat.
“We had a great three days of practice — really, really great,” Stefanovic said. “Everybody knew what we needed to do and we knew Utah State inside and out and we executed perfectly.”
Playing this team represented a do-over of sorts given the guard-heavy Aggies’ love of long-range shots. The Bruins did a much better job of sticking with their man, holding Utah State to four of 31 three-pointers (12.9%). Aggies guard Mason Falslev’s 17 points and 10 rebounds weren’t nearly enough to keep things competitive.
“Just pressure the ball, don’t let ‘em make easy passes, just do everything we could,” Clark said of a plan his team executed to near-perfection. “We knew on the ball screens they like to throw over the top on the pick and roll or they like to throw it to the lift man, so have high hands and a hard blitz was definitely one of the keys.”
Mara dominated despite a sinus infection he’s been battling since the team left Los Angeles. In the first half he took one pass and spun around Utah State’s Aubin Gateretse for a dunk and took another for a jump hook.
Neither the sinus infection nor the Aggies stood a chance.
“It was like my throat — I feel like my voice, but it’s fine,” Mara said. “It’s just harder for me to breathe, but it’s fine.”
Mara’s best stretch came later in the first half when Johnson fed him for dunks on back-to-back possessions, the second assist leading Johnson to make a binoculars gesture. The Bruins had rolled off 12 consecutive points to take a 14-point lead that grew to 26 in the second half.
If it wasn’t a statement game, it was an affirmation of Cronin’s ability to rebuild his roster.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can play,” Stefanovic said. “One guy might go down, but we have guys in the rotation that can produce and that’s what happened. I think it’s going to be really important for this whole tournament as we move on.”
One win down, another opportunity to come.