Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA Heralded by Fans as Title Contenders in Win vs. UNC Asheville

If there were any doubts about UCLA being a championship contender in the NCAA tournament, they were put to bed after the Bruins trounced UNC Asheville 86-53 on Thursday night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

The Bruins arguably had the most dominant performance of any team playing in the first day of the tournament as they flexed not only an impressive and efficient offense but also their defense that ranks top 10 in all of Division I.

UNC Asheville were held to just 37 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent from three-point range while committing 16 turnovers. Just suffocating stuff from coach Mick Cronin's team.

UCLA was led by Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Amari Bailey, who finished with 17 apiece. But the bruins also received meaningful contributions from its role players like Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne, who combined for 20 points and a perfect 9-of-9 from the field.

It was a total team performance by UCLA and Twitter was raving about it.

Losing Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark to an Achilles injury in the regular season finale left people wondering if the Bruins would be the same team come tournament time. And through at least one game they look up to the challenge.

It'll of course be a leap up in competition in the Round of 32 as the Bruins get to take on Northwestern and its dangerous backcourt of Boo Buie and Chase Audige on Saturday before a potential date with Gonzaga in the Sweet 16.