Postgame Quotes - UCLA 57, Arizona 54
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 57, Arizona 54
Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
December 14, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“I thought it was obviously not a pretty game. We combined for 36 turnovers and six made threes. Obviously, the three was not a thing of beauty for either one of us. We persevered in the end, Skyy made a great play on the offensive rebound and was smart enough to dribble it out. He was probably our smartest player. I was happy for him, obviously, he had a big game today. Not a thing of beauty, we kept fouling, but our defense was able to start creating some turnovers, that was the difference in the game. And Tyler Bilodeau, obviously, had a good one. We stopped freezing him out.”
on the team’s defense
“Real teams, they don’t talk about it, they just do it. I think there’s times, and this is for all teams, you forget who you are, forget what it’s about, forget how to win games. We were being easily scored on for the last ten minutes of the first half, first ten of the second half. Our mind wasn’t on the defensive end. Skyy was great all day, and while we were struggling, Kobe was a huge factor. Just his voice, his will to win, he ends up with 13 deflections. He was just all over the court. He got seven rebounds, and we obviously struggled to get rebounds today.”
on the team’s growth since their loss to New Mexico on Nov. 8
“We were winning at half, so this was a totally different game, but we’re all still coming together. They’re starting a lot of new guys. It’s different for all of us. Who comes together and who can gel the most, that’s the new world we’re in.”
on passing the ball to junior Tyler Bilodeau more in the second half
“I think, obviously, I talked about it a little bit. We’ve got to get him the ball. We try to run an offense, and when you have a guy, and you can get it to him, that’s who you should get it to, instead of dribbling to a hard shot. But he took a really bad one and I took him out because we’ve got to run our offense and get it inside.”
on sophomore Aday Mara’s performance
“We’ve got to throw Aday Mara the ball. I know he traveled in the first half, but I’m just telling you, that move he made was big time and it had a lot to do with our comeback. We’ve got to get him the ball more.”
on his relationship with junior Skyy Clark
“We go way back. I know you guys think we just met each other, but he was one of the first guys I recruited. He went to high school not far from my house. My daughter used to do homework at his high school games.”
on the team’s poor offensive stretch in the beginning of the second half
“It was on them. We could have lost this game. Both teams played really hard, and it was an ugly game, our defense in the end was ridiculous. I can be mad about the offense, but Arizona’s got a lot to do with that. Sometimes, the opponent is the problem. We ran a play off the time out, and Kobe got Trent a wide open three, but the other guy played so hard that he deflected the pass, and it turned out to be a steal. It was a great defensive play by that kid. Their effort was awesome. I thought they played extremely hard. They’ve got a lot of pride in their program.”
on sophomore Eric Dailey Jr.’s foul trouble
“It doesn’t help. They were spreading us out, and I wasn’t real comfortable playing a big lineup against them because of their speed.”
on playing in Footprint Center in Phoenix, compared to Arizona’s McKale Center
“I thought their crowd was great. And the restaurants are better. But as far as the crowd, we could care less.”
on UCLA’s double teams on defense
“When you’ve got a mismatch, like Skyy guarding Townsend in the post, we trap them. The guys did a good job. But when we got up, they played with desperation, and when they got up, we played with desperation.
UCLA sophomore guard Skyy Clark
on what triggered the UCLA comeback
“I’m just really proud of these guys. Like coach said, Kobe was a big reason for that. In the huddles, time outs, dead balls, he was just telling us to not give up, and that we were going to come back and win. That energy is infectious and it spread to the whole team. In the final ten minutes, we really put it together. I’m really proud of everybody on the team. We came to Arizona, a very hostile crowd, and we could’ve given up but we got back in and got the win.”
on any routine he has, going into a free throw in clutch moments
“I really just take deep breaths, and think of Mick Cronin.”
on the team’s ability to win in different ways
"It really just shows who we can be as the season continues. We’ve got so many new guys, we’ve got some young guys, some older guys. I really think that it starts off the court, and that’s been the biggest thing. I told the coaches that this is the first team I’ve been on where I like every single person on the team. Just having that camaraderie off the court carries on to the court. I think we saw that in the final minutes of the game.”
