POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 71, Northwestern 64
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
January 24, 2026
The Michael Price Family Head Basketball Coach Mick Cronin
opening statement
“Obviously, we got a little fatigued late. Tyler’s been battling sickness, him and Brandon Williams. If you’re watching Tyler, he couldn’t get his breath most of the night. He still has 18. He’s seven for 11. But it affects his defense and rebounding. Defensively, I thought our guys’ effort was great. We gave up too many offensive rebounds early in the game. Obviously, we struggled at the foul line and had some sloppy turnovers. Now I’m going to say two things – one, Chris [Collins] made a great adjustment. He just went small. We don’t have anybody that can throw it in the post. You know, Mike Warren’s not out there throwing it. We really struggled to throw it to the man in the low post. Now, when he was getting pushed and fouled a few times, when we tried to, there was no call. But we really struggle in that area. My guess is Trent [Perry] and Donny [Dent] get tired. The fact that we’re winning games without Skyy Clark in this conference is – I don’t care what Northwestern’s record is, they’re like 46 in the KenPom. That’s what time it is. We can win without Skyy and keep winning until we can get him back, and you’re going to ask me and I don’t know. He’s trying. Hamstring is a tough injury. It’s just a tough injury. Nobody wants to be back more than him. You know, this kid’s been through enough, dealing with his father’s strokes while he was in college, and passing away this summer. He is doing everything he can, but we’re just trying to hold down the fort until we can get him back. But Donny and Trent, I think some fatigue factors in for us late in games.”
on tonight’s defensive effort
“If you don’t give up layups and dunks, you’ve got a chance to stop people, however you accomplish that. I obviously get asked a lot for advice. Everybody’s got different personnel, so we’ve been trying to adjust defensively how we do things. Stuff that, obviously, to the lay person, you might not see into our defense to not give up layups and dunks. We have some weaknesses that we have to hide, everybody has them. They only had 24 points in the paint, they had 44 against USC. And we fouled too much tonight, we fouled way too much. Layups and dunks and free throws.”
on limiting Nick Martinelli’s offensive efficiency
“You’ve just got to try to make him work for everything. Don’t give up anything easy, you know? He’s shooting 52 [percent] from three. Again, I’m going to say this, for these kids that are playing 37, 38 minutes like Nick Martinelli and our guards right now, it’s a tough grind. I don’t care, even Superman at Purdue, it’s tough [Braden Smith]. It’s tough every night. There’s going to be times, like I thought he missed a few threes that I was surprised he missed. He’s a great player, man. Great player. Great kid. But we tried to make him work for it. But if you lose him at all, man, he’s the master of that flip shot. He’s just the master of it. We really wanted to keep him off the foul line. He’s averaging like seven free throws a game. We held him to four.”
on Trent Perry’s increased communication
“Well, if you want smart guys, you try to recruit them. I’m not aware if you know, Trent didn’t go to Harvard-Westlake as a basketball recruit. He went as a student and then became a basketball player – smart guys talk out there. You know, the guys that don’t talk that much because coach says you’ve got to talk, you’ve got to talk, they’re not being belligerent in just not doing it on purpose. They don’t know what to say. They don’t think as quick as other guys. Guys that think quick, they can talk and see things because they’re smart. You just recruit smart players. But early, I thought he passed up a layup, and I see you’re driving, and you’ve got these freshmen on you, you’re just schooling on them. You know, they can’t stop you. He got his confidence going. It was him and Donny in the first half, offensively.”
on Trent Perry’s effort plays
“Well, again, the guy won a state championship and went to a high school where they have a high standard. If you can recruit guys that come from places where it’s not about them, and it’s about winning, it helps. So, he doesn’t know any other way of playing the game. Even if he wanted to, it wasn’t going to happen in his high school career. And what the problem though in society though, is that people run from that, instead of running to it. That’s the problem with sports today. But I was able to trick him into coming here, and hopefully I can trick him into staying. It’s just, the bolo left hand bolo pass to the cheerleaders literally could have put me in the hospital.”
