POSTGAME QUOTES
North Carolina 73, UCLA 66
Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia, Pa.)
March 25, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on North Carolina’s 15 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points
“We knew that was going to be the biggest problem. That was my focus – Coach Darren [Savino] does a great job with personnel. I jump in, tell them all this isn't going to matter if we can't get the rebound. We didn't get the job done on the defensive glass. They've got too much firepower to give them second shots, third shots at times. It would be fitting that our downfall where we had the lead was another offensive rebound. And I thought we let Caleb Love get some lay-ups that were inexplicable. I don't worry about the hard shots. The lay-ups were the problem.”
on coaching this group of players
“Yeah, they're heartbroke. But like I tell them, we all play at UCLA, we practice under the pyramid of success, and true greatness is giving your best effort. Give your best effort to get your degree, be a good person, be a good teammate. They've restored UCLA to the national scene. My message to them is you can't let people say, ‘Well, hey, you did not win it all this year or your season is not a success.’ That's a ludicrous statement. Although I came to UCLA to try to get this 12th title and I'm not going to leave until I do. But for them, I'm a teacher, so for them their lesson has got to be did they give their best effort? And the answer is yes. These guys did a great job of making UCLA basketball relevant again. I'm very proud of them. Just try to hammer home to them that you can't let this loss define your career because we all know, especially those of us from LA in here, what they've done to turn our program around.”
on the game’s final two minutes
“Well, look, as a coach you can get upset about certain things. The truth is we had a lot of good execution and the ball didn't go in. Our last three threes were wide open. We got Jaime the ball down low. He's delivered for us all year time and time again. He got to his right hand and missed a two-footer, just rolled out on him. Johnny missed a couple. Jaime had a couple clean looks that just didn't go in, and Caleb Love made good shots. The turning point of the game, we were up two or three – we're up three with two minutes left, give or take a few seconds. That changed the game. We get that rebound, it's a different – but you never know what happens. But obviously that's going to keep me up at night. Everybody in here saw. We get that rebound – they took a really hard shot. Again, that's good defense. Then I think [Armando] Bacot saved it and threw it up and it goes right to Love and he shoots it in. Sometimes, you know what they say about the sun, right?”
on the off-court challenges the team has faced the last two years
“It's been wild since Chris Smith went down, to be honest with you. I mean, the COVID has been horrible for our world, but for our injuries it's been crazy. But like I told the guys, it's a great life lesson. You don't make excuses, you get better, find a way to find through it. We always give our best effort. It's not like we didn't play well tonight. Couldn't get a stop and a rebound when the game was on the line, and Love hit a big shot, we executed. Like I said, sometimes about the sun, it doesn't always shine in the same place. You have to understand that. You have to be a man and deal with it.
“But yeah, it's been interesting the last few years, everything that we've been through. But a lot of people have. There's people in Ukraine going through way worse. I get to go through it as a coach at UCLA, so it makes it all that much better.”
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on the ankle injury he suffered last Saturday night versus Saint Mary’s
“It wasn't bothering me.”
on the rebound and save by UNC forward Armando Bacot late in the game
“Yeah, that play was a crucial play down the stretch. They got hot. They started making tough shots, and it happens like that sometimes. It is what it is.”
senior guard Jules Bernard
on looking back at the final two minutes of the game
“Just do whatever it takes to get a win and get a stop. I mean, that's our mentality. But obviously that's not how it went. They had players who played big shots and big plays. Yeah, but whenever we're in that position, we're always thinking, stay solid on defense, get a stop and get a rebound. But that's not how it went.”
on trying to stop UNC’s Caleb Love
“He's a great player. I feel like he got some good looks early and knocked them down. When you give a player like that good looks and he starts knocking them down and getting in a rhythm, they can get hot in this tournament. One hot player can send you home. He's a great player. He made some tough shots, but I give credit to him.”
junior guard Johnny Juzang
on the closeness of UCLA’s team and how the Bruins are feeling after a tough loss
“Yeah, it makes it, I think, really tough and makes it really hurt because you love playing with this group, and for it to end the way it did, it hurts. Yeah, I felt like we had a real chance to do something really big, so just unfortunate. We all love playing with each other and playing for Coach. It sucks.”
