Time is running out for the UCLA basketball team as they have two games left of the regular season as they are 14-15, in danger of falling below .500, a feat that has only been done four other times in the last 75 years of the program. Bruins sophomore star Adem Bona spoke to the media before the team's next crucial contest against the Arizona Wildcats to discuss the matchup and what he wants to see out of the team.
Bona stood by his team through and through in showing his confidence, while also acknowledging the disappointment they must feel. Overall, the biggest aspect for the Nigeria born player is to “show our identity and what we stand for” according to the Bruins' post on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
“We just want to show our identity and what we stand for. As a team, I believe that we have an identity of playing hard, of playing tough and playing together as a group,” Bona said. “I do want to show our identity as a team. Every single one of us has pride and we want to play hard for this team, for UCLA. We don't back down from anything, that's one thing I want to put out there for these last two games.”
“As a team, I believe that we have an identity of playing hard, of playing tough and playing together. I do want to show our identity as a team. We want to play hard for this team, for UCLA.”
Adem Bona, on expectations for this team with two more home games pic.twitter.com/6KoOsmPWl4
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) March 5, 2024
Bona talks the importance of playing at home
The UCLA basketball team is currently on a four-game skid and desperately needs a boost. Fortunately, their last two games are both at the Pauley Pavilion. For Bona, the Bruins love putting on a show for the fans, but also feels some disappointment as their last home game against the USC Trojans ended in defeat.
“Playing at home is always exciting, we love coming into Pauley, doing our thing, putting on a show, and obviously trying to get a win,” Bona said. “Last time we played this year at home, it was kind of a heartbroken game because we felt like we could so much better, but we excited to play in front of our fans.”
Rebounding will be vital for Bruins to end season
Bona is one of the best players on the current roster, despite being only a sophomore as he averages 12.2 points (second on UCLA), 5.8 rebounds (second), 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 59.2 percent from the field. Crashing the glass is significant to the Bruins' success as Bona stressed to the media that their lack of boards has hurt them in the past.
“Rebounding is obviously vital, we lost the battle at Washington state and that hurt us a lot.We have to go out there and scrap for every ball, we gave up a lot of rebounds and I think that hurt us big time, so our guys are not going to let that happen again,” Bona said. “Because we can't just give rebounds to teams, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, we have to go after them. I didn't have a good showing for myself at Washington State for rebounding. Against Arizona, rebounding is going to be huge so we're going to be crashing the glass.”
It will not be smooth sailing for the UCLA basketball team as their next opponent in the aforementioned Arizona Wildcats are ranked No. 5 in the country as they will face each other Thursday night.
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