There might be no limits for Skyy Clark and UCLA: Five takeaways from Arizona win

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UCLA guard Skyy Clark, guarded by Arizona’s Conrad Martinez, had a season-high 15 points in helping the Bruins earn a comeback win Saturday in Phoenix. (Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

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…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/might-no-limits-skyy-clark-205047297.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2024-12-15 20:50:00

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