Alexander: Aday Mara leads the way for UCLA in NCAA Tournament win

LEXINGTON, Ky. — One thing above all others was apparent in UCLA’s triumphant return to the NCAA Tournament here Thursday night: Good things happen for the Bruins when Aday Mara is in the game.

The 7-foot-3 sophomore from Zaragoza, Spain, had his fingerprints all over the Bruins’ 72-47 first-round victory over Utah State, even after a scare early in the second half when he went limping to the bench to have his left ankle re-taped.

Ordinarily, the plus-minus statistic can be deceptive in basketball. But this one had some significance: Mara was a plus-21 against the Aggies, with the Bruins outscoring Utah State 31-10 when he was on the court. And this was a game that turned in the first half on his actions, some little, some big.

Mara didn’t start. He seldom does, and Coach Mick Cronin has noted that Mara is still building up strength and stamina – and, additionally, has been battling some sort of sinus infection since the team got to Lexington. But Cronin isn’t afraid to bring him in early, and he did so Thursday night, just 3½ minutes in. He wound up playing 20 minutes, with 10 points (on 4-for-5 shooting, all in the first half), six rebounds, two assists and five blocked shots.

Three of those blocks came in rat-a-tat-a-tat succession on consecutive Utah State possessions, and while the Aggies don’t have much of an interior game anyway, this was even more reason for them to keep bombing away – or should we say, flailing away – from the outside.

The Aggies were 2 for 17 from behind the arc in the first half, making their first two and missing their next 15, and finished the game 4 for 31 from 3-point country and shooting 30% overall.

And his visible contributions, like the blocks and a pair of sweet offensive moves for baskets – an up-and-under move for a dunk and a left-handed hook, starting a 16-5 run at the end of the first half – go along with the stuff you don’t see in the box score, like the way he defends screens and makes sure he gets back to his man. Or the passes that indirectly lead to scores, even if they don’t wind up as assists.

They helped the Bruins get past the first round and into a Saturday meeting with No. 2 seed Tennessee, deep in the heart of Southeastern Conference country, for a spot in the Sweet 16.

There is the downside, maybe what was feared when he rolled his ankle against Wisconsin last week in the Big Ten Tournament. Mara checked in briefly to start the second half and limped to the sideline a minute and a half later to have his ankle re-taped. When he returned to the game, the rout was on and not even a 10-0 Utah State outburst in the final minutes could change it.

Part of succeeding at this point of the season, Cronin said, is having that feeling that you belong here, that you can handle the moment and the ebbs and flows of tournament basketball.

For instance, Eric Dailey Jr. faced early foul trouble and sat out a chunk of the first half, but he finished with 14 points and four rebounds and provided a couple of key baskets in the final 10 minutes.

“I knew we had to win this game and stay locked in in the second half,” the transfer from Oklahoma State said. “Just got myself going and some things were falling for me. So that’s all I can say about that, keep playing hard.”

Said Cronin: “Look, it scared me when Eric went out with the second foul (10 minutes in). He’s a guy – him and Sebastian (Mack), they’re not afraid to say something to their teammates. They’re not quiet. And you saw – Eric, in his 22 minutes, he was all over the damn place. You’ve got to have a guy – confidence matters.

“You have to have a confidence about you. … You know, you’ve got to believe that you’re supposed to win in this damn tournament. The (seeding) number next to your name was given to you by a bunch of people that never played basketball, in a room, so what the hell do they know?”

Some already have that air about them. Is Mara developing it?

Yes, his coach said.

“He’s come such a long way in two years. And that’s a credit to him,” Cronin said. “A lot of guys quit. I tell guys, my speech is, guys get to college and it’s really hard unless you’re name is Michael Jordan or Cooper Flagg, Lonzo Ball or Kevin Love. (For) 99.9% of them, it’s harder than they think it’s going to be. And you either quit, transfer, blame others, or you get to work. And that’s what life is about.

“… So, Aday, he put his head down and he has really, really worked hard, for a young kid that never really worked hard until he got to UCLA. He was just a prodigy of size and skill.

“I’m really proud of him. Look at his numbers – five blocks, 10 points, six rebounds in 20 minutes. And I’m telling you he is sick. He was our high deflection guy (in the team’s internal statistics) because of the blocked shots.”

But here’s the thing: Once you do it, you have to keep doing it. If Mara can pull that off, starting Saturday and continuing over the next two weeks, this could be a story that goes down in Bruin lore. And that is saying something.

Because, as Cronin noted:

“They’re the only one in this tournament that practices under 11 banners, championship banners, only one. And when we walk out there with them uniforms on, everybody knows them uniforms. So you have to have an air about you.”

jalexander@scng.com