Lonzo Ball’s brilliant freshman season went out with a dud. The UCLA star was thoroughly outplayed by counterpart De’Aaron Fox as Kentucky knocked UCLA out of the NCAA tournament, 86-75.
Lonzo Ball declared for the NBA Draft seconds after UCLA got crushed by Kentucky
Lonzo Ball is taking his talents to the NBA.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
In the moments following the loss, Ball said that’s the last college game he’ll play:
Of course, this is no surprise. Ball was long thought to be a one-and-done and will be in contention for the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft. SB Nation’s latest mock draft had Ball projected to the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 2 overall.
This certainly wasn’t the last impression Ball wanted to leave for NBA scouts. He finished with only 10 points and eight assists, while Fox went off for 39 points on only 20 shots. Fox is a projected top-10 pick too, but the way Ball struggled with Fox’s elite speed will be worrisome come draft time.
Kentucky now advances to the Elite Eight to face UNC. Ball now advances to the NBA.
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