Pac-12 Awards: UCLA F/C Adem Bona Repeats as Freshman of the Week

Bona secured one of the conference's two individual honors for the second week in a row, making it six awards in seven weeks for the Bruins.

The Bruins' dominance in the freshman ranks has continued another week.

The Pac-12 announced its weekly performance awards Monday afternoon, and UCLA men's basketball center Adem Bona took home Freshman of the Week honors. Guard Jaylen Clark was nominated for Player of the Week, but he ultimately lost out to Colorado forward Tristan da Silva.

Cal forward ND Okafor was the only other nominee going up against Bona, but the voting members of the media ultimately favored for the Bruin.

Bona put up eight points, 10 rebounds, one assist, two blocks and one steal on 3-for-5 shooting in 33 minutes of action in UCLA's 60-58 win over USC on Thursday night. The freshman out of Prolific Prep (CA) notched new career highs in both rebounds and minutes played.

#Pac12MBB Freshman of the Week, presented by @Nextiva: Adem Bona 🐻

Full release ➡️ https://t.co/jL2FVOobnK#GoBruins | @UCLAMBB pic.twitter.com/tlttsEgfP7

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) January 9, 2023

Bona's powerful block two minutes into Thursday night's contest helped set the tone for the Bruins' raucous crowd, especially after he ran the floor and finished with a dunk at the other end. The former McDonald's All-American has blocked multiple shots in five straight games, averaging 2.2 per game dating back to UCLA's matchup with Kentucky on Dec. 17.

This marks the second Freshman of the Week award in a row for Bona, who won it on Jan. 2 after averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 68.8% from the field in the Bruins' wins over Washington State and Washington on Dec. 30 and Jan. 1.

After missing the season opener due to NCAA eligibility issues, Bona has started in each of UCLA's last 15 games. Bona is averaging 8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 21.8 minutes per game on 64.5% shooting from the field and 66.7% from the free throw line.

Among qualified players, Bona ranks second on the team with a 131.6 offensive rating and 65.4% true shooting percentage. Bona ranks No. 3 in win shares per 40 minutes and No. 4 in box plus/minus.

The Pac-12 first introduced its Freshman of the Week award back in the 2019-2020 campaign. Both Jaquez and point guard Tyger Campbell won it that season, but the team went nearly three full years before putting forward another winner again.

Five of the last seven winners have now been Bruins, with guard Amari Bailey getting the ball rolling on Nov. 28. Bailey repeated on Dec. 5, then passed the torch to guard Dylan Andrews on Dec. 12. After a two-week hiatus, Bona won it on Jan. 2.

UCLA has now had a player win an individual conference award six times nine weeks into the season, as Jaquez won Player of the Week on Dec. 19.

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