Sports
Big size? Yes. Bigger role? That remains to be seen for UCLA's 7-foot-3 Aday Mara
If you have a player blessed with rare traits who can take over a game on both ends of the court, you use him as much as possible, right?
Right?
Maybe not.
Two days after UCLA’s Aday Mara put every inch of his 7-foot-3 frame to excellent use against Wisconsin — making all seven shots in scoring a career-high 22 points, playing lockdown defense, grabbing rebounds and repeatedly getting hacked by overmatched counterparts who had no choice but to foul him — his coach said the sophomore center’s usage would continue to be situational.
“It would be great if Aday would average 22 the rest of the year,” coach Mick Cronin deadpanned Thursday of Mara’s breakthrough after being used sparingly over the first half of the season, “but I also think — you know, look, that just happens.”
Cronin pointed out that forward William Kyle III, also fighting for a larger role, enjoyed a similar breakout during UCLA’s recent victory over Iowa, making six of seven shots, only to cede playing time to Mara against the Badgers because Cronin figured the latter game was a better matchup for Mara.
So, no, Mara’s big showing was not an aha! moment for his coach, automatically leading to a larger role for the tallest player on the team, despite Mara making every shot and eight of 11 free throws while grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots in a season-high 21 minutes.
“It just gives you more options,” Cronin said. “What it does is, be able to reinforce to Aday what you’re capable of — we won two games, we got production from two [big] guys, and I was saying that we’ve got to coach them better and get them to play up to their capability.”
Based on his recent pattern, expect Cronin to give Kyle more minutes against smaller, faster teams while featuring Mara more against bigger teams that don’t feature as much athleticism.
Cronin sounded like he still was committed to starting Tyler Bilodeau at the five spot instead of pairing Mara or Kyle with Bilodeau, who has struggled defensively. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard took the unusual step of mentioning Bilodeau by name, alluding to his problems defending ball screens, while discussing the Badgers’ offensive success.
“We were able to knock down some threes early,” Gard said, “with Bilodeau.”
Cronin said going with more size instead of a front line that includes the 6-9 Bilodeau and 6-8 forward Eric Dailey Jr. has its drawbacks.
“Some teams play four guards, which makes it really hard,” Cronin said. “But what we have been working on since Will’s been back [from an unspecified medical procedure] that you saw in the Iowa game was Will guarding the perimeter and Tyler guarding the bigger guy because Will’s faster on the perimeter, so we can do that. Tough to do with Tyler and Aday except that we were able to do it against Wisconsin because of their lineup.
“But there’s other ways to try to do some things to be able to play if you want to play those two guys together and the other team’s smaller. There’s some things that we’re working on.”
Neither Bilodeau nor Dailey hesitated when asked how much they liked playing alongside Mara.
Said Bilodeau: “It’s great to have him out there. He’s so dominant in the post. We see it every day in practice. We know we can always go to him and then too defensively, he’s such a big presence down in the paint.”
Said Dailey: “I love playing with Aday. I mean, it’s easy to play with a 7-3 player. Easy to throw him lobs. I’ve been doing that all year, just throwing him passes that, you know, he can finish. And it’s been helping us just, you know, it gives a different dynamic to our offense and our defense, as well, just having him be the protector. We just gotta keep him going.”
Kyle staying ready
With Mara dominating, Kyle did not play in the second half against Wisconsin until Cronin inserted him for defensive purposes with 30 seconds left.
Trailing by two points, the Badgers had a chance to tie the score or take the lead. Kyle made sure neither happened.
Measuring Wisconsin guard John Blackwell’s every move, Kyle had the tricky task of defending against both a shot and a lob to 7-footer Steven Crowl.
“He was kind of focused on the rim a little bit,” Kyle said of Blackwell, “so I was kind of waiting for him to jump into the air because, like, when you jump into the air it’s kind of tough to make that pass. … So, once I kind of saw him going into the air, into his shot, I kind of committed to it — and I didn’t expect to block it, I just tried to contest it and then, luckily, blocked the shot and it was just a big play.”
Trap game?
Washington has lost five consecutive games and is 1-7 in the Big Ten. However, the Huskies (10-9) may be poised for a big performance, particularly on their home court, in their game against the Bruins (13-6, 4-4) on Friday night in Seattle.
Alaska Airlines Arena is where Washington defeated Maryland and lost to Illinois only after faltering in the final minute. Cronin said he expected Huskies guard D.J. Davis to be fully recovered from a recent ankle injury and center Franck Kepnang to play after missing the last 17 games following a knee procedure.
“They’ve gotten much better,” Cronin said of the Huskies, who lost by 11 points to the Bruins in December at Pauley Pavilion. “If they make some shots, they’re dangerous.”
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After a slow first round at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia on Thursday, pace of play was a point of emphasis at the PGA Championship on Friday.
However, when an official approached Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley, they became animated.
Thomas, a longtime Team USA Ryder Cup member, and Bradley, last year’s United States captain, were on the fourth hole when they were approached by an official in a cart, and the conversation quickly turned into finger-pointing.
Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley watch from the tenth green during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Thomas said after the round that he, Bradley and fellow USA Ryder Cupper Cameron Young, who won the Cadillac Championship earlier this month, were put on the clock, with the official telling them to pick up the pace. However, both Bradley and Thomas appeared to point at the group in front of them.
“We just didn’t really agree with it,” Thomas said, citing course conditions, high winds and tough pins. “We were behind. That wasn’t our issue… It’s just the fact that we weren’t holding up the group behind us.”