on Donovan Dent’s performance after his 23-point game on Tuesday against Purdue
“Yeah, Donny’s just got, you know, he and I are working on his free throws. His problem is, we’re still working on this with him, he lets play A effect play B, or shot A effect shot B. You can’t be like that in life, or as a student-athlete, or a basketball player. He’s getting better at it, though. He’s getting better at it. You know, you’re in a ring in a fight – you’re going to get hit. You’ve got to learn how to punch back. You can’t be ‘Oh, how’d I get hit?’ You do that, the guy is going to be all over him. So, that’s probably the last horizon with him. I mean that. Not worrying about offense. First of all, you get fouled and they don’t call it. And I know it’s hard to believe, but I was an All-City player in Cincinnati, it happened all the time. So, it’s been happening forever. It happens. You’ve got to just keep playing. That is a big thing with him. He’s just got to get better in that area. But I keep telling you, like I said, I thought that Eric Dailey’s physicality going to get defensive rebounds was a big key for us today. Big key for us today.”
UCLA sophomore Trent Perry
on the growth of his game
“Just playing basketball, being confident. The coaching staff is telling me to be aggressive. With Skyy out, he is a great scorer and all that, so just try to step into that role a little bit. I have to take care of the ball a little bit better. I had three turnovers in the second half. I have to do better on that.”
on getting his shots
“Just putting in a lot of work this offseason. Just getting to my spots. With ball handling, you have to secure the ball, and get there first, and then execute. Trusting my work. I’m happy that I’m able to show it.”
on what Skyy Clark has told him while he’s been out (injury)
“Same advice that I’ve always gotten, just keep being aggressive. Also being a defensive anchor at the same time. I think our team has done a great job talking. I think that has been helping with our defense. Rotating, talking, we make mistakes, but communication helps a long way.”
on finishing in the post
“For me, when I almost killed coach with that bowling pass that he talked about. I have to try to throw it to where Tyler’s hand is. He had a smaller defender, I don’t know why I tried to bounce pass it in that moment. We just have to get it to our bigs a bit more. They are open in the post, and Tyler being our leading scorer, we just have to get it to him a little bit more, and he’s able to do his thing down there.”
UCLA senior Tyler Bilodeau
on his game
“You’re always going to battle through injuries, illness, those types of things this season. I thought we had a good start. At the end, it got a little sloppy. I think we could have executed better for sure. Got the win, so that’s all that matters.”
on building momentum
“I think so, for sure. We have more work to do. But to get these two wins, I think that’s big. We just have to keep building on that. I think we need to keep working on those things, rebounding, and some little defensive mishaps, and also keep clicking on offense. Just keep working on those things. But yeah, looking forward to these next games.”
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins
opening statement
“Congrats to UCLA. It was a hard-fought game today. I was proud of my team’s effort. We didn’t defend very well in the first half. We lost Bilodeau a bunch of times on pick-and-pops. We weren’t able to keep [Donovan] Dent and [Trent] Perry out of the paint. I thought their dribble penetration in the first half was really hurting us. We made a few adjustments with our coverage in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to get back in the game. Told our guys, we’ve been out here for seven days, get down by 16 [points]. You know a lot of teams would’ve said, ‘Man, it’s okay. Let’s go home.’ So that’s what I was really proud of our guys, fighting back to get it to six there. There were just two real critical possessions – huge shot in the corner coming out of the timeout, to put them up nine, and then we got kind of trapped on the sideline. We were trying to get a timeout, and the referee didn’t see it. That was a big turnover. And then we fouled, so it went six to 11, right there. That was kind of the separation they needed to kind of get the game pressure off. We got better this week. We were able to come out here and split two games. We had come out here, kind of a battered team, a little bit demoralized being 0-7. I think we regained some spirit on the trip. That was good for us and hopefully will help us, moving forward.”
on what UCLA has done to improve defensively throughout the year
“Yeah, they have some older guys. They have incredible length, and their size is impressive in person. Especially with the front line of Dailey Jr., Booker, and Bilodeau. I think Dent is playing better. He had his struggles early in the season. The last couple of games have kind of become who he has been in his college career. I’m a big fan of Perry. I think he does a lot of good things quietly. A lot of those other guys get a lot of attention, and rightfully so, but I thought he was a huge part of why they won today. His physicality, he made two big free throws late, made some big shots at the end of the clock. Give’s them a good secondary ball handler to help Donovan.”
