Mick Cronin shares severity of Adem Bona's shoulder injury

UCLA has been bitten by the injury bug at the worst possible time. The Bruins are already missing do-it-all wing Jaylen Clark, who is out for the rest of the year with an Achilles injury. Now, starting center Adem Bona is battling through a shoulder problem and even missed UCLA’s NCAA Tournament opener against UNC Asheville. He did return for the round of 32 game against Northwestern to start and play 21 minutes in the win over the Wildcats — a huge contribution on a Bruins team that desperately lacks depth down low.

According to head coach Mick Cronin, Bona is really toughing it out and isn’t 100%, but he’s providing whatever he can through the pain.

“He’s sore. He’s extremely sore,” Cronin said of the freshman center after the Northwestern win. “If he gets hit on it in any way, he’s sore. The fact that he’s out there shows you what a warrior he is. He’s really sore. I mean, he’s playing with a brace on. I mean, he could get a hit in it, he could reach for a ball. Any type of movement like that is going to aggravate him and it’s just going to be like that.”

Cronin was then asked if the staff considering holding him out of the Northwestern game as well. To which he responded: “He’s going to be sore. There’s always going to be a discussion. I don’t know the details. It’s going to happen.”

The Bruins ultimately decided Bona was good to go vs. Northwestern. But had his shoulder really started to hurt, they likely would have had to sit him. So, there’s no guarantee Bona stays in the lineup throughout the NCAA Tournament run, but UCLA needs whatever he can offer.

Without Bona in the lineup for round one, senior Kenneth Nwuba stepped in to hold down the fort. He contributed 25 minutes at center while third-year redshirt freshman Mac Etienne was stellar as Nwuba’s backup, making all five of his shots for 10 total points in 13 minutes of action. But with Bona’s return in round two, Etienne only saw two minutes of action against NW.

Though he did play well against UNC Asheville, Etienne is not a preferred choice for Coach Cronin down low. Against a Gonzaga team that also doesn’t play a ton of size, Cronin could even opt to go small and put Jaime Jaquez at the five, which he did often when he also had Clark available to put at the four. But with him out, the Bruins are giving up a ton of size and rebounding if they do go small.

All the more reason to hope Adem Bona can stay healthy if you’re Mick Cronin. This UCLA team has the playmakers at the top of the roster necessary to win a national championship. But they’re also playing with fire since they have so little depth and several injuries already. UCLA ought to put Bona in a full-body cast this week and pray he’s recovered by this weekend.