Postgame Quotes – UCLA 84, Idaho State 70
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 84, Idaho State 70
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
November 20, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“I like Idaho State’s preparation. I like their coaching. I like their competitiveness. I think they’ve got a shot in their league. Their guys kept battling. They could have won easily at Arizona State and USC. We battled hard, got up 28, and then we stopped defending and got selfish on offense.”
on the front court pairing of Eric Dailey Jr. and Tyler Bilodeau
“I’d like to get to the point where Eric, Tyler, and Will [Kyle III] play at the same time. With the way some guys played tonight, we might be heading that way. The problem is that with Brandon redshirting, one of them gets tired. We need some guys who aren’t playing much to play better. If you get in the game, and you’re fighting for minutes like Aday [Mara] and Dom [Harris], the last thing you can do is turn it over, and it’s the first thing that both of them did. I’d like to be able to play Eric, Tyler, and Will at the same time. But Aday’s got to play better so we have a sub. But both of those guys can handle minutes without getting tired.”
on the team’s offensive rebounding
“I’m all about percent, and they got 33%, which is well below their average. They played some bigger guys, and we’ve got guys that aren’t tough enough. It’s not personal, they’re just not as tough as number 8. He’s a tough dude, averaging nine rebounds a game. Rebounding is about toughness. Our guards couldn’t handle him. Eric could, but our guards couldn’t.”
on his four spot existing as a “big guard”
“Basketball has changed. You’ve got guys like Eric Dailey and Jaime Jaquez in the 6-7 range that can score inside and out. Tyler can do it as well. That’s where the game of basketball is. Those guys are valuable. Tyler and Eric’s shooting opens up lanes for Sebastian Mack to drive.”
on Sebastian Mack’s performance
“He got 16 free throws. I think some of that was his teammates made some shots, which helped. He’s really improving in his pace and his decision-making. I told him at half-time ‘I think they’re really going to pack the paint on you in the second half’ and as soon as I go to say it to him, he says ‘I know what’s coming. He’s a sophomore, he’s getting better. He’s shooting at a high percent; I’ve always loved his toughness. He’s a bright spot for us. At the guard position, we haven’t had a lot of bright spots. Skyy’s [Clark] defense, he had seven deflections tonight, but offensively, really everybody else has struggled up to this point. I coach Bas, we’re both from back in the Midwest. Where we come from, guys can fight and shake hands. I coach him hard, and he can take it.”
on Dylan Andrews’ performance
“I wasn’t pleased at all. He got scored on every time.”
on his message in the locker room
“I don’t really talk about the result other than what happened. I thought for 30 minutes, we played great, and then we got up 28, and a bunch of guys were selfish. Their mind wasn’t on defense – just trying to get a steal and get a layup, just go to the other end and get mine. We became everything that I despise in the last 10 minutes, but in the first 30 minutes, we were great. I always go in there and tell them the truth. Look at their defensive and offensive stats in the second half.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on a front court lineup of him, Eric Dailey Jr. and William Kyle III
“I think that would be really cool to see. We haven’t been able to do that yet, but we’ve been playing smaller teams where we can have a smaller lineup. When those bigger teams come, we’re definitely going to need the size and the strength in there.”
on his 4-for-4 three-point shooting performance and the team’s shooting overall
“We’ve been struggling a little bit, early this season with shooting. But we all believe that we’re a really good shooting team. We just haven’t been able to show it. It’s a big thing – just working, shot preparation, coaches have been on us about that. But it can be anyone’s night from three. We have a bunch of great shooters.”
on practicing rebounding
“That’s been a big focus for us this week, they’ve been putting whatever lid [in the basket] and it just forces you to find your guy, box them out, rebound, and then go the other way.”
UCLA guard Sebastian Mack
on his decision to stay at UCLA rather than transfer
“I feel good. I trusted what he said, and my mind wasn’t with what other people were saying. I was just really dependent on working and getting better. When I talked to him, we had a plan, and I’m just going to rock with it.”
on becoming the player that he wants to be
“Just more all around. I want to be able to guard, shoot, score wherever, look at my teammates, just all around.”
on his driving and getting 16 free throws in tonight’s game
“It’s really just taking whatever the defense gives you, and then just going from there. Being willing to create and go get a bucket.”
on the defense packing the paint on him in the second half
“I feel like they did that a little bit, but my head was up. My mindset is just to have my head up and look for the others. You have the guards coming off screens, and you’ve got to read it and find them.”
on throwing a lob to William Kyle III
“We do crazy stuff like that in practice a lot. Cronin, he’ll get mad, but I knew he was going to come through because he jumps out of the gym. I could just put it up there and he’ll go and get it.”
on the team’s ability to put together a 40-minute game
“I feel like we’re not that far. We’re going to come together. We’re a tough team, we have good depth, so we’re going to pack it in and work on it. I’m pretty sure that coming up soon, we’re going to be able to consistently play 40-minute games.”
Idaho State Head Coach Ryan Looney
opening statement
“I was very impressed with UCLA. They are an extremely physical team. They did a great job on the glass. I’m very thankful for the opportunity. We’ve been on the road, so we’re thankful to get back home. We’ve been away for two weeks, we played ASU, USC, University of San Diego and UCLA. Now we get to go back home and play an NAIA school, Embry-Riddle. We don’t have another road game until after Christmas break.”
on which athletes stood out in tonight’s contest
“At times I felt like it was nobody, but [Isaiah] Griffin played well. He was our leading scorer with 16 points. Our point guard, Dylan [Darling] really took care of the ball, he had no turnovers. [Jaedyn] Brown and [AJ] Burgin came off the bench and shot it well, but we didn’t have an answer for Tyler Bilodeau. I felt like they could throw the ball in to Bilodeau whenever they wanted to and [Sebastian] Mack beat us off the dribble. He shot 16 free throws.”
on where his team goes from tonight’s game
“We found out that we could have a good season if we cleared up some things. Under a minute left against ASU and USC, we were down by one and we beat the University of San Diego by 10. This one just got away from us, but I’m happy the guys responded and we didn’t quit.”