Sources: UCLA’s Clark out rest of season

UCLA forward Jaylen Clark is out for the season with an Achilles injury, sources validated to ESPN.Clark suffered the injury in Saturday’s regular-season men’s basketball finale versus Arizona, exiting the game with a leg injury and later on returning to the bench with crutches and his best foot in a boot.UCLA coach

Mick Cronin stated Tuesday that Clark had a lower leg injury and would miss today’s Pac-12 tournament. The school has yet to verify Clark is out for the season.Editor’s Picks

2 Associated Losing Clark would be a huge

blow to UCLA’s national championship hopes. He’s the Bruins ‘finest protector and among the very best defensive players in the country and has greatly enhanced his well-rounded game this season. He’s balancing 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds this season after setting up 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds off the bench a year ago.Clark was called Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, while also earning second-team all-conference honors.Without Clark, expect UCLA to move senior David Singleton into the starting lineup. He began nine games previously this season when Amari Bailey was out hurt, and he played 31 minutes versus Arizona after Clark’s departure. Versus the Wildcats, Singleton ended up with 17 points and made 5 3-pointers. He’s shooting 43.4% from 3 this season.UCLA, the regular-season Pac-12 champion, will play the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between Washington and Colorado in Thursday’s Pac-12 competition

quarterfinal. The Bruins(27-4 total, 18-2 in the Pac-12)remain in the mix for a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament.Stadium was first to report Clark would miss out on the remainder of the season.