Postgame Quotes – UCLA at Utah
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 78, Utah 71
Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center)
February 23, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on another strong performance (and finish) by Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“Yeah, I thought the small lineup, we’d get the mismatch that we wanted on him. We had actually practiced that this week. So it paid off for us. But hey look, Jaime is a bigtime player. You’re talking about a guy who is an All-American, who can play in the NBA for 10 to 12 years. Not a surprise. He’s tough, man. He can make threes, he can beat you off the dribble. If you put a tall guy on him, he goes by. You don’t guard him, he knocks in a shot. He’s got the pull-up. He is a tough cover. Tyger hit a big three late. Dave hit a big three late. You’ve got seniors on the road. But I told the guys at halftime that it was coming, because we should have been up 20, and we’d given up nine layups in the first half. The game should have been over and we couldn’t keep them off the glass. We gave their drivers layups. We had a chance to really put the game away because we had been shooting the ball so well. So when you make 19 out of 31 and you get 43 [points], for us, you should be up at least 20. We gave up way too many layups. I told the guys, ‘We aren’t going to make every shot. They were 0-for-10 [from three], so it’s coming.’ Don’t panic, when it comes, because it’s coming. Now I didn’t know that Saunders would get 25, and he hasn’t had 25 points all season.”
on what changed later in the second half
“It’s just part of it. Like I just said, you are not going to shoot 62 percent in the first half and just keep on making every shot. You know, I thought that we took a few hard ones. We got a little sped up, and there’s no need for us to do that. We took some hard runners at the rim. I know that Tyger, Jaime and Jaylen all took a hard runner at the rim. But look, they’re a good team and Craig [Smith] does a great job. Coming into tonight, I think they were the four-seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. They had a guy who had a career night and we still won easy, it was never really in jeopardy.”
on Gail Goodrich and Chris Smith being in attendance
“Yeah, it was great to see Gail. And Chris – and Johnny [Juzang] was at the hotel [on Wednesday]. I think that Johnny might be coming over tonight, too. Johnny might be coming back after their [Utah Jazz] game tonight. He was going to try and get here after the Jazz game. I think they played at 7, but it was great to see those guys. Gail got in either last night or this morning, but he was at our shootaround today. It’s good for me, and I can always call my dad when I’m hanging with Gail Goodrich. My father saw him play in one of the Final Fours, I think, back in 63, 64 or 65, something like that. He’s just a great guy. He’s up in Sun Valley now, just such a great guy. I mean, for me to be able to have a relationship with Gail Goodrich, how crazy is that? It’s just unbelievable.”
on UCLA being in a position to clinch a share of the league title with a win on Sunday
“Yeah, we’ve worked hard. I have told the guys all week, ‘Look guys, this is not a time to take the foot off the gas. OK, we have prepped all year and I’ve coached this team.’ And it has been really hard on the freshmen. Because of our seniors, we have a chance to do something very special. So I have told them, they’ve got to help get those guys [the freshmen] up to speed. But we have put in the work. Now is not the time to take the foot off the gas. If we lose now, it’s got to be because somebody played great to beat us. We do not need to come out, lay an egg, and not be ready and look past anybody. We need to know what Colorado is capable of. They had us on the ropes at home. Da Silva is shooting the lights out. KJ Simpson is great off the bounce, and Tad Boyle is a heck of a coach. We worry about getting our rest and recovery and having a good practice on Saturday. We don’t even talk about clinching a Pac-12, we don’t discuss it.”
UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on what his favorite play near the end of the game was
“Yeah, I liked the three-pointer. But I think I liked the J-Rock [Jaylen Clark] pass a little more, only because I threw it and didn’t know, I just saw him and I was hoping that he was open. I was not sure if there was somebody there to steal it or somebody behind him.”
on what has led to his success in late-game situations
“It’s just a lot of hard work, I mean I put in a lot of work … just working on my shot, preparing myself to be in these situations, knowing that this is a long stretch. My team needs me to sometimes to go out and score and make plays. Coach trusts me with the ball in my hands, and I want to continue to earn that trust. I want my guys to have faith in me that I’ll make the right play every time down the stretch.”
on what he said after hitting a major 3-point basket in the final two minutes
“I think I said, ‘I’m not going home sad.’ I didn’t want to lose today.”
