UCLA Basketball: Adem Bona Says Big Win "Changed" the Team

Here's hoping.

On Thursday night, your UCLA Bruins returned to a .500 record on the season (6-6 -- kind of a low bar to clear, but still) thanks to a 69-62 away victory over the Oregon State Beavers. Power forward Adem Bona and guard Dylan Andrews led the charge for the Blue and Gold with 13 (inefficient) points apiece. Bona also chipped in eight boards. 

The win snapped a brutal four-game losing streak.

Per Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times, Bona remarked postgame that he regards the victory as potentially season-salvaging. It marked their first contest in Pac-12 inter-conference play this year.

“Today kind of changed a lot for us,” Bona said. “Obviously, we needed to win, but at the same time we needed to lift the team’s spirits, so I think this game gave us a lot of confidence and we’re going to continue building on the first step we made today.”

The 6'10" sophomore is averaging 12.2 points on 54.9% shooting from the field, 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 0.8 assists and 0.8 steals a night for the Bruins across 12 games, all starts.

Next up for UCLA is another road bout with an Oregon-based club, this time the Oregon Ducks. That contest is slated for this afternoon at 1 p.m.