University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes -- UCLA vs. Arizona State
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 66, Arizona State 52
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
February 21, 2022
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
on the game being a tale of two halves
โYeah, our defense was awesome in the first half. You canโt play much better defense than we played. They [Arizona State] has too much firepower to hold them in the 40s. Letโs 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, โWhoโs going to score?โ. We need to play. So finally, I think [David Singleton] made a big shot โ two in that run where we got some extension. Heโs 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, itโs hard to throw it in the post because they were swarming our post guy. Even though we could get it in, we couldnโt get it up to the rim. They were stripping him; Cody was really having trouble with it. Jaime was having trouble with it. But theyโve been playing really well of late. Theyโre a totally different team than they were in December. Itโs like watching a different team play.โ
ย
on Jaylen Clark
โI tried to tell you guys in October. Iโm 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 donโt think he played in the scrimmage. Then you have two weeks of COVID when nobody practices. Heโs had like three or four two-week [periods] where he just wasnโt 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 heโs up in the air.โ
ย
on Clarkโs strengths and basketball IQ
โWhen I evaluated him, I thought the best thing he did on offense was pass. Thatโs a rarity of todayโs player. Some guys have explosiveness but they donโt have toughness and a nose for the ball. The thing that he has that he canโt teach is his nose for the ball. He just has an unbelievable nose for the ball. Whether itโs coming off the rim, itโs on the ground, his anticipation of the passing lane โ you canโt teach it.โ
ย
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State Head Coach
opening remarks
โThought 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.โ
on what went wrong late in the contest
โThey [UCLA] took their defense to another level. We had so many turnovers and our half-court offense was not good.โ
ย
on where the team goes from here
โWe 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.โ
ย
senior guard Jules Bernard
on what allowed the team to persevere after ASU cut down the deficit
โDefensive 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 โ I think the first eight minutes, or so. We really started to ramp up the defense and even when we werenโt 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.โ
ย
on if the team picks up on Clarkโs intensity
โYeah. Obviously, after that first play in the first half, when he stole the ball, got the layup, went crazy โ 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.โ
ย
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on if wild loss to ASU earlier in the season was in the backs of their minds
โYeah. 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.โ
ย
on how his ankles are doing and if heโs wearing ankle braces
โYeah, Iโm wearing ankle braces right now on both of my ankles. Kind of just for precaution. Trying to make sure I donโt re-injure them at any point. Itโs 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. Itโs just a day-by-day thing. And today, I felt really really good out there. I didnโt play as many minutes against Washington and Washington State. I went out there today and I felt really good, and the best Iโve felt in a really long time. So, I felt really good about today.โ
ย
sophomore guard Jaylen Clark
on moments where he pumps up the crowd and himself
โI feel like, for this team, Iโm an energizer bunny. So just making plays like that, I feel like โ 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.โ
ย
on how those moments feel for him, personally
โItโs cool. I love just taking the ball, going down, laying it up. You donโt see a lot of people getting steals in the backcourt. People donโt really pick up full, so I love it. Itโs like now theyโre thinking about it, โIs he going to come? Is he not going to come?โ. I just like playing mind games when Iโm on defense.โ
UCLA 66, Arizona State 52
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
February 21, 2022
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
on the game being a tale of two halves
โYeah, our defense was awesome in the first half. You canโt play much better defense than we played. They [Arizona State] has too much firepower to hold them in the 40s. Letโs 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, โWhoโs going to score?โ. We need to play. So finally, I think [David Singleton] made a big shot โ two in that run where we got some extension. Heโs 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, itโs hard to throw it in the post because they were swarming our post guy. Even though we could get it in, we couldnโt get it up to the rim. They were stripping him; Cody was really having trouble with it. Jaime was having trouble with it. But theyโve been playing really well of late. Theyโre a totally different team than they were in December. Itโs like watching a different team play.โ
ย
on Jaylen Clark
โI tried to tell you guys in October. Iโm 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 donโt think he played in the scrimmage. Then you have two weeks of COVID when nobody practices. Heโs had like three or four two-week [periods] where he just wasnโt 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 heโs up in the air.โ
ย
on Clarkโs strengths and basketball IQ
โWhen I evaluated him, I thought the best thing he did on offense was pass. Thatโs a rarity of todayโs player. Some guys have explosiveness but they donโt have toughness and a nose for the ball. The thing that he has that he canโt teach is his nose for the ball. He just has an unbelievable nose for the ball. Whether itโs coming off the rim, itโs on the ground, his anticipation of the passing lane โ you canโt teach it.โ
ย
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State Head Coach
opening remarks
โThought 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.โ
on what went wrong late in the contest
โThey [UCLA] took their defense to another level. We had so many turnovers and our half-court offense was not good.โ
ย
on where the team goes from here
โWe 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.โ
ย
senior guard Jules Bernard
on what allowed the team to persevere after ASU cut down the deficit
โDefensive 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 โ I think the first eight minutes, or so. We really started to ramp up the defense and even when we werenโt 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.โ
ย
on if the team picks up on Clarkโs intensity
โYeah. Obviously, after that first play in the first half, when he stole the ball, got the layup, went crazy โ 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.โ
ย
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on if wild loss to ASU earlier in the season was in the backs of their minds
โYeah. 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.โ
ย
on how his ankles are doing and if heโs wearing ankle braces
โYeah, Iโm wearing ankle braces right now on both of my ankles. Kind of just for precaution. Trying to make sure I donโt re-injure them at any point. Itโs 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. Itโs just a day-by-day thing. And today, I felt really really good out there. I didnโt play as many minutes against Washington and Washington State. I went out there today and I felt really good, and the best Iโve felt in a really long time. So, I felt really good about today.โ
ย
sophomore guard Jaylen Clark
on moments where he pumps up the crowd and himself
โI feel like, for this team, Iโm an energizer bunny. So just making plays like that, I feel like โ 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.โ
ย
on how those moments feel for him, personally
โItโs cool. I love just taking the ball, going down, laying it up. You donโt see a lot of people getting steals in the backcourt. People donโt really pick up full, so I love it. Itโs like now theyโre thinking about it, โIs he going to come? Is he not going to come?โ. I just like playing mind games when Iโm on defense.โ