For the season’s first month, Skyy Clark did things that pleased his coach and quietly helped win games.
On Saturday, his contributions moved to the forefront of a thrilling comeback.
Clark calmly made two free throws with 6.1 seconds left during No. 24 UCLA’s 57-54 victory over Arizona at the Footprint Center, a fitting bookend to the junior guard’s best performance as a Bruin.
The transfer from Louisville broke out of a seasonlong shooting slump, making his first three three-pointers after entering the game having made only six of 22 tries (27.3%) from long range. He made five of nine shots overall on the way to a season-high 15 points, the first time he reached double figures this season.
Clark also had a steadying influence on the offense on a day that point guard Dylan Andrews finished with three turnovers and no assists. Clark’s effort to chase down a rebound in the corner before being fouled was critical with the Bruins holding a one-point lead in the final seconds.
“Skyy made a great play on the offensive rebound and [was] smart enough to dribble it out,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said after his team improved to 9-1. “He’s probably our smartest player.”
Read more: No. 24 UCLA rallies from 13-point deficit to defeat Arizona for eighth straight win
Might Clark need to be more involved in running UCLA’s offense? Here are five takeaways from the Bruins’ eighth consecutive victory:
What’s Skyy’s limit?
Cronin moved Andrews to shooting guard toward the middle of last season before quickly abandoning the experiment and watching Andrews flourish once he started attacking the basket.
If the coach moved Clark into a primary facilitating role — with help from Andrews and small forward Kobe Johnson, who might be the team’s best passer — it could free Andrews to recapture his late-season form from a year ago.
Another bonus is that it would likely lower the team’s turnovers. Clark has committed only four turnovers spanning nearly 150 minutes of playing time in the last six games.
Clark has already proven himself as one of the team’s top defenders even without eye-catching athleticism. His 19 steals rank second on the team and he’s also among the leaders in deflections.
Having been one of the first high school players that Cronin recruited after taking the UCLA job, Clark has quickly earned his coach’s trust in his third college stop in as many years.
“My daughter used to do homework at his high school games up in the stands since she was a seventh-grader,” Cronin said. “Now I’m trying to figure out where I’m going to pay $80,000 a year for her to go to school” in college.
Winning formula
Cronin likes to say he wants to build a team that can dance to whatever song is playing, a metaphor intended to show the Bruins can win in a variety of ways.
Against the Wildcats, UCLA prevailed after a scratched record kept skipping and nearly fell off the turntable.
It was an ugly, turnover-plagued game with wild momentum swings. But the Bruins kept dancing. A week after nearly blowing a big lead against Oregon, UCLA came back from 13 points down midway through the second half thanks to a renewed commitment on defense and a slew of baskets from Tyler Bilodeau.
“That’s a very hostile crowd, and we could have gave up right there,” Clark said, “but we fought back and got the ‘W.’”
Buckets Bilodeau
Bilodeau’s skill around the basket and in the midrange game makes him a constant threat to go on an offensive tear like he did Saturday.
In the game’s final 9:56, Bilodeau scored 12 points on a variety of moves to help his team complete the comeback.
While Cronin has stuck with the 6-foot-9 Bilodeau as his starting big man, the coach might need to pivot to more minutes for either Aday Mara or William Kyle III once the Bruins face taller Big Ten lineups. Spending too much time defending 7-footers will likely offset the gains UCLA enjoys with Bilodeau’s shot-making against slower counterparts.
Free Mara
After every game in recent weeks, Cronin has recited the same refrain: His team needs to get Mara the ball more.
It was the same thing Saturday.
“You gotta throw Aday Mara the ball,” Cronin said. “I know he traveled the first half on one [move], guys, but I’m just telling you — I mean, that move he made [for a basket] was big time and it had a lot to do with our comeback. We gotta get him the ball more.”
The 7-3 center finished with two points, two turnovers and one rebound in seven minutes against the Wildcats. Cronin has said his team’s offensive efficiency soars whenever Mara gets post touches, but the sophomore from Spain is averaging just 9.8 minutes per game this season.
When will Cronin follow through on his pledge?
Chemistry lesson
With nine newcomers arriving this summer, Cronin made a concerted effort to help his players get to know each other through backyard barbecues and nights spent together at Dodger Stadium, among other outings.
During this monthlong winning streak, the Bruins have played as if they’ve been together for years.
“I really think it starts off the court and that’s been the easiest thing,” Clark said of the team’s resilience. “I’ve told a lot of the coaches this is probably one of the only teams I’ve been on where I like every single person on the team, and so just having that camaraderie off the court carries onto the court and I think we saw that in the final minutes of the game.”
Cracked Cronin: “The whole key to that is the loving, soft touch of the head coach.”
Clark laughed as he rose from the podium alongside his coach, their interview complete.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