on if his designated role is to serve as the team’s closer
“I mean, I don’t try to be. I just try to make the right play. I know they started doubling me. I passed it to J-Rock [Clark] and he passed it to Tyger, and Tyger hit a big three. Then I think David hit a big three. This is all a team collective effort. Coach just trusts me at the end to, you know, try to make the right play, and my teammates, they step up as well.”
on the team’s reaction when UCLA went without a field goal for nearly six minutes late in the game
“We’re not scoring if they can’t score. That’s kind of our mentality. We are going to get good shots. Sometimes they won’t go in. But as long as that happens, you can’t let the opposing team score as well.”
on if the Bruins are getting better as the season goes along
“I think so. But I think there are some things that we need to clean up as well, a few mental errors down the stretch that could hurt us in a much bigger game. We’ve got to clean those up. We are going to watch the film. This is a tough team to play. They’re where they are for a reason. I’m just happy that we came out with a win.”
UCLA senior guard Tyger Campbell
on how big his 3-pointer was when UCLA led, 68-64
“Yeah, [Jaylen] he just found me and I was ready to shoot. When I shot it, it felt good. I’m just happy it went in. I’m just happy we won.”
on his 18-point and five-assist performance
“I expect it. I work really hard, so when games like this happen, it’s not really anything surprising for me. But I’m still thankful that I had a good game and that my teammates found me. And like I said, I’m just happy we won. Utah is a great team with a great coach. They played really hard until the buzzer. They fought really hard.”
on what he has seen from Jaime Jaquez Jr. and his success late in games
“Just like you said, really good plays late in the game. You know, he’s kind of one of our closers. He just seems to know when to put the ball in the basket and when to pass. He has everything that you’d want with an All-American senior. He’s a great player.”
on if a game provides a different challenge when you know the other team is down two players
“We just come out ready to play. They had a really good guard tonight, Saunders, he had a really good game. Congrats to him. But we weathered the storm at the end when they had their run, and we just figured out a way to pull it out.”
on UCLA’s ability to find ways to win late in games
“I think that it’s just – one, taking care of the ball, and two, not relying on your offense. You can rely on your defense to get things done, especially on the road because the other team is going to feel more comfortable at home. We’ve got to try and take them out of their stuff and still play our game.”
UCLA 78, Utah 71
Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center)
February 23, 2023
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on another strong performance (and finish) by Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“Yeah, I thought the small lineup, we’d get the mismatch that we wanted on him. We had actually practiced that this week. So it paid off for us. But hey look, Jaime is a bigtime player. You’re talking about a guy who is an All-American, who can play in the NBA for 10 to 12 years. Not a surprise. He’s tough, man. He can make threes, he can beat you off the dribble. If you put a tall guy on him, he goes by. You don’t guard him, he knocks in a shot. He’s got the pull-up. He is a tough cover. Tyger hit a big three late. Dave hit a big three late. You’ve got seniors on the road. But I told the guys at halftime that it was coming, because we should have been up 20, and we’d given up nine layups in the first half. The game should have been over and we couldn’t keep them off the glass. We gave their drivers layups. We had a chance to really put the game away because we had been shooting the ball so well. So when you make 19 out of 31 and you get 43 [points], for us, you should be up at least 20. We gave up way too many layups. I told the guys, ‘We aren’t going to make every shot. They were 0-for-10 [from three], so it’s coming.’ Don’t panic, when it comes, because it’s coming. Now I didn’t know that Saunders would get 25, and he hasn’t had 25 points all season.”
on what changed later in the second half
“It’s just part of it. Like I just said, you are not going to shoot 62 percent in the first half and just keep on making every shot. You know, I thought that we took a few hard ones. We got a little sped up, and there’s no need for us to do that. We took some hard runners at the rim. I know that Tyger, Jaime and Jaylen all took a hard runner at the rim. But look, they’re a good team and Craig [Smith] does a great job. Coming into tonight, I think they were the four-seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. They had a guy who had a career night and we still won easy, it was never really in jeopardy.”
on Gail Goodrich and Chris Smith being in attendance
“Yeah, it was great to see Gail. And Chris – and Johnny [Juzang] was at the hotel [on Wednesday]. I think that Johnny might be coming over tonight, too. Johnny might be coming back after their [Utah Jazz] game tonight. He was going to try and get here after the Jazz game. I think they played at 7, but it was great to see those guys. Gail got in either last night or this morning, but he was at our shootaround today. It’s good for me, and I can always call my dad when I’m hanging with Gail Goodrich. My father saw him play in one of the Final Fours, I think, back in 63, 64 or 65, something like that. He’s just a great guy. He’s up in Sun Valley now, just such a great guy. I mean, for me to be able to have a relationship with Gail Goodrich, how crazy is that? It’s just unbelievable.”
