POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 82, University of San Diego 50 (exhibition game)
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial

UCLA’s Mick Cronin
The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach

opening statement
“I told the guys that we were going to have to win this game with defense. It was going to be a tough night offensively. because JR [Blount] comes from Iowa State where they top five every year in defense. I'll be retired watching him coach. That's my prediction for tonight. They made it really, really hard on us. They blocked us out early, they forced us into tough shots. Anything that has to do with coaching – defense, rebounding, blocking out, effort, hustle, they’re A-plus. Right now, their offensive firepower, when Worthy, I think, got hurt for them. I was talking, I know Pat Baldwin on their staff. Because he didn't come back in. They need him to be a factor for them this year. But we did what I asked us to do. I said, we’ve got to win the game with defense. I mean, 43 deflections, we held them at 24 percent. They beat Colorado State, and that’s a quality club with four returners, by 15. But there'll be no questions after next Monday. We’ll find out what time it really is next Monday. So, we had to make some adjustments. I thought Trent [Perry] was awesome, which is no surprise. He's just a great, great player. Seven assists, one turnover against all that pressure. Filip [Jovic] got us going offensively, though, getting fouled and converting. And JoJo [Philon III] and Azavier [Robinson] gave us great, great lifts off the bench. Really, really big lifts off the bench. I knew our offense was going to struggle because their defense is so elite. You have to get fouled against a team like that. You have to get fouled. They're not going let you just score. We did a good job, we got to the line 38 times.”

on the responsive effort in the second half
“They played hard as hell in the first half. I'm shocked we got to 80 tonight. I didn't know, I didn't think we could get to 80 against this team. I really didn't, so I'm happy we got to the foul line. Defensively we played a little bit smarter in the second half as far as our scouting report, which we didn't really spend much time on, because our minds are on next Monday. But guys adjusted to who they were guarding. Played a little bit smarter.”

on his halftime message to the team
“I told you so. That's what I said. Coach [Rod] Palmer was the most spirited guy. I knew today, okay, when I was hanging out with my dog after a shootaround, I was telling him, it's going to be ugly tonight. I knew, we hadn't seen that type of physicality yet. Experience told me we were going to struggle offensively. It was going to be an ugly game against this team, especially early. So, I wasn't shocked, you know? My thing was, I told you so. Coach Palmer wasn't really happy that some guys were getting pushed around. And he let it be heard, and that's why he was a great coach. So, once he did it, I didn't need to do it. It was nice because it saves me a little stress and hypertension all the things that I'm not supposed to do.”

on the team’s defensive effort
“JoJo [Philon] and Zay [Robinson]? Those guys are elite defenders. They're all over the place. You know, Nikola [Kusturica] got his third [foul] as fast as I'm going to go get something to eat. I got Zay in there, and I thought he changed. You can change. It's amazing, you know, young kids don't get this. The guy was 0-for-6 six, and then he might have been the most important guy. 10 deflections, four steals, the crowd’s cheering him. Four rebounds for a guy who’s six foot two. He's just a winning player. And he’s only a sophomore, and he only really played 15 games maybe last year. He broke his wrist. I'm not sure, it might have been less. So, he was out seven months almost, with screws on his wrist, so, he's still a developing young guy. We got some really good young players, JoJo, Zay, and Jaylen Petty, those guys are young. Hell, with the new rules, Eric Dailey may never leave, unless they put in an age limit.”

on if this team reminds him of any that he’s coached at Cincinnati
“A little bit. I’d say, we're a little more offensively gifted. But a few of our players do. But that was by design. Who to target and free agency, and who to try to target to sign out of high school. We wanted to get longer, more athletic, and tougher.”

on his overall messages to Jaylen Petty
“He’s still adjusting. He's a feature guy here, where he kind of was playing with Toppin, and Anderson. I don't coach guys to bring him along. I'm coaching him like he's a senior. Every day. My expectation level for him is extremely high. Trent [Perry] went through that. It's an adjustment when you go from being a backup type option, but even if you start, to somebody with a spotlight. He's going have a lot of big games. I tell him all the time how happy I am that he's here. Just don't try to get a rebound and go up over their center.”

on the upcoming season opener against Arizona
“Tommy [Lloyd] and I have been preparing for each other for six months. The same thing. The same thing. [Motiejus] Krievas is coming to town. There's no way to stop it. He's going to get on the plane, and he's going to be there. And that's a problem. But the same stuff, they play unbelievably hard. They’ve got a great freshman; they’ve got a great big guy. They got a new point guard, which I'm sure, for a coach, that's a big thing for Coach Lloyd. They’ve got foreign guys that can do things. You know, same stuff. It's always a war when we play them. I expect nothing less. I just keep trying to remind my guys, Krievas will be there. He ain't been here in our three exhibitions. He'll be there Monday. So, we try to get ready for that.”

UCLA junior Trent Perry
on the physical nature of the game
“I mean they're a pretty physical team. Coach has been saying that for the past two days; you see what happened right here. They're a very good team, very physical, and, you know, the coach is going to be a very good coach. That's what Cronin has been saying, and, I'm just glad we got it done.”

on playing with Azavier Robinson
“I mean, he's relentless. Like, if you really closely watch, I call him Stink, that's his nickname. If you really watch him closely, I mean, he had four steals and two blocks. That's very huge for us, regardless. He honestly only talks on defense, he doesn't speak nowhere else. Whenever we talk about defense, that's when he's the most vocal, and I, really push stink to talk more, but again, he's very relentless on the defensive end. The shots are going to come for him at the end of the day. We're trying to just give him confidence as much as he can, that's our defensive menace right there.

on what the team can take away from exhibition games
“Just because it doesn't count on the records, like, it counts for us. I mean, it counts for, the habits that we're bringing to the table every day. I mean, we've seen it in the first half, we didn't have good habits. We were kind of complacent on defense and, they were out hustling us and the coaches said don't let this team out hustle you, especially on our home court. So when we came out at halftime, we had a long talk. Like we had Cronin talking, me, Jaylen, like everybody was kind of pouring into each other. When we came out in the second half, we just had more of a defensive mentality, and we were crashing the boards better than the first half.”

on playing a team that is this physical as a point guard
“Honestly, just trusting myself and trusting my teammates at the end of the day, like, I played college basketball for three years now. I've seen a lot of different coverages and learned from a lot of great players. So at the end of the day, just trusting my work and trusting my team.”

UCLA sophomore Jaylen Petty 
on the difference in play between the first and second half
I would say our intensity. Just crashing the boards. There's a lot of loose balls that we just didn't get, and the fact that we just got to step that up and just realize that, we're looking forward to future games, we have to continue to be aggressive and get rebounds.”

on how coach treats him like an upperclassman and his role in the offense
“I would just say his intensity, continuing to nitpick on areas I can continue to grow. Just being there for my teammates, when they need me to knock down a shot or just get open. I'm just trying to win the game, that's the main goal. I’m just going to continue to play hard, do what I do.”

University of San Diego head coach JR Blount
opening remarks
“The first half was really positive for us. They had us on the offensive glass. We struggled offensively, but credit their defense. They kept the basketball out of the basket.”

on the players that stood out for San Diego
“I would say Terry McMorris. He really gave us great effort, and he was able to get to the free-throw line. Dusty [Stromer] was able to get it going in the second half, as well. He shot the ball better.”

on UCLA's team and what the Bruins do well
“They are elite defensively. Their physicality really bothered us and they played in the gaps. Their length at the rim really bothered us. They did a great job turning turnovers into points, things that categorize a top 25 team.”