WATCH: Adem Bona Talks Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, UCLA in Vegas

The young big man will be taking part in his first postseason, starting this weekend in the conference tournament.

UCLA men's basketball center Adem Bona spoke with reporters ahead of Tuesday morning's practice session at the Mo Ostin Basketball Center. Bona talked about winning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, playing through his face injuries, preparing to potentially play three games in three days in Las Vegas and how the Bruins will adjust to Jaylen Clark being out.

How does that feel to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Year?

It's amazing. It was one of my goals and I'm so glad and so excited that I was able to accomplish that. Obviously, there's two more things on our agenda. There's so many things we still want to accomplish, so the race is still on.

How are you doing (face/nose)?

I'm doing great. I feel like I look a little more better, a little more scarier.

Hit again the other night?

Oh, yeah. It wasn't anything to my nose, just like side of the head.

Excitement level for first postseason?

The goal has always been the same: Win, play hard, do whatever possible to get where we need to get to. And the journey constantly is... we don't just stop at the road, we want to keep pushing it to the end.

Erase taste of Vegas losses on that court?

Oh, yeah, definitely. I was thinking about it, potentially we're playing three games in Vegas. So I want to, like, raise the tally up a little bit so it can be three too so it's not going to, you know, so yeah.

How do you prepare for three games?

Obviously, knowing your opponent, obviously is not clear who we're gonna be playing, but preparing yourself mentally and thinking ahead of time. (Inaudible). Getting ready for games, you know?

Adjust to Jaylen being out?

Jaylen is the part of the team and we know Jaylen is one of our key guys defensively. It's just got more opportunity for other guys to step up to fill Jaylen's role. And it's also important for me to stay more on the floor, not to get fouls and be on the bench, just stay on the floor. 

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