UCLA 57, Arizona 54
Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
December 14, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“I thought it was obviously not a pretty game. We combined for 36 turnovers and six made threes. Obviously, the three was not a thing of beauty for either one of us. We persevered in the end, Skyy made a great play on the offensive rebound and was smart enough to dribble it out. He was probably our smartest player. I was happy for him, obviously, he had a big game today. Not a thing of beauty, we kept fouling, but our defense was able to start creating some turnovers, that was the difference in the game. And Tyler Bilodeau, obviously, had a good one. We stopped freezing him out.”
on the team’s defense
“Real teams, they don’t talk about it, they just do it. I think there’s times, and this is for all teams, you forget who you are, forget what it’s about, forget how to win games. We were being easily scored on for the last ten minutes of the first half, first ten of the second half. Our mind wasn’t on the defensive end. Skyy was great all day, and while we were struggling, Kobe was a huge factor. Just his voice, his will to win, he ends up with 13 deflections. He was just all over the court. He got seven rebounds, and we obviously struggled to get rebounds today.”
on the team’s growth since their loss to New Mexico on Nov. 8
“We were winning at half, so this was a totally different game, but we’re all still coming together. They’re starting a lot of new guys. It’s different for all of us. Who comes together and who can gel the most, that’s the new world we’re in.”
on passing the ball to junior Tyler Bilodeau more in the second half
“I think, obviously, I talked about it a little bit. We’ve got to get him the ball. We try to run an offense, and when you have a guy, and you can get it to him, that’s who you should get it to, instead of dribbling to a hard shot. But he took a really bad one and I took him out because we’ve got to run our offense and get it inside.”
on sophomore Aday Mara’s performance
“We’ve got to throw Aday Mara the ball. I know he traveled in the first half, but I’m just telling you, that move he made was big time and it had a lot to do with our comeback. We’ve got to get him the ball more.”
on his relationship with junior Skyy Clark
“We go way back. I know you guys think we just met each other, but he was one of the first guys I recruited. He went to high school not far from my house. My daughter used to do homework at his high school games.”
on the team’s poor offensive stretch in the beginning of the second half
“It was on them. We could have lost this game. Both teams played really hard, and it was an ugly game, our defense in the end was ridiculous. I can be mad about the offense, but Arizona’s got a lot to do with that. Sometimes, the opponent is the problem. We ran a play off the time out, and Kobe got Trent a wide open three, but the other guy played so hard that he deflected the pass, and it turned out to be a steal. It was a great defensive play by that kid. Their effort was awesome. I thought they played extremely hard. They’ve got a lot of pride in their program.”
on sophomore Eric Dailey Jr.’s foul trouble
“It doesn’t help. They were spreading us out, and I wasn’t real comfortable playing a big lineup against them because of their speed.”
on playing in Footprint Center in Phoenix, compared to Arizona’s McKale Center
“I thought their crowd was great. And the restaurants are better. But as far as the crowd, we could care less.”
on UCLA’s double teams on defense
“When you’ve got a mismatch, like Skyy guarding Townsend in the post, we trap them. The guys did a good job. But when we got up, they played with desperation, and when they got up, we played with desperation.
UCLA sophomore guard Skyy Clark
on what triggered the UCLA comeback
“I’m just really proud of these guys. Like coach said, Kobe was a big reason for that. In the huddles, time outs, dead balls, he was just telling us to not give up, and that we were going to come back and win. That energy is infectious and it spread to the whole team. In the final ten minutes, we really put it together. I’m really proud of everybody on the team. We came to Arizona, a very hostile crowd, and we could’ve given up but we got back in and got the win.”
on any routine he has, going into a free throw in clutch moments
“I really just take deep breaths, and think of Mick Cronin.”
on the team’s ability to win in different ways
"It really just shows who we can be as the season continues. We’ve got so many new guys, we’ve got some young guys, some older guys. I really think that it starts off the court, and that’s been the biggest thing. I told the coaches that this is the first team I’ve been on where I like every single person on the team. Just having that camaraderie off the court carries on to the court. I think we saw that in the final minutes of the game.”