Bruins Praise Mara for Another Standout Performance

The UCLA Bruins (21-9, 12-7) concluded their final regular season road trip with a crucial win over the Northwestern Wildcats (16-14, 7-12) on Monday night, receiving another breakout game from sophomore center Aday Mara. His head coach and teammate sounded off on his strong showing.

Mara posted his second double-double of the season, netting 11 points with 10 rebounds and adding three blocks to his stat sheet. He ranks third in the conference in blocks per game (1.5) and continues to be a monster on the glass, earning six offensive rebounds against Northwestern.

Early in the second half, Bruins junior forward Tyler Bilodeau picked up a few quick fouls that would keep him off the floor for an extended period of time. That was no problem for UCLA as Mara filled the role perfectly, making post move after post move and cleaning up the glass for easy put-backs.

Bilodeau returned to action after Mara's surge, ultimately leading the team in scoring with 19 points on the night. The pair have been working well in tandem this season, either on the floor together, or playing off each other when the other is on the bench.

"Huge minutes ... Aday played great," Bilodeau said. "I mean those huge offensive rebounds, scoring, getting those dunks. It was awesome and then I came in there after his good minutes, able to keep it going a little bit. Just a great team win."

Bruins coach Mick Cronin also weighed in on Mara's performance, giving the young star immense praise and credit for what he has done this season. He made a bold statement that may turn some heads, but in reality, there is no reason why Mara does not fit Cronin's assessment.

"He [Mara] was great, I want to play him more," Cronin said. "Again, that's on me, we got to throw him the ball, I got to make sure guys [are] throwing him the ball. ... When he's in there, he's the best offensive player we have. You can't stop him one-on-one, and he's our best passer. So get it to him close to the rim, let him do his thing."

Mara spoke personally on his standout performance, recognizing exactly what Cronin has preached to him all season. It seems to have resonated with the 7-3 center because he has gathered 20 rebounds of his last three games and the 15th game with multiple blocks this season.

"Trying to go for offensive rebounds, what Coach [Cronin] always tells me," Mara said. "Then in the low post, I knew that they were trapping, so if I was able to score right away, try to score. If not, just try to to pass the ball to the open guy. But just with rebounds, defense, and blocking shots."

The Zaragoza, Spain native is averaging 6.1 points on 58.8% shooting and 3.9 rebounds in just over 12 minutes per game. When tournament time rolls around in the coming weeks, Mara will be heavily relied on and should be a major impact against teams that will not be familiar with his game.

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