UCLA’s Jaime Jaques Jr. is hoping for a showdown with North Carolina despite a sprained ankle

Philadelphia – star striker at UCLA Jaime Jaques Jr. He’s still day in and day out with a right ankle sprain and will try to play in the Sweet 16’s #4 Bruins against the 8th seed North Carolina on Friday.

In the open rehearsal made available to the media for viewing on Thursday, Jackie’s appeared to be on the move undisturbed. Run, lagging, and use warm-up exercises, moving smoothly through the exercises. UCLA coach Mick Cronin said Jackies took some light shots on Thursday.

“He’ll want to try to play,” Cronin said. “The question is can it be effective?”

Jaquez’s ankle looms as the biggest story heading into the game between two of college’s most popular college basketball programs. Jaquez is UCLA’s second-best scorer at 14.0 points per game and is one of the Bruins’ most indispensable players, a model of tenacity and tenacity that defined Cronin’s tenure.

In UCLA’s past eight games, Jaquez has averaged 20.5 points while the Bruins have gone 7-1. Cronin said that this stretch coincided with Jaquez’s ability to rehearse, which resulted in him getting his rhythm and ground control.

“It is unfortunate of course that Jaime has to deal with this,” Cronin said. “I’ll tell you if anyone can handle it, it’s him. He’s the epitome of physical and mental toughness.”

Jackies injured his ankle with 6:58 left in the second half of UCLA’s win over St. Mary’s in the second round. He pinned him to the seat with his sneakers on and never came back. Cronin considered putting it on day in and day out over the course of the week.

“It was definitely frustrating,” Jackies said. “It’s just something that we have to persevere through and something that I have to struggle with. Everyone has to go through something during the season, and that’s what happened to me. We struggle through it every day.”

Jaquez has had ankle problems all season, to the point that Cronin joked that he couldn’t count them. Cronin said earlier in the week that he didn’t know his ankle could sprain so often.

Jackie also injured his right ankle against Stanford on January 29, and was knocked out after playing just seven minutes and attempting two shots. He missed a UCLA game against Oregon on January 15 with a left ankle injury. In February, Jaquez began wearing braces on both ankles.

“It was a trip,” Jackies said. “It’s a long time. It’s something all players have to deal with when you get to this game, especially at this time of year, you’re not one hundred percent.”