Postgame Quotes -- UCLA vs. Arizona State
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 66, Arizona State 52
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
February 21, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on the game being a tale of two halves
“Yeah, our defense was awesome in the first half. You can’t play much better defense than we played. They [Arizona State] has too much firepower to hold them in the 40s. Let’s be realistic. So, they got on a run. We let them get a little bit comfortable. They hit a few threes. I think their steals got them going; they had six. They got out in transition. We had dead hands on the shooter a couple times against [DJ] Horne and we let [Marreon] Jackson hit one. Then, my concern was guys started looking around like, ‘Who’s going to score?’. We need to play. So finally, I think [David Singleton] made a big shot – two in that run where we got some extension. He’s been down that road before. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to make a move and have him in the game at that point because I knew we need somebody to make one. Johnny was 0-5 from three tonight. So, it’s hard to throw it in the post because they were swarming our post guy. Even though we could get it in, we couldn’t get it up to the rim. They were stripping him; Cody was really having trouble with it. Jaime was having trouble with it. But they’ve been playing really well of late. They’re a totally different team than they were in December. It’s like watching a different team play.”
on Jaylen Clark
“I tried to tell you guys in October. I’m telling you, in October, it was like this. Every day in practice. Every day. Everybody that came through and watched practice that I allowed in, everybody. Then he went down, I think the day before we scrimmaged. I don’t think he played in the scrimmage. Then you have two weeks of COVID when nobody practices. He’s had like three or four two-week [periods] where he just wasn’t even playing basketball. Hopefully, we can keep him on a run. I wish he would stop trying to dunk on people. I see our season flashing before my eyes as he’s up in the air.”
on Clark’s strengths and basketball IQ
“When I evaluated him, I thought the best thing he did on offense was pass. That’s a rarity of today’s player. Some guys have explosiveness but they don’t have toughness and a nose for the ball. The thing that he has that he can’t teach is his nose for the ball. He just has an unbelievable nose for the ball. Whether it’s coming off the rim, it’s on the ground, his anticipation of the passing lane – you can’t teach it.”
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State Head Coach
opening remarks
“Thought we were not ready for the physical nature of the game especially in the first half. They were very active and got most of the 50-50 balls. Our catch was hard on offense; they challenged everything. I think that was the finest defense performance we have faced all year.”
on what went wrong late in the contest
“They [UCLA] took their defense to another level. We had so many turnovers and our half-court offense was not good.”
on where the team goes from here
“We won three in a row and we were right there in this game. We battled back after being down by 13 and to make it a one possession game is a credit to our team. We just have to execute better in the half court.”
senior guard Jules Bernard
on what allowed the team to persevere after ASU cut down the deficit
“Defensive intensity, deflections. We had a lot of deflections in the first half and then we started off slow in the beginning of the second half – I think the first eight minutes, or so. We really started to ramp up the defense and even when we weren’t getting deflections, we were forcing them near halfcourt in their offense so they had to play everything from further back from the hoop, and late in their shot clock with pick and rolls. We just picked up our intensity on defense.”
on if the team picks up on Clark’s intensity
“Yeah. Obviously, after that first play in the first half, when he stole the ball, got the layup, went crazy – you heard the crowd. Not only did the crowd feed off it, but we fed off it, as well. You saw that with how many deflections we got in the first half. That energy, it really picked us up on both ends. We definitely pick up off his energy.”
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on if wild loss to ASU earlier in the season was in the backs of their minds
“Yeah. We know we let one slip away when we were down there in Tempe, so we had to make sure when we were at home, that no one comes in here and gets a W. We just wanted to protect home court and do whatever it took to win.”
on how his ankles are doing and if he’s wearing ankle braces
“Yeah, I’m wearing ankle braces right now on both of my ankles. Kind of just for precaution. Trying to make sure I don’t re-injure them at any point. It’s just a day-by-day process. I get in early, try to do what I can to do rehab and treatment. Big shoutout to Tyler Lesher, our trainer, for helping me through this. It’s just a day-by-day thing. And today, I felt really really good out there. I didn’t play as many minutes against Washington and Washington State. I went out there today and I felt really good, and the best I’ve felt in a really long time. So, I felt really good about today.”
sophomore guard Jaylen Clark
on moments where he pumps up the crowd and himself
“I feel like, for this team, I’m an energizer bunny. So just making plays like that, I feel like – when the arena gets loud, it just lifts the whole team. Everybody gets energy out of nowhere. I try to be as animated as possible sometimes after making crazy plays like that, just to get everybody going and the crowd into it.”
on how those moments feel for him, personally
“It’s cool. I love just taking the ball, going down, laying it up. You don’t see a lot of people getting steals in the backcourt. People don’t really pick up full, so I love it. It’s like now they’re thinking about it, ‘Is he going to come? Is he not going to come?’. I just like playing mind games when I’m on defense.”
