UCLA still adjusting without Jaylen Clark — and Mick Cronin still coy about injury

LAS VEGAS — While continuing to keep a cloud over Jaylen Clark’s status, UCLA took its first crack at playing without him Thursday.

Neither appeared easy for the Bruins.

UCLA eventually pulled out an 80-69 quarterfinal win over Colorado but trailed for over 15 minutes and led by just five points with 1:40 left in the game with coach Mick Cronin starting wing David Singleton in Clark’s absence and asking more of reserves Dylan Andrews, Will McClendon and Abramo Canka.

It also helped the Bruins that standout freshman wing Amari Bailey had 28 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

“I think we’re still trying to figure that out,” UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez said of the transition. “It’s our first game, and he (Clark) just he brings so much to our team. He brings intensity, energy. He’s our X-factor when it comes to the defensive end.

“With that being said, we’ve got a lot of guys that can step up. Amari just had a great night, and I’m sure that guys like DA, Will and Abramo, when their number is called, they’re going to step up. I’m excited to see what we have in store.”

Already aiming for a No. 1 NCAA Tournament berth, the Bruins might need to prove quickly that they have figured out how to play without Clark. NCAA seeding guidelines state that “if there is sufficient data to evaluate how a team performed without a key player or coach versus how they performed with him/them, that is considered.”

After the game, UCLA coach Mick Cronin was asked if there was an incentive for him not to address Clark’s status because of how the selection committee reviews things. Cronin responded tersely, saying: “I addressed Jaylen’s status as clearly as I’m legally allowed to.”

During UCLA’s pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday in Los Angeles, Cronin said only that Clark would miss the Pac-12 Tournament with a “lower-leg injury.” Several reports since then have said Clark will miss the rest of the season with an Achilles’ injury after Clark was seen hopping painfully off the floor during the Bruins’ win over Arizona last Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

Asked if the committee had asked him about Clark, Cronin said they had not, and then responded again to how he’s characterized it all.

“First of all, I have a job and I have a family I would like to keep, so there’s a little thing called HIPAA, OK,” Cronin said, referring to the federal law designed to protect patients’ sensitive medical information. “Second thing is, Amari had an injury, I was consistent. He had a foot injury. He was out. There (were) no details said about it. Adem (Bona) started wearing a mask. Did I ever say what happened to him?

“So kids have rights, they have careers. If they don’t want us to disclose their injury, then that’s their right. And I’m more concerned with doing what’s right for my players than making people in the media happy. The least of my worries is that.”

Meanwhile, UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell said the adjustment without Clark has been tough, but that he wasn’t worried about the outside concerns.

“We’re just guys that look at the scouting report, get ready for the game and try to show up and play,” Campbell said. “We’re not really trying to impress a committee or worry about things like that. And it’s March, so it’s a win or go home.”

Tubelis finalist for Malone Award

Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis was named one of five finalists for the Karl Malone Award, which honors the top power forward in college basketball.

Others named included Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis, Iowa’s Kris Murray and Providence’s Bryce Hopkins.

Jaquez, who won Pac-12 Player of the Year over Tubelis, was named to the Julius Erving (small forward) finalist list earlier this week despite being the Bruins’ starting power forward.

Arizona’s Deandre Ayton won the Karl Malone Award in 2017-18. Murray’s twin brother, Keegan, won the award last season, while Timme won it in 2020-21. Other previous winners include Obi Toppin, Dayton (2020); Zion Williamson, Duke (2019); Johnathan Motley, Baylor (2017); Georges Niang, Iowa State (2016); and Montrezl Harrell, Louisville (2015).

Boyle looking ahead

The loss to UCLA put Colorado at 17-16 overall, with only a chance at an NIT berth, but Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle expressed optimism about the future.

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Colorado could return the bulk of its team next season, including standout guard KJ Simpson, while bringing in five-star Gilbert Perry forward Cody Williams, a former UA recruiting target.

“I’ve said this multiple times this year, I’ve never been more excited about the future of Colorado basketball than I have been this year,” Boyle said, sitting next to standout forward Tristan da Silva and Julian Hammond, who started this week with Simpson battling mononucleosis.

“We got a lot of guys coming back and a hell of a recruiting class coming in. So Colorado basketball’s not going anywhere.”

No comment

During nearly every Pac-12 Tournament , the conference has held a Thursday or Friday news conference in which it has said commissioners Larry Scott and George Kliavkoff would discuss “the state of Pac-12 basketball” or something along those lines.

But while Kliavkoff has been spotted here and there at T-Mobile Arena this week, he is not scheduled to hold a news conference this week.

It’s not hard to figure out why.

No doubt, holding one would subject Kliavkoff to repeated inquires about the future of the Pac-12 and media-rights negotiations, which have fueled an avalanche of speculation since USC and UCLA announced last summer they were leaving for the Big Ten in 2024.

Bears down

After Cal lost 69-52 on Wednesday to Washington State to finish its season at 3-29, Bears coach Mark Fox said he felt things could “flip really quick” next season with better health and more experience.

If it does, he won’t be part of it.

Cal fired Fox on Friday after the Bears went 3-29 this season, putting Fox at 38-87 over his four seasons in Berkeley, including a 17-61 mark mark in Pac-12 play.

However, he had a few obstacles. Fox took over for a program that won only eight games in each of the two seasons prior to his arrival, while Cal and Stanford had to play through through the toughest local COVID restrictions in the Pac-12 in 2020-21.

This season, the Bears suffered a rash of key injuries, including a hernia that ended point guard Devin Askew’s season after just 13 games.

“Not as an excuse, but as an explanation — if you looked on paper at who would be our starting point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center, we played without four of them tonight,” Fox said after Wednesday’s game. “That obviously crippled our ability to score.

“We just tried to continually readjust to give ourselves chances to win. Obviously I didn’t get that done, but these guys continued to stay the course.”

While hot-seat speculation followed him all season, Fox said he didn’t pay attention to it.

“But it comes with the territory,” he said. “I’m not a young coach anymore. I’ve been through it. So it doesn’t bother me.”

Keefe wins academic award

Stanford forward James Keefe was named the Pac-12’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, after earning a 3.86 grade-point average as an economics major.

This season, Keefe missed half of Pac-12 play with a lower-body injury but has averaged 16.8 minutes in 20 games. He was the hero in Stanford’s first-round win over ASU in last season’s Pac-12 Tournament, collecting 16 points and 10 rebounds, including a game-winning buzzer-beater.