Postgame Quotes – UCLA 69, Washington 58
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 69, Washington 58
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
December 3, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“I thought Washington played really hard, and Coach Sprinkle does a tremendous job. Putting a team together on the fly, it’s not an easy thing to do. Of course, we’re all going to do it every Spring. I thought they played hard, so they were a reason for some of our struggles tonight. I thought the weak layoff hurt us. I tried to have some scrimmaging on Sunday, where we really had to get up and down. I thought we were definitely rusty. Trent [Perry], back spasms were an issue for him, and he said he felt better today, but it’s hard when you don’t really practice the last two days. We only had 28 deflections, and we missed 11 free throws. We didn’t get out on the break, which we need with this team. Guys stepped up; I was happy to see. Our starters were 1-13 at halftime, they end up 8-26. For us to have a good year, we’re going to need performance from our guards.”
on Sebastian Mack’s performance
“He’s been great all year. He’s been the only consistent offensive threat for us on the perimeter. He still needs to improve on the defensive end, but it’s nice to have somebody like him who can create offense for us when we’re struggling.”
on getting the win and the team’s defensive performance
“I told the guys, we won because we only had eight turnovers and we took care of the ball. We had 16 assists, and that’s with missing a bunch of shots that were extremely makeable. Our passing, our team play, our execution was good. We rebounded it as hard as we could. The first half, that’s we were winning. When you take care of the ball, play defense, and get second shots, it puts pressure on the other team. Eventually, the ball goes in. But our constant is our defense. We allowed 58 tonight. I didn’t think we were as fast and athletic tonight. Our pressure didn’t bother them at all tonight. We weren’t committed to it the way we needed to be, especially at our home games. We tried to get after them more, and we didn’t have the speed and aggressiveness. Our press is going to have to be more of a factor for us, especially at home.”
on responding to Washington’s defensive looks
“It didn’t bother us when we were prepared. They only played two defenses, man and 1-3-1. I thought we did great against their 1-3-1.”
on Dylan Andrews’ performance
“If you’re going to make them, you might as well make them in the second half. When Kobe, Dylan, and Skyy started the first half, they were 1-13, and we were still up five. For us to be a really good team, those guys and Sebastian and Trent, they’re only going to be as good as their production. We play hard, our guys are tough kids, but we’ve got to play smarter. We had way too many fouls. Our adherence to our scouting report wasn’t near where it needed to be, they were splitting gaps way too many times. Our free throws were bad, we still won by double figures. The guards are going to have to perform for us to be a high-level team.”
on Aday Mara’s performance
“I thought he was doing great. He had a great first half, wasn’t as effective in the second half. He got five rebounds in 13 minutes, and in practice, he was excellent this week. He was dominant in practice this week, so that’s why he was the first guy off the bench. Will’s been great too. Tyler’s going to have to improve his defense, or his minutes are going to get cut into.
UCLA guard Sebastian Mack
on his mindset and his ability to get to the free throw line
“It’s really just seeing what we need, whether that’s steals, rebounds. We could have done some more things on the offensive end, but it still trickles down to defense. We did miss a lot of free throws; we’re going to back into practice and work on that. Other than that, though, it’s just really based off of mental and what you see in the game.”
on working on his drives
“That was the main thing that coach got on me about this offseason. He was saying, ‘you’ve got to make sure you keep your head up, you’ve got to be able to read and make the right play’”.
on Dylan Andrews’ performance and confidence
“It’s great because it takes a village to win these games against big teams like this. We’re just trying to get everyone going, and it takes a village.”
on his mindset when Washington switching to man defense
"When they switch to man, my mindset was to try to create something, whether that’s an assist or a bucket. Just trying to get my guys open looks or get myself one.”
on his scoring performance
“My teammates knew I had the hand tonight, and I realize it when my other guys have the hand too. We’ve got a lot of great guys on our team, so we can bounce off of each other.”
on limiting Washington’s effectiveness
“We were just being aggressive with them, not letting them get comfortable. When it comes to teams like them, they can eat us up. In practice, we were talking about not letting these guys get comfortable and get what they want.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on reacting to facing a double team from Washington
“I was just trying to see where the double was coming from and the rotations and finding the open guy. They were able to knock down shots and get advantages on drives, so that was good.”
on his defensive performance
“I’ve got to be better defensively, moving my feet, anticipating where the ball is and where my man is and help. Just overall, I’ll be better.”
Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle
opening remarks
“Give credit to UCLA. They really punched us in the mouth the first half, but I’m proud we responded in the second half, but we just couldn’t score. The score was 45-43. But we had some sloppy turnovers and we had some open threes that we didn’t hit. To win against a Mick Cronin team, you have to hit eight to 10 3-pointers.”
on which athletes stood out in tonight’s contest
“A couple of our guys stood out. Great Osobor, but you just can’t have eight turnovers when you handle the ball that much. I think Zoom Diallo played well for us. Tyler Harris also played well, he had a double-double, but hey, this is a hard place to play. It’s a new conference and we have to understand that we just have to get better. This is Big Ten basketball.”
on where his team goes from this point
“We just have to play with confidence. We’ll go back and get in the gym and understand that we can’t get punched in the mouth first. We have USC on Saturday, and then we go back to Seattle to play Eastern Washington.”
UCLA 69, Washington 58
Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
December 3, 2024
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“I thought Washington played really hard, and Coach Sprinkle does a tremendous job. Putting a team together on the fly, it’s not an easy thing to do. Of course, we’re all going to do it every Spring. I thought they played hard, so they were a reason for some of our struggles tonight. I thought the weak layoff hurt us. I tried to have some scrimmaging on Sunday, where we really had to get up and down. I thought we were definitely rusty. Trent [Perry], back spasms were an issue for him, and he said he felt better today, but it’s hard when you don’t really practice the last two days. We only had 28 deflections, and we missed 11 free throws. We didn’t get out on the break, which we need with this team. Guys stepped up; I was happy to see. Our starters were 1-13 at halftime, they end up 8-26. For us to have a good year, we’re going to need performance from our guards.”
on Sebastian Mack’s performance
“He’s been great all year. He’s been the only consistent offensive threat for us on the perimeter. He still needs to improve on the defensive end, but it’s nice to have somebody like him who can create offense for us when we’re struggling.”
on getting the win and the team’s defensive performance
“I told the guys, we won because we only had eight turnovers and we took care of the ball. We had 16 assists, and that’s with missing a bunch of shots that were extremely makeable. Our passing, our team play, our execution was good. We rebounded it as hard as we could. The first half, that’s we were winning. When you take care of the ball, play defense, and get second shots, it puts pressure on the other team. Eventually, the ball goes in. But our constant is our defense. We allowed 58 tonight. I didn’t think we were as fast and athletic tonight. Our pressure didn’t bother them at all tonight. We weren’t committed to it the way we needed to be, especially at our home games. We tried to get after them more, and we didn’t have the speed and aggressiveness. Our press is going to have to be more of a factor for us, especially at home.”
on responding to Washington’s defensive looks
“It didn’t bother us when we were prepared. They only played two defenses, man and 1-3-1. I thought we did great against their 1-3-1.”
on Dylan Andrews’ performance
“If you’re going to make them, you might as well make them in the second half. When Kobe, Dylan, and Skyy started the first half, they were 1-13, and we were still up five. For us to be a really good team, those guys and Sebastian and Trent, they’re only going to be as good as their production. We play hard, our guys are tough kids, but we’ve got to play smarter. We had way too many fouls. Our adherence to our scouting report wasn’t near where it needed to be, they were splitting gaps way too many times. Our free throws were bad, we still won by double figures. The guards are going to have to perform for us to be a high-level team.”
on Aday Mara’s performance
“I thought he was doing great. He had a great first half, wasn’t as effective in the second half. He got five rebounds in 13 minutes, and in practice, he was excellent this week. He was dominant in practice this week, so that’s why he was the first guy off the bench. Will’s been great too. Tyler’s going to have to improve his defense, or his minutes are going to get cut into.
UCLA guard Sebastian Mack
on his mindset and his ability to get to the free throw line
“It’s really just seeing what we need, whether that’s steals, rebounds. We could have done some more things on the offensive end, but it still trickles down to defense. We did miss a lot of free throws; we’re going to back into practice and work on that. Other than that, though, it’s just really based off of mental and what you see in the game.”
on working on his drives
“That was the main thing that coach got on me about this offseason. He was saying, ‘you’ve got to make sure you keep your head up, you’ve got to be able to read and make the right play’”.
on Dylan Andrews’ performance and confidence
“It’s great because it takes a village to win these games against big teams like this. We’re just trying to get everyone going, and it takes a village.”
on his mindset when Washington switching to man defense
"When they switch to man, my mindset was to try to create something, whether that’s an assist or a bucket. Just trying to get my guys open looks or get myself one.”
on his scoring performance
“My teammates knew I had the hand tonight, and I realize it when my other guys have the hand too. We’ve got a lot of great guys on our team, so we can bounce off of each other