Thomas said they were caught up with the pace on the very next hole.
Justin Thomas plays his shot on the 15th tee during the second round of the PGA Championship in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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Thomas had a lengthy conversation with the official, while Bradley appeared to make his point short and sweet — though he was definitely not happy with the call.
It is a large PGA Championship field, with 156 golfers at the course and groups even starting their rounds on the back nine. The scores have also been rather high, with just 25 players below par at the time of publishing.
Aronimink also features a shared tee box on 1 and 10, holes 9 and 17 crossing paths, and a lengthy par-3 eighth hole that’s causing problems. Three par-3s are over 200 yards on the course, and there is also a 457-yard par 4 on the fourth.
Keegan Bradley prepares to putt on the 14th green during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 2026. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
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As Chris Gotterup put it on Friday, “You’re not going to get any four-and-a-half hour rounds out here.”
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The Sparks are finally in the win column, but the outcome was in doubt late Friday night.
Behind double-digit scoring from all five starters, the Sparks had by far their best offensive showing of the season, shooting 63.8% during a 99-95 win over the expansion Toronto Tempo.
The Tempo didn’t make things easy, cutting the deficit to two points late and later trailing by just three with 31 seconds remaining and possession of the ball. Marina Mabrey missed a three-point attempt before late Tempo fouls gave the Sparks enough of a cushion to win.
Kelsey Plum nearly claimed a double-double with 27 points and nine assists, while Dearica Hamby had 19 points with seven rebounds and Nneka Ogwumike scored 20 points.
Erica Wheeler, who started in place of Ariel Atkins (concussion), scored 10 points with seven assists and was a plus-16 as the primary ball handler after starting the season two for 16 from the field. That freed up Plum to be in position to score, setting up a much more efficient Sparks offense.
Toronto was shorthanded in the frontcourt without starting center Temi Fagbenle (right shoulder), and the Sparks trio of bigs had a field day with 54 points in the paint.
The Sparks came out firing on Friday, opening with a 17-2 run.
The Tempo went on a 10-0 burst heading into the second quarter but the Sparks countered to maintain momentum and led 46-38 at halftime.
A Wheeler three-pointer early in the third quarter gave the Sparks a 20-point lead. The Tempo cut it to three midway through the fourth while Brittany Sykes (27 points, seven assists) sparked Toronto’s rally. The Tempo put up more shots than the Sparks, 70-58, largely because of a 10-2 offensive-rebounding gap.
Cameron Brink’s 10 points were the only ones provided by the Sparks’ bench, while the Tempo got 42 points from reserves.
Toronto was coming off its first win in franchise history on Wednesday when it defeated Seattle but struggled against a more complete offensive team in the Sparks.
In her return to Los Angeles after winning a national championship with UCLA this spring, Tempo rookie Kiki Rice netted 11 points.
Kate Martin made her Sparks debut as a developmental player with Atkins and Sania Feagin (lower left leg) unavailable and picked up one rebound in six minutes.
The Sparks will face Toronto again on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
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The WNBA season has been in session for about a week, so it is far too early to make assumptions about teams. That doesn’t mean we won’t make them; it’s just too early to really believe it. I lost my first WNBA bet this season, so I’m hoping to avenge that loss here as the Sky take on the Mercury.
The Chicago Sky are one of the most poorly run franchises in basketball. They have had some great names on their team and only one championship to show for it.
Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner shoots over Indiana Fever guard Aerial Powers in the first half at PHX Arena. (Rick Scuteri/Imagn Images)
There really isn’t a clear indication of what is wrong with the franchise, but they’ve never been able to retain their talent. Aside from Kamilla Cardoso, I can’t name a player on this team that they’ve actually drafted. They just seem to get good players and then show them the door.
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Even though they’ve had questionable front office decisions, they seem to have put together a solid team for this season – something I didn’t expect before the season started.
They are 2-0, which is too early to really say they are a good team. I also want to reserve judgment until they face a team with a longer history than last year. The Portland Tempo played their first-ever game against the Sky, and Golden State was good last year, but still is in just their second season of existence.
The Phoenix Mercury are actually considered one of the best franchises in the league. I’m sure there are issues that people have reported, but for the most part, they have good facilities, and people want to play for their team. They made it all the way to the WNBA Finals last season before falling to the Las Vegas Aces. This year, they are looking to restart that journey and see if they can win the last game of the year.
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper dribbles the ball in the second half at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., on July 27, 2025. (Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
It will need to come with some better play than they’ve shown through three games this year. They are just 1-2 for the year with a 0-1 home record. The lone win was a blowout victory over the Aces (a clear revenge game if we’ve ever seen one). Then they lost the next two games against Golden State and Minnesota. Losing to the Lynx wouldn’t be a problem, but they didn’t have Napheesa Collier, who still has an ankle injury.
I expect the Mercury to make some adjustments for this game. They haven’t looked very crisp to begin the year, but they’ve been strong on offense, averaging 87 points per game.
The Sky are going to keep relying on their offense to do just enough and their defense to lock in. The Sky do have an edge on the interior, so they can get buckets fairly easily down low. I like the over 166.5 in this game.
Chicago Sky guard Skylar Diggins chases the ball during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 13, 2026. (Bob Kupbens/Imagn Images)
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I also think it is worth betting on Kahleah Copper to go over her point total. Copper had two rough games before she broke out in the last game. Now she has the same sight lines and can attack the bigs from the Sky with her athleticism. Since going to Phoenix, she has scored 29, 7, 16, 25 and 28 points in five games against them.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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