UCLA 71, Northwestern 64
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
January 24, 2026
The Michael Price Family Head Basketball Coach Mick Cronin
opening statement
“Obviously, we got a little fatigued late. Tyler’s been battling sickness, him and Brandon Williams. If you’re watching Tyler, he couldn’t get his breath most of the night. He still has 18. He’s seven for 11. But it affects his defense and rebounding. Defensively, I thought our guys’ effort was great. We gave up too many offensive rebounds early in the game. Obviously, we struggled at the foul line and had some sloppy turnovers. Now I’m going to say two things – one, Chris [Collins] made a great adjustment. He just went small. We don’t have anybody that can throw it in the post. You know, Mike Warren’s not out there throwing it. We really struggled to throw it to the man in the low post. Now, when he was getting pushed and fouled a few times, when we tried to, there was no call. But we really struggle in that area. My guess is Trent [Perry] and Donny [Dent] get tired. The fact that we’re winning games without Skyy Clark in this conference is – I don’t care what Northwestern’s record is, they’re like 46 in the KenPom. That’s what time it is. We can win without Skyy and keep winning until we can get him back, and you’re going to ask me and I don’t know. He’s trying. Hamstring is a tough injury. It’s just a tough injury. Nobody wants to be back more than him. You know, this kid’s been through enough, dealing with his father’s strokes while he was in college, and passing away this summer. He is doing everything he can, but we’re just trying to hold down the fort until we can get him back. But Donny and Trent, I think some fatigue factors in for us late in games.”
on tonight’s defensive effort
“If you don’t give up layups and dunks, you’ve got a chance to stop people, however you accomplish that. I obviously get asked a lot for advice. Everybody’s got different personnel, so we’ve been trying to adjust defensively how we do things. Stuff that, obviously, to the lay person, you might not see into our defense to not give up layups and dunks. We have some weaknesses that we have to hide, everybody has them. They only had 24 points in the paint, they had 44 against USC. And we fouled too much tonight, we fouled way too much. Layups and dunks and free throws.”
on limiting Nick Martinelli’s offensive efficiency
“You’ve just got to try to make him work for everything. Don’t give up anything easy, you know? He’s shooting 52 [percent] from three. Again, I’m going to say this, for these kids that are playing 37, 38 minutes like Nick Martinelli and our guards right now, it’s a tough grind. I don’t care, even Superman at Purdue, it’s tough [Braden Smith]. It’s tough every night. There’s going to be times, like I thought he missed a few threes that I was surprised he missed. He’s a great player, man. Great player. Great kid. But we tried to make him work for it. But if you lose him at all, man, he’s the master of that flip shot. He’s just the master of it. We really wanted to keep him off the foul line. He’s averaging like seven free throws a game. We held him to four.”
on Trent Perry’s increased communication
“Well, if you want smart guys, you try to recruit them. I’m not aware if you know, Trent didn’t go to Harvard-Westlake as a basketball recruit. He went as a student and then became a basketball player – smart guys talk out there. You know, the guys that don’t talk that much because coach says you’ve got to talk, you’ve got to talk, they’re not being belligerent in just not doing it on purpose. They don’t know what to say. They don’t think as quick as other guys. Guys that think quick, they can talk and see things because they’re smart. You just recruit smart players. But early, I thought he passed up a layup, and I see you’re driving, and you’ve got these freshmen on you, you’re just schooling on them. You know, they can’t stop you. He got his confidence going. It was him and Donny in the first half, offensively.”
on Trent Perry’s effort plays
“Well, again, the guy won a state championship and went to a high school where they have a high standard. If you can recruit guys that come from places where it’s not about them, and it’s about winning, it helps. So, he doesn’t know any other way of playing the game. Even if he wanted to, it wasn’t going to happen in his high school career. And what the problem though in society though, is that people run from that, instead of running to it. That’s the problem with sports today. But I was able to trick him into coming here, and hopefully I can trick him into staying. It’s just, the bolo left hand bolo pass to the cheerleaders literally could have put me in the hospital.”
