UCLA's Jaylen Clark Suffers Leg Injury, Out For Pac-12 Tournament
The Bruins picked up a big win Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion, but they also suffered a major loss.
No. 2 UCLA men's basketball (27-4, 18-2 Pac-12) coach Mick Cronin told reporters Tuesday morning that guard Jaylen Clark suffered a lower leg injury and will miss the Pac-12 tournament. According to Cronin, that was all he was allowed to disclose at the time.
After they closed the regular season on a 10-game winning streak, many bracketologists pegged the Bruins as a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, including ESPN's Joe Lunardi. How Clark's injury impacts the selection committee's opinion of UCLA has yet to be determined, but Cronin made it clear that he wasn't attempting to hide anything from them.
"I'm not trying to avoid things with the tournament committee, so if they wish to communicate with us, I'm sure they will," Cronin said. "And we'll reciprocate on what I'm authorized to tell them."
Clark appeared to suffer the injury midway through the second half of Saturday's 82-73 win over Arizona, when he made a steal from behind, hit an uncontested layup and landed awkwardly. Clark limped to the bench during the ensuing timeout, burying his face in assistant coach Rod Palmer's chest before getting helped to the locker room.
The Riverside, California, native was on the bench wearing street clothes and a boot on his right foot with crutches for the rest of the night.
The injury came less than 48 hours removed from Clark alluding towards a possible return to UCLA for his senior season when prompted in Thursday's postgame press conference.
"If I come back next year, it won’t be a shock, you get what I mean," Clark said after the Bruins' 79-61 victory over Arizona State. "It’s UCLA. I mean shoot, I grew up 50 miles from here, watching them all on TV. So yeah, it’s love."
Clark won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, and he recently made the late season watch list for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Clark's presence on that end of the floor is a big part of why the Bruins' have the No. 2 adjusted defensive rating in the country.
The junior is averaging 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 0.3 blocks per game in 30 appearances this season. Clark leads UCLA and the Pac-12 in steal percentage, defensive rating, defensive win shares, defensive box plus/minus and overall box plus/minus.
With a defensive rating of 85.0, Clark has the lowest mark of any Bruin since at least the 2009-2010 season.
Clark took major strides as a shooter this season as well, shooting 32.9% from beyond the arc on 2.6 attempts per game after shooting 24.3% on 0.6 attempts as an underclassman. As a result, Clark earned a spot on the All-Pac-12 Second Team in addition to his second straight Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors.
In Clark's absence, several Bruins may have to step up to replace his minutes, defense and fast break abilities. Cronin mentioned guard Will McClendon, guard Dylan Andrews and guard/forward Abramo Canka as potential options to get more playing time in the Pac-12 tournament, and he said he was looking forward to what they can contribute.
"As you can tell how I just perked up, excited for those guys," Cronin said. "Jaylen Clark is an unbelievably mature kid, so he's in a great place mentally and he's excited for them."
The Bruins will play just their second game all season without Clark on Thursday in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals against either No. 8 seed Washington or No. 9 seed Colorado. The Buffaloes will also be without one of their top players in Las Vegas – guard KJ Simpson, who leads his team with 15.9 points, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game, but currently has mononucleosis.
Clark's status beyond the Pac-12 tournament remains undetermined.
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