University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes -- UCLA vs. USC
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 69, USC 59
T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, Nev.)
March 11, 2022
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
โDefensively, I thought that was as good as weโve played in a while, especially in the first half. Obviously, Iโve got tremendous respect for Coach Enfield and their program. Theyโve had an unbelievable year. Their projected seed is ridiculously low, but thatโs typical of the west coast bias. I wish them all the best next week. Hopefully, we can all do what we did last year. Like I said, our defensive effort was tremendous. We got multiple contributions on offense. We only had 46 attempts, but we got to the foul line. Itโs the most weโve been to the foul line in a while. Attacking the basket pretty well. I thought the key to the game was our first half defense. We had a chance to get away from them by halftime, but Julesโ and Tygerโs foul trouble stopped that.โ
ย
on improving how the team closed the game on both ends of the floor
โWell, we were able to play the guys we wanted to play. Last night, they were pressing Russell [Stong], as you know. At the end of the day, we said at halftime, โIf they donโt get to 60, theyโre not going to be able to catch us.โ. Like Tyger said, the thing about it is when you get to March, you canโt rely on shooting to win. Thereโs going to be a game or two when youโre probably going to have to score a lot of points to win, but you can control your effort and if you defend, you always have a chance. On a rough night offensively, you still have a chance. Just happy with how we defended, even down the stretch.โ
ย
on Peyton Watsonโs impact over the last two games
โI think his defense always helps us โ his rebounding, his length. I was happy for him to see a shot to go down. Jaime threw him a great pass. He made a nice cut off the ball and got it to go down. The thing about Peyton is heโs kept his head down and just kept working all year. Thatโs what Iโm most proud of. These guys โ they all know the expectations. They didnโt have to deal with what heโs had to deal with. Theyโre with him. Heโs their guy. They love him. Heโs on their team, so they get it. When he plays well, these guys are the happiest because they see every day in practice that the guy has an unbelievable. Heโs just a young kid that didnโt play his senior year of high school because of COVID and he needs to get stronger. His best basketball is probably when heโs 23 and his body looks a lot different. Unlike me, heโs going to get better with age.โ
ย
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on teamโs play tonight
โWe try to play like that all the time, whether itโs last year, this year, or three years ago, you try to replicate the same way and play perfect, not make as many mistakes as the other team, and just keep going, make right decisions, and right plays.โย
ย
on reason for better play and winning eight of nine games
โBeing healthy I think is one for sure. Like I said earlier, I donโt think we had one game during the regular season where we had everyone healthy, and now that we do, itโs great. We have a lot of guys in rotation that can step up and make plays, defensively and offensively. I think that watching film, being very attentive, following the scouting report, and things like that, I think that goes into why weโve been so successful defensively.โย
ย
on being in Pac-12 Tournament championship game
โItโs a great opportunity for our team. It will really give us a test for where we are proceeding into March. Itโs going to be a fun experience, itโs what we have all worked for, weโre going to try to get that trophy and cut the nets down. We are all excited, weโre all ready to go.โย
ย
redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell
on teamโs play tonight
โIโd say we knew when we went on our run last year that we really locked in on the defensive side of the ball. Coach preaches, defense, defense, defense, so we are just trying to lock in this year.โ ย
on beating USC twice in less than a week
โWeโre just worried about tomorrow. Get a win tomorrow, come out, and give it all we have.โ
on slapping the bracket:
โItโs a little different, the bracket is a little smaller, but you know, seeing Russ [Russell Stong] run down and everybody surrounding him just smacking on the board, it's a good feeling. Obviously, itโs a good feeling to win, but to see all of us rally around each other, stay together โ those are my brothers, so it's always good.โ
UCLA 69, USC 59
T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, Nev.)
March 11, 2022
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
โDefensively, I thought that was as good as weโve played in a while, especially in the first half. Obviously, Iโve got tremendous respect for Coach Enfield and their program. Theyโve had an unbelievable year. Their projected seed is ridiculously low, but thatโs typical of the west coast bias. I wish them all the best next week. Hopefully, we can all do what we did last year. Like I said, our defensive effort was tremendous. We got multiple contributions on offense. We only had 46 attempts, but we got to the foul line. Itโs the most weโve been to the foul line in a while. Attacking the basket pretty well. I thought the key to the game was our first half defense. We had a chance to get away from them by halftime, but Julesโ and Tygerโs foul trouble stopped that.โ
ย
on improving how the team closed the game on both ends of the floor
โWell, we were able to play the guys we wanted to play. Last night, they were pressing Russell [Stong], as you know. At the end of the day, we said at halftime, โIf they donโt get to 60, theyโre not going to be able to catch us.โ. Like Tyger said, the thing about it is when you get to March, you canโt rely on shooting to win. Thereโs going to be a game or two when youโre probably going to have to score a lot of points to win, but you can control your effort and if you defend, you always have a chance. On a rough night offensively, you still have a chance. Just happy with how we defended, even down the stretch.โ
ย
on Peyton Watsonโs impact over the last two games
โI think his defense always helps us โ his rebounding, his length. I was happy for him to see a shot to go down. Jaime threw him a great pass. He made a nice cut off the ball and got it to go down. The thing about Peyton is heโs kept his head down and just kept working all year. Thatโs what Iโm most proud of. These guys โ they all know the expectations. They didnโt have to deal with what heโs had to deal with. Theyโre with him. Heโs their guy. They love him. Heโs on their team, so they get it. When he plays well, these guys are the happiest because they see every day in practice that the guy has an unbelievable. Heโs just a young kid that didnโt play his senior year of high school because of COVID and he needs to get stronger. His best basketball is probably when heโs 23 and his body looks a lot different. Unlike me, heโs going to get better with age.โ
ย
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on teamโs play tonight
โWe try to play like that all the time, whether itโs last year, this year, or three years ago, you try to replicate the same way and play perfect, not make as many mistakes as the other team, and just keep going, make right decisions, and right plays.โย
ย
on reason for better play and winning eight of nine games
โBeing healthy I think is one for sure. Like I said earlier, I donโt think we had one game during the regular season where we had everyone healthy, and now that we do, itโs great. We have a lot of guys in rotation that can step up and make plays, defensively and offensively. I think that watching film, being very attentive, following the scouting report, and things like that, I think that goes into why weโve been so successful defensively.โย
ย
on being in Pac-12 Tournament championship game
โItโs a great opportunity for our team. It will really give us a test for where we are proceeding into March. Itโs going to be a fun experience, itโs what we have all worked for, weโre going to try to get that trophy and cut the nets down. We are all excited, weโre all ready to go.โย
ย
redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell
on teamโs play tonight
โIโd say we knew when we went on our run last year that we really locked in on the defensive side of the ball. Coach preaches, defense, defense, defense, so we are just trying to lock in this year.โ ย
on beating USC twice in less than a week
โWeโre just worried about tomorrow. Get a win tomorrow, come out, and give it all we have.โ
on slapping the bracket:
โItโs a little different, the bracket is a little smaller, but you know, seeing Russ [Russell Stong] run down and everybody surrounding him just smacking on the board, it's a good feeling. Obviously, itโs a good feeling to win, but to see all of us rally around each other, stay together โ those are my brothers, so it's always good.โ