Bona Named to All-Pac-12 Team, Earns Defensive Player of the Year
March 12, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA men's basketball sophomore Adem Bona has earned first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors for the first time in his career and has been named the league's Defensive Player of the Year, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning.
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Bruins' guard Sebastian Mack was selected to the five-person All-Freshman Team in the league's announcement of the year-end Pac-12 awards.
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This marks the second consecutive year in which UCLA has produced the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, Jaylen Clark was honored as the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year. Bona has become the third UCLA player to have been named the Defensive Player of the Year (joining Russell Westbrook from 2008, and Clark from 2023). Bona was one of five players named to the league's All-Defensive Team.
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In all 31 games for the Bruins this season, Bona has averaged 12.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, the second highest blocks-per-game average in the Pac-12. He has shot 58.5 percent from the field, totaling 57 blocks, 34 steals and 38 assists.
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Mack has played in all 31 games for UCLA as a freshman. The 6-foot-3 guard from Chicago, Ill., has averaged 12.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest. Mack leads all Pac-12 freshmen in free throws made (116) and free throws attempted (161). He has shot 39.0 percent from the field and 72.0 percent from the free throw stripe.
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Arizona's Caleb Love was honored as the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Washington State's Kyle Smith was recognized as the league's Coach of the Year. Washington State freshman guard Myles Rice was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
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The Pac-12 recognizes 10 players as first-team selections and five players as second-team selections. Bona was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2023 and was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection that year. This marks the second consecutive year in which Bona has earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors.
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UP NEXT: UCLA will return to action as the No. 5 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Bruins will face No. 12-seed Oregon State at 2:30 p.m. (PT). The winner of that matchup will advance to face No. 4-seed Oregon on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (PT).
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