First Four 2018: Aaron Holiday needs to shine vs St. Bonaventure

The UCLA Bruins need to tread carefully in their First Four 2018 game versus St. Bonaventure.

This kind of thing is why we all love March Madness, right? At any time, the underdog — no matter how much of an underdog — can come out on top and stun the world. St. Bonaventure beating UCLA wouldn’t be the biggest upset we’ve ever seen by any means, but it can happen simply on the fact that they’re the kind of team that could get overlooked.

However, UCLA needs to be aware of the fact that St. Bonaventure has an offense that likes to have the game take off at a fast pace and not slow down for anything. To stop this, it is critical that Aaron Holiday show up and that he does plenty damage to the Bonnies and gets UCLA into the next round where a date with Florida awaits.

St. Bonaventure doesn’t have any shockingly good wins this season, per say. Their biggest outright win from their schedule, in my opinion, was their win over Buffalo while they also split two games they played against Rhode Island, winning one in which Rhode Island was ranked in the top 25.

UCLA needs Holiday to shine in the tournament much like the Oklahoma Sooners are going to be dependent on Trae Young when it’s their turn to take the court. In order for a deep post-season run to be possible, the Bruins are best off with Holiday taking total control.

He’s a guard that is likely undervalued and underrated heading into the NBA Draft, but this will be his chance to improve his draft stock if he does in fact decide to declare for the next level whenever the current season he’s in comes to a close.

Next: Julius Randle Is X-Factor In Landing LBJ

St. Bonaventure may end up giving the UCLA Bruins a heck of a fight, but I don’t see anyway that UCLA will let a chance at revenge against Florida and an opportunity to beat them in the tournament for the first time just go away.