on Donovan Dent’s performance after his 23-point game on Tuesday against Purdue
“Yeah, Donny’s just got, you know, he and I are working on his free throws. His problem is, we’re still working on this with him, he lets play A effect play B, or shot A effect shot B. You can’t be like that in life, or as a student-athlete, or a basketball player. He’s getting better at it, though. He’s getting better at it. You know, you’re in a ring in a fight – you’re going to get hit. You’ve got to learn how to punch back. You can’t be ‘Oh, how’d I get hit?’ You do that, the guy is going to be all over him. So, that’s probably the last horizon with him. I mean that. Not worrying about offense. First of all, you get fouled and they don’t call it. And I know it’s hard to believe, but I was an All-City player in Cincinnati, it happened all the time. So, it’s been happening forever. It happens. You’ve got to just keep playing. That is a big thing with him. He’s just got to get better in that area. But I keep telling you, like I said, I thought that Eric Dailey’s physicality going to get defensive rebounds was a big key for us today. Big key for us today.”
UCLA sophomore Trent Perry
on the growth of his game
“Just playing basketball, being confident. The coaching staff is telling me to be aggressive. With Skyy out, he is a great scorer and all that, so just try to step into that role a little bit. I have to take care of the ball a little bit better. I had three turnovers in the second half. I have to do better on that.”
on getting his shots
“Just putting in a lot of work this offseason. Just getting to my spots. With ball handling, you have to secure the ball, and get there first, and then execute. Trusting my work. I’m happy that I’m able to show it.”
on what Skyy Clark has told him while he’s been out (injury)
“Same advice that I’ve always gotten, just keep being aggressive. Also being a defensive anchor at the same time. I think our team has done a great job talking. I think that has been helping with our defense. Rotating, talking, we make mistakes, but communication helps a long way.”
on finishing in the post
“For me, when I almost killed coach with that bowling pass that he talked about. I have to try to throw it to where Tyler’s hand is. He had a smaller defender, I don’t know why I tried to bounce pass it in that moment. We just have to get it to our bigs a bit more. They are open in the post, and Tyler being our leading scorer, we just have to get it to him a little bit more, and he’s able to do his thing down there.”
UCLA senior Tyler Bilodeau
on his game
“You’re always going to battle through injuries, illness, those types of things this season. I thought we had a good start. At the end, it got a little sloppy. I think we could have executed better for sure. Got the win, so that’s all that matters.”
on building momentum
“I think so, for sure. We have more work to do. But to get these two wins, I think that’s big. We just have to keep building on that. I think we need to keep working on those things, rebounding, and some little defensive mishaps, and also keep clicking on offense. Just keep working on those things. But yeah, looking forward to these next games.”
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins
opening statement
“Congrats to UCLA. It was a hard-fought game today. I was proud of my team’s effort. We didn’t defend very well in the first half. We lost Bilodeau a bunch of times on pick-and-pops. We weren’t able to keep [Donovan] Dent and [Trent] Perry out of the paint. I thought their dribble penetration in the first half was really hurting us. We made a few adjustments with our coverage in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to get back in the game. Told our guys, we’ve been out here for seven days, get down by 16 [points]. You know a lot of teams would’ve said, ‘Man, it’s okay. Let’s go home.’ So that’s what I was really proud of our guys, fighting back to get it to six there. There were just two real critical possessions – huge shot in the corner coming out of the timeout, to put them up nine, and then we got kind of trapped on the sideline. We were trying to get a timeout, and the referee didn’t see it. That was a big turnover. And then we fouled, so it went six to 11, right there. That was kind of the separation they needed to kind of get the game pressure off. We got better this week. We were able to come out here and split two games. We had come out here, kind of a battered team, a little bit demoralized being 0-7. I think we regained some spirit on the trip. That was good for us and hopefully will help us, moving forward.”
on what UCLA has done to improve defensively throughout the year
“Yeah, they have some older guys. They have incredible length, and their size is impressive in person. Especially with the front line of Dailey Jr., Booker, and Bilodeau. I think Dent is playing better. He had his struggles early in the season. The last couple of games have kind of become who he has been in his college career. I’m a big fan of Perry. I think he does a lot of good things quietly. A lot of those other guys get a lot of attention, and rightfully so, but I thought he was a huge part of why they won today. His physicality, he made two big free throws late, made some big shots at the end of the clock. Give’s them a good secondary ball handler to help Donovan.”