UCLA 66, Arizona State 52
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
February 21, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on the game being a tale of two halves
“Yeah, our defense was awesome in the first half. You can’t play much better defense than we played. They [Arizona State] has too much firepower to hold them in the 40s. Let’s be realistic. So, they got on a run. We let them get a little bit comfortable. They hit a few threes. I think their steals got them going; they had six. They got out in transition. We had dead hands on the shooter a couple times against [DJ] Horne and we let [Marreon] Jackson hit one. Then, my concern was guys started looking around like, ‘Who’s going to score?’. We need to play. So finally, I think [David Singleton] made a big shot – two in that run where we got some extension. He’s been down that road before. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to make a move and have him in the game at that point because I knew we need somebody to make one. Johnny was 0-5 from three tonight. So, it’s hard to throw it in the post because they were swarming our post guy. Even though we could get it in, we couldn’t get it up to the rim. They were stripping him; Cody was really having trouble with it. Jaime was having trouble with it. But they’ve been playing really well of late. They’re a totally different team than they were in December. It’s like watching a different team play.”
on Jaylen Clark
“I tried to tell you guys in October. I’m telling you, in October, it was like this. Every day in practice. Every day. Everybody that came through and watched practice that I allowed in, everybody. Then he went down, I think the day before we scrimmaged. I don’t think he played in the scrimmage. Then you have two weeks of COVID when nobody practices. He’s had like three or four two-week [periods] where he just wasn’t even playing basketball. Hopefully, we can keep him on a run. I wish he would stop trying to dunk on people. I see our season flashing before my eyes as he’s up in the air.”
on Clark’s strengths and basketball IQ
“When I evaluated him, I thought the best thing he did on offense was pass. That’s a rarity of today’s player. Some guys have explosiveness but they don’t have toughness and a nose for the ball. The thing that he has that he can’t teach is his nose for the ball. He just has an unbelievable nose for the ball. Whether it’s coming off the rim, it’s on the ground, his anticipation of the passing lane – you can’t teach it.”
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State Head Coach
opening remarks
“Thought we were not ready for the physical nature of the game especially in the first half. They were very active and got most of the 50-50 balls. Our catch was hard on offense; they challenged everything. I think that was the finest defense performance we have faced all year.”
on what went wrong late in the contest
“They [UCLA] took their defense to another level. We had so many turnovers and our half-court offense was not good.”
on where the team goes from here
“We won three in a row and we were right there in this game. We battled back after being down by 13 and to make it a one possession game is a credit to our team. We just have to execute better in the half court.”
senior guard Jules Bernard
on what allowed the team to persevere after ASU cut down the deficit
“Defensive intensity, deflections. We had a lot of deflections in the first half and then we started off slow in the beginning of the second half – I think the first eight minutes, or so. We really started to ramp up the defense and even when we weren’t getting deflections, we were forcing them near halfcourt in their offense so they had to play everything from further back from the hoop, and late in their shot clock with pick and rolls. We just picked up our intensity on defense.”
on if the team picks up on Clark’s intensity
“Yeah. Obviously, after that first play in the first half, when he stole the ball, got the layup, went crazy – you heard the crowd. Not only did the crowd feed off it, but we fed off it, as well. You saw that with how many deflections we got in the first half. That energy, it really picked us up on both ends. We definitely pick up off his energy.”
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on if wild loss to ASU earlier in the season was in the backs of their minds
“Yeah. We know we let one slip away when we were down there in Tempe, so we had to make sure when we were at home, that no one comes in here and gets a W. We just wanted to protect home court and do whatever it took to win.”
on how his ankles are doing and if he’s wearing ankle braces
“Yeah, I’m wearing ankle braces right now on both of my ankles. Kind of just for precaution. Trying to make sure I don’t re-injure them at any point. It’s just a day-by-day process. I get in early, try to do what I can to do rehab and treatment. Big shoutout to Tyler Lesher, our trainer, for helping me through this. It’s just a day-by-day thing. And today, I felt really really good out there. I didn’t play as many minutes against Washington and Washington State. I went out there today and I felt really good, and the best I’ve felt in a really long time. So, I felt really good about today.”
sophomore guard Jaylen Clark
on moments where he pumps up the crowd and himself
“I feel like, for this team, I’m an energizer bunny. So just making plays like that, I feel like – when the arena gets loud, it just lifts the whole team. Everybody gets energy out of nowhere. I try to be as animated as possible sometimes after making crazy plays like that, just to get everybody going and the crowd into it.”
on how those moments feel for him, personally
“It’s cool. I love just taking the ball, going down, laying it up. You don’t see a lot of people getting steals in the backcourt. People don’t really pick up full, so I love it. It’s like now they’re thinking about it, ‘Is he going to come? Is he not going to come?’. I just like playing mind games when I’m on defense.”