This post was updated Feb. 28 at 11:34 p.m.

No. 4 UCLA men’s basketball (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12) has clinched the regular-season Pac-12 title without even playing its final two games of the campaign against Arizona State and No. 8 Arizona. With March on the horizon, senior staff writer Jon Christon declares the Bruins’ MVP, unsung hero, impact freshman and X-factor thus far.

MVP: G/F Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Season stats: 17.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 48.9/33.3/74.7%

Jaime Jaquez Jr. is the undisputed MVP of this UCLA team.

No player in the conference has had more of an impact on their team this season. The senior guard/forward has been a revelation on both ends of the court, averaging career highs across the board.

Few players increase their efficiency with the ball in their hands more often, but Jaquez is no ordinary player. Tasked with becoming the focal point of the Bruins’ offense after the offseason departure of Johnny Juzang, Jaquez has increased his scoring average by more than three points per game without hurting his shooting splits.

His footwork continues to put him in rare air inside the arc, and his 3-point shooting – which has increased by nearly 7% from last year – has been critical to the second-best offense in the Pac-12.

Jaquez has assumed the role of the alpha-dog scorer of late, too. He’s scored 20 or more points in four of the last five games, averaging 13.2 points per game in second halves alone, en route to UCLA picking up its first regular season Pac-12 title in the past decade.

Coach Mick Cronin puts the ball in Jaquez’s hands time and again, and time and again, Jaquez delivers.

Jaquez’s help defense also remains elite, and he is arguably UCLA’s best pound-for-pound rebounder.

He truly does it all for the blue and gold.

Also considered: No one

Unsung hero: G David Singleton
Season stats: 9.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.1 SPG, 44.6/43.2/87.8%

Where would UCLA be without David Singleton?

The fifth-year guard’s contributions to the program are, in a sense, obvious, with his 156 career games played – the most ever by a Bruin. While his game-to-game production is more understated, no role player in the country has done more for their team so far this season.

The best ability is availability, and Singleton has that trait in spades. He is one of three Bruins to play in every game this season, doing whatever Cronin asks of him in each game.

He’s embraced his bench role despite his stature in UCLA history, emerging as one of the best sixth men in the country. Singleton has also been critical as a spot starter when injuries plagued the starting lineup, and Cronin has routinely called his number to close games.

His vocal leadership is perhaps his most apparent skill, but Singleton is immensely valuable on the court. He leads the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting at a 43.2% clip from beyond the arc and has vastly improved his ability to get to the paint.

A feisty defender, Singleton won’t be played off the court on that end of the floor either.

While Singleton’s season averages are nothing to write home about, UCLA has plenty of pieces around him. He is simply the glue that holds all those pieces together.

Also considered: G Tyger Campbell, G Amari Bailey

Impact freshman: F Adem Bona
Season stats: 8.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.8 APG, 1.6 BPG, 67.7/0.0/58.1%

Adem Bona, despite being a five-star recruit, was not the jewel of the Bruins’ 2022 recruiting class. That honor belonged to freshman guard Amari Bailey.

So far this season, though, Bona has made it clear he isn’t playing second fiddle to anyone.

To be clear, Bailey is incredibly impactful in his own right. UCLA’s offense cratered without him in the starting lineup, a stretch that included the Bruins’ only two conference losses of the season. However, UCLA as a whole would implode without Bona at its core.

The numbers say no Bruin, freshman or not, is more important than Bona. UCLA outscores opponents by 27.6 points per 100 possessions with the freshman on the court versus when he’s off, a mark that leads the team and puts him in the 99th percentile in the entire country.

Granted, part of that astronomical figure can be attributed to the lack of big-man talent behind Bona. But the eye test still paints Bona as crucial to UCLA’s success, particularly on the defensive end.

Bona blocks more than 1.5 shots per game, putting him in the top five overall in the Pac-12 and first among freshmen. Cronin has never quite had a player of Bona’s caliber anchoring his defense, and it shows. Only once has a Cronin-coached team had a better KenPom adjusted defensive rating.

Offensively, Bona is still a work in progress, but his eight points per game fortify just enough of a post threat – and a lob threat – to make UCLA’s offense click.

Bona has been everything Cronin needed this season and then some.

Also considered: G Amari Bailey

X-factor: G Jaylen Clark
Season stats: 13.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.0 APG, 2.6 SPG, 47.6%/33.8%/70.0%

Jaylen Clark is as unique as they come in the modern game.

A hard-nosed, defense-first player who rejects the notion of a traditional position, Clark can swing a game at a moment’s notice from either end of the court.

The junior guard’s defense speaks for itself. He is one of the few players at any level of basketball who can truly guard one through five, thriving on the perimeter, in the paint and in passing lanes. His 2.6 steals per game lead the conference and are the fourth-most in the country.

Clark has repeatedly ignited the Pauley Pavilion crowd by jumping a pass and throwing down a vicious two-handed slam on the other end.

That image also personifies Clark’s offensive game. He drives to the basket with a sense of reckless abandon – a freight train with the sole goal of getting to the rim. However, while ferocious, his offense can be labeled as one-dimensional from time to time.

Clark’s scoring average has steadily declined since his hot start, but UCLA doesn’t need another scorer in the high teens – it just needs more dynamism and variability. The team is at its best when Clark utilizes multiple facets of his game; UCLA nearly doubles its point differential in conference play when Clark attempts three or more shots from beyond the arc.

In short, Clark’s defense can turn a loss into a win at a moment’s notice.

His offense has the potential to blow any game wide open.

Also considered: G Amari Bailey, G Dylan Andrews