Mick Cronin provides Amari Bailey injury update

UCLA has won 13 straight games and risen to No. 5 nationally, doing so despite an Amari Bailey injury that has sidelined the 6-foot-5 freshman guard for the past five games.

Bailey is dealing with a stress reaction in his foot that the Bruins are being cautious with.

“He’s doing much better,” coach Mick Cronin told local reporters on Tuesday. “Had an active shooting yesterday, looked good yesterday shooting the ball. Day to day. Day to day.”

The injury Bailey is dealing with is similar to one that sidelined former Bruins guard Johnny Juzang for four games at the start of the 2020-21 season.

Bailey had been a key contributor before his injury, which flared up when Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe landed on his foot in a UCLA win on Dec. 17. The injury was exacerbated a few days later on Dec. 21 when a UC-Davis player landed on it again.

“They call it like a stress reaction,” Cronin explained. “It’s not serious, but it could be if you don’t let it calm down. So it’s just constant bone scans and all that type of stuff.”

UCLA being cautious with Amari Bailey injury

Prior to the Amari Bailey injury, the freshman guard from Chicago had averaged 9.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He was shooting at a 36.4% clip from beyond the arc.

That kind of firepower had helped UCLA turn things around after a 3-2 start to the season. The Bruins were on an eight-game winning streak when they had to temporarily shut Bailey down.

UCLA is being careful knowing Bailey has playing aspirations beyond the college level.

“At UCLA, most of our players are going to have a post-UCLA career, so you have to be concerned with stuff like that,” Cronin explained. “So it’s kind of as he progresses.

“Around here it’s, I always kid around. I’m fairly intelligent but I don’t have a medical degree. So they all do what they do. And they get him cleared, get him to me. That’s when I take over. I don’t take over till they’re back out on the court. And I’m not going to put a guy in a game that I don’t think he’s ready for. So you can’t go from no practices to playing in games. So how many would depend. I’ll need to see.”

UCLA’s next game is on Thursday night, a 10:30 ET tip at Arizona State. UCLA is currently 7-0 in Pac-12 play.