on UCLA being in a position to clinch a share of the league title with a win on Sunday
“Yeah, we’ve worked hard. I have told the guys all week, ‘Look guys, this is not a time to take the foot off the gas. OK, we have prepped all year and I’ve coached this team.’ And it has been really hard on the freshmen. Because of our seniors, we have a chance to do something very special. So I have told them, they’ve got to help get those guys [the freshmen] up to speed. But we have put in the work. Now is not the time to take the foot off the gas. If we lose now, it’s got to be because somebody played great to beat us. We do not need to come out, lay an egg, and not be ready and look past anybody. We need to know what Colorado is capable of. They had us on the ropes at home. Da Silva is shooting the lights out. KJ Simpson is great off the bounce, and Tad Boyle is a heck of a coach. We worry about getting our rest and recovery and having a good practice on Saturday. We don’t even talk about clinching a Pac-12, we don’t discuss it.”
UCLA senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.
on what his favorite play near the end of the game was
“Yeah, I liked the three-pointer. But I think I liked the J-Rock [Jaylen Clark] pass a little more, only because I threw it and didn’t know, I just saw him and I was hoping that he was open. I was not sure if there was somebody there to steal it or somebody behind him.”
on what has led to his success in late-game situations
“It’s just a lot of hard work, I mean I put in a lot of work … just working on my shot, preparing myself to be in these situations, knowing that this is a long stretch. My team needs me to sometimes to go out and score and make plays. Coach trusts me with the ball in my hands, and I want to continue to earn that trust. I want my guys to have faith in me that I’ll make the right play every time down the stretch.”
on what he said after hitting a major 3-point basket in the final two minutes
“I think I said, ‘I’m not going home sad.’ I didn’t want to lose today.”
on if his designated role is to serve as the team’s closer
“I mean, I don’t try to be. I just try to make the right play. I know they started doubling me. I passed it to J-Rock [Clark] and he passed it to Tyger, and Tyger hit a big three. Then I think David hit a big three. This is all a team collective effort. Coach just trusts me at the end to, you know, try to make the right play, and my teammates, they step up as well.”
on the team’s reaction when UCLA went without a field goal for nearly six minutes late in the game
“We’re not scoring if they can’t score. That’s kind of our mentality. We are going to get good shots. Sometimes they won’t go in. But as long as that happens, you can’t let the opposing team score as well.”
on if the Bruins are getting better as the season goes along
“I think so. But I think there are some things that we need to clean up as well, a few mental errors down the stretch that could hurt us in a much bigger game. We’ve got to clean those up. We are going to watch the film. This is a tough team to play. They’re where they are for a reason. I’m just happy that we came out with a win.”
UCLA senior guard Tyger Campbell
on how big his 3-pointer was when UCLA led, 68-64
“Yeah, [Jaylen] he just found me and I was ready to shoot. When I shot it, it felt good. I’m just happy it went in. I’m just happy we won.”
on his 18-point and five-assist performance
“I expect it. I work really hard, so when games like this happen, it’s not really anything surprising for me. But I’m still thankful that I had a good game and that my teammates found me. And like I said, I’m just happy we won. Utah is a great team with a great coach. They played really hard until the buzzer. They fought really hard.”
on what he has seen from Jaime Jaquez Jr. and his success late in games
“Just like you said, really good plays late in the game. You know, he’s kind of one of our closers. He just seems to know when to put the ball in the basket and when to pass. He has everything that you’d want with an All-American senior. He’s a great player.”
on if a game provides a different challenge when you know the other team is down two players
“We just come out ready to play. They had a really good guard tonight, Saunders, he had a really good game. Congrats to him. But we weathered the storm at the end when they had their run, and we just figured out a way to pull it out.”
on UCLA’s ability to find ways to win late in games
“I think that it’s just – one, taking care of the ball, and two, not relying on your offense. You can rely on your defense to get things done, especially on the road because the other team is going to feel more comfortable at home. We’ve got to try and take them out of their stuff and still play our game.”