North Carolina 73, UCLA 66
Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia, Pa.)
March 25, 2022
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on North Carolina’s 15 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points
“We knew that was going to be the biggest problem. That was my focus – Coach Darren [Savino] does a great job with personnel. I jump in, tell them all this isn't going to matter if we can't get the rebound. We didn't get the job done on the defensive glass. They've got too much firepower to give them second shots, third shots at times. It would be fitting that our downfall where we had the lead was another offensive rebound. And I thought we let Caleb Love get some lay-ups that were inexplicable. I don't worry about the hard shots. The lay-ups were the problem.”
on coaching this group of players
“Yeah, they're heartbroke. But like I tell them, we all play at UCLA, we practice under the pyramid of success, and true greatness is giving your best effort. Give your best effort to get your degree, be a good person, be a good teammate. They've restored UCLA to the national scene. My message to them is you can't let people say, ‘Well, hey, you did not win it all this year or your season is not a success.’ That's a ludicrous statement. Although I came to UCLA to try to get this 12th title and I'm not going to leave until I do. But for them, I'm a teacher, so for them their lesson has got to be did they give their best effort? And the answer is yes. These guys did a great job of making UCLA basketball relevant again. I'm very proud of them. Just try to hammer home to them that you can't let this loss define your career because we all know, especially those of us from LA in here, what they've done to turn our program around.”
on the game’s final two minutes
“Well, look, as a coach you can get upset about certain things. The truth is we had a lot of good execution and the ball didn't go in. Our last three threes were wide open. We got Jaime the ball down low. He's delivered for us all year time and time again. He got to his right hand and missed a two-footer, just rolled out on him. Johnny missed a couple. Jaime had a couple clean looks that just didn't go in, and Caleb Love made good shots. The turning point of the game, we were up two or three – we're up three with two minutes left, give or take a few seconds. That changed the game. We get that rebound, it's a different – but you never know what happens. But obviously that's going to keep me up at night. Everybody in here saw. We get that rebound – they took a really hard shot. Again, that's good defense. Then I think [Armando] Bacot saved it and threw it up and it goes right to Love and he shoots it in. Sometimes, you know what they say about the sun, right?”
on the off-court challenges the team has faced the last two years
“It's been wild since Chris Smith went down, to be honest with you. I mean, the COVID has been horrible for our world, but for our injuries it's been crazy. But like I told the guys, it's a great life lesson. You don't make excuses, you get better, find a way to find through it. We always give our best effort. It's not like we didn't play well tonight. Couldn't get a stop and a rebound when the game was on the line, and Love hit a big shot, we executed. Like I said, sometimes about the sun, it doesn't always shine in the same place. You have to understand that. You have to be a man and deal with it.
“But yeah, it's been interesting the last few years, everything that we've been through. But a lot of people have. There's people in Ukraine going through way worse. I get to go through it as a coach at UCLA, so it makes it all that much better.”
junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on the ankle injury he suffered last Saturday night versus Saint Mary’s
“It wasn't bothering me.”
on the rebound and save by UNC forward Armando Bacot late in the game
“Yeah, that play was a crucial play down the stretch. They got hot. They started making tough shots, and it happens like that sometimes. It is what it is.”
senior guard Jules Bernard
on looking back at the final two minutes of the game
“Just do whatever it takes to get a win and get a stop. I mean, that's our mentality. But obviously that's not how it went. They had players who played big shots and big plays. Yeah, but whenever we're in that position, we're always thinking, stay solid on defense, get a stop and get a rebound. But that's not how it went.”
on trying to stop UNC’s Caleb Love
“He's a great player. I feel like he got some good looks early and knocked them down. When you give a player like that good looks and he starts knocking them down and getting in a rhythm, they can get hot in this tournament. One hot player can send you home. He's a great player. He made some tough shots, but I give credit to him.”
junior guard Johnny Juzang
on the closeness of UCLA’s team and how the Bruins are feeling after a tough loss
“Yeah, it makes it, I think, really tough and makes it really hurt because you love playing with this group, and for it to end the way it did, it hurts. Yeah, I felt like we had a real chance to do something really big, so just unfortunate. We all love playing with each other and playing for Coach. It sucks.”