POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 73, Oregon 57
Eugene, Ore. (Matthew Knight Arena)
January 28, 2026
The Michael Price Family Head Basketball Coach Mick Cronin
opening remarks
“Defensively, our game plan, our guys did a pretty good job. We overcame a below average offensive performance, for us. We’re a team that shoots almost 50 percent from the field. We haven’t shot 39 percent, I don’t remember the last time we shot under 40 percent, to be honest with you. But give them some credit on that. It’s the dog days here guys, and it’s here, playing every three days. Everybody’s going through it in the Big Ten. You’re not going to be at your best every night. Everybody’s fighting through injuries. Obviously, Oregon is. Without Skyy Clark, I’m playing Trent Perry and Donovan Dent mostly the whole game. The problem is, that’s not one game, that’s our last seven games. We’re 5-2 without Skyy, and those guys have logged a lot of minutes. Concerned about the quick turnaround for Saturday. We got the job done. I liked how we attacked the rim and got to the foul line.”
on any concerns with becoming complacent due to Oregon’s injuries
“No, we don’t really operate that way. Players are in tune to the coach, so any situation like that, I’m more intense with preparation. If you’re playing the number one team in the country, your players are going to be intense. So I make sure, in situations like this, that I bring the intensity and the focus, so the guys see how in tune I am to a game like this. We also just paused the film because they were beating Michigan and Michigan State, right behind me, in this building, in the second half. Those are two teams ranked in the top ten, and they were beating both of them. They were winning at half against Michigan. The second half, they had leads. We got up double figures early, so I give guys credit, they did a good job.”
on Donovan Dent’s scoring run in the second half
“I was just trying to get him to shoot the ball. You can’t be a reluctant shooter in this game. You can’t. You gotta believe in yourself. We’re gonna go rebound it. When you get to 15 feet, 12 feet, jump up and shoot it. I had to fight with Trent [Perry] on that. I can’t have to fight the both of them. You can’t worry about a miss. He had a layup roll out, to start the game. You got to want to make the next one. He stopped shooting and I had to prod him again. Everybody is not gonna let Tyler Bilodeau stand there and tee it up. They’re not. He’s got to do his thing. Worry about defense, shoot when you’re open. Especially when you’re attacking the rim. Passing in a phone booth never works. They’re rotating, and we’re going to rebound it.”
on Xavier Booker’s involvement
“He’s trying. Of course, I’m not giving him much choice. He’s got a little bald guy from Cincinnati chasing around a 6-11 guy from Indianapolis. I’m on him, man. I’m on him about – go down swinging in life. Don’t go down standing and watching. Shoot the ball, go try to rebound the ball, foul the hell out of somebody. Don’t stand around – you’re not a traffic cone. He impacted the game. He was doing whatever he could to stop them inside.”
on Saturday’s matchup against Indiana
“Obviously, we were traveling yesterday, I watched a little on my phone. I know they can shoot. I know they got three of the best shooters in our conference, and obviously an excellent coach. They’re riding a high right now. They’ve got some older tough kids. We’re going to need our crowd there Saturday.”
UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent
on his success in the second half
“They were giving me shots all night. I just made them in that stretch, I feel like. I hit the three and the layup, and kind of just sent our lead back up for us to be comfortable. Everyone is going on runs, it’s part of the game. We just have to manage it.”
on his biggest takeaway from tonight’s game
“That we came out with a win. It’s the best thing that you could ask for. It’s kind of one of those games where we could easily slip, mentally, and they could just get away with us, but we came in with the right mindset. Coach had a good mindset. I’m glad that we came out with that win.”
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
“I mean this is all fun. This is a kid’s game we’re playing, having fun with it. You got to take it with a grain of salt. Yeah, it’s a lot of travel, and yeah, it’s a lot of playing. But it’s something that we enjoy. So, we just got to keep doing our job and keep getting it done.”
UCLA junior Eric Dailey Jr.
on his biggest takeaway from tonight’s game
“I think the biggest takeaway is just being disciplined. Late game. In crucial situations, being disciplined, knowing our rotations. We have a good lead, and to sustain that lead, we have to be disciplined to keep running it up. I think that’s really the biggest thing. We did rebound good and we played hard. Definitely, offensively, we were good. Definitely got to make more shots, offensively. That was probably one of our worst nights offensively with the ball going in, of course.”
on how much he focused on rebounding
“That’s all that coach has been stressing with me. Rebounding, using my athleticism to go crash [the boards]. Even if I don’t get the rebound, just being down there and one of my teammates will get the rebound eventually. Just having that mindset, going to crash, and being a dog on the board. That’s really it.”
on having multiple offensive weapons from 3-point range
“As long as we rebound, we can get shots off any time we want. Us being able to shoot the 3-ball spreads the defense out. It creates driving lanes as well. When we see a shot go up, just go rebound and throw it back out, and we’ll throw one in for sure.”
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
“Just got to have a next game mentality. Got to get your body right, get your mind right for the next game. Get as much rest as you can. It’s hard in college, of course. It’s not like we just have the whole day off. Just having that same mindset and keeping the same routine that we have.”
UCLA 73, Oregon 57
Eugene, Ore. (Matthew Knight Arena)
January 28, 2026
The Michael Price Family Head Basketball Coach Mick Cronin
opening remarks
“Defensively, our game plan, our guys did a pretty good job. We overcame a below average offensive performance, for us. We’re a team that shoots almost 50 percent from the field. We haven’t shot 39 percent, I don’t remember the last time we shot under 40 percent, to be honest with you. But give them some credit on that. It’s the dog days here guys, and it’s here, playing every three days. Everybody’s going through it in the Big Ten. You’re not going to be at your best every night. Everybody’s fighting through injuries. Obviously, Oregon is. Without Skyy Clark, I’m playing Trent Perry and Donovan Dent mostly the whole game. The problem is, that’s not one game, that’s our last seven games. We’re 5-2 without Skyy, and those guys have logged a lot of minutes. Concerned about the quick turnaround for Saturday. We got the job done. I liked how we attacked the rim and got to the foul line.”
on any concerns with becoming complacent due to Oregon’s injuries
“No, we don’t really operate that way. Players are in tune to the coach, so any situation like that, I’m more intense with preparation. If you’re playing the number one team in the country, your players are going to be intense. So I make sure, in situations like this, that I bring the intensity and the focus, so the guys see how in tune I am to a game like this. We also just paused the film because they were beating Michigan and Michigan State, right behind me, in this building, in the second half. Those are two teams ranked in the top ten, and they were beating both of them. They were winning at half against Michigan. The second half, they had leads. We got up double figures early, so I give guys credit, they did a good job.”
on Donovan Dent’s scoring run in the second half
“I was just trying to get him to shoot the ball. You can’t be a reluctant shooter in this game. You can’t. You gotta believe in yourself. We’re gonna go rebound it. When you get to 15 feet, 12 feet, jump up and shoot it. I had to fight with Trent [Perry] on that. I can’t have to fight the both of them. You can’t worry about a miss. He had a layup roll out, to start the game. You got to want to make the next one. He stopped shooting and I had to prod him again. Everybody is not gonna let Tyler Bilodeau stand there and tee it up. They’re not. He’s got to do his thing. Worry about defense, shoot when you’re open. Especially when you’re attacking the rim. Passing in a phone booth never works. They’re rotating, and we’re going to rebound it.”
on Xavier Booker’s involvement
“He’s trying. Of course, I’m not giving him much choice. He’s got a little bald guy from Cincinnati chasing around a 6-11 guy from Indianapolis. I’m on him, man. I’m on him about – go down swinging in life. Don’t go down standing and watching. Shoot the ball, go try to rebound the ball, foul the hell out of somebody. Don’t stand around – you’re not a traffic cone. He impacted the game. He was doing whatever he could to stop them inside.”
on Saturday’s matchup against Indiana
“Obviously, we were traveling yesterday, I watched a little on my phone. I know they can shoot. I know they got three of the best shooters in our conference, and obviously an excellent coach. They’re riding a high right now. They’ve got some older tough kids. We’re going to need our crowd there Saturday.”
UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent
on his success in the second half
“They were giving me shots all night. I just made them in that stretch, I feel like. I hit the three and the layup, and kind of just sent our lead back up for us to be comfortable. Everyone is going on runs, it’s part of the game. We just have to manage it.”
on his biggest takeaway from tonight’s game
“That we came out with a win. It’s the best thing that you could ask for. It’s kind of one of those games where we could easily slip, mentally, and they could just get away with us, but we came in with the right mindset. Coach had a good mindset. I’m glad that we came out with that win.”
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
“I mean this is all fun. This is a kid’s game we’re playing, having fun with it. You got to take it with a grain of salt. Yeah, it’s a lot of travel, and yeah, it’s a lot of playing. But it’s something that we enjoy. So, we just got to keep doing our job and keep getting it done.”
UCLA junior Eric Dailey Jr.
on his biggest takeaway from tonight’s game
“I think the biggest takeaway is just being disciplined. Late game. In crucial situations, being disciplined, knowing our rotations. We have a good lead, and to sustain that lead, we have to be disciplined to keep running it up. I think that’s really the biggest thing. We did rebound good and we played hard. Definitely, offensively, we were good. Definitely got to make more shots, offensively. That was probably one of our worst nights offensively with the ball going in, of course.”
on how much he focused on rebounding
“That’s all that coach has been stressing with me. Rebounding, using my athleticism to go crash [the boards]. Even if I don’t get the rebound, just being down there and one of my teammates will get the rebound eventually. Just having that mindset, going to crash, and being a dog on the board. That’s really it.”
on having multiple offensive weapons from 3-point range
“As long as we rebound, we can get shots off any time we want. Us being able to shoot the 3-ball spreads the defense out. It creates driving lanes as well. When we see a shot go up, just go rebound and throw it back out, and we’ll throw one in for sure.”
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
“Just got to have a next game mentality. Got to get your body right, get your mind right for the next game. Get as much rest as you can. It’s hard in college, of course. It’s not like we just have the whole day off. Just having that same mindset and keeping the same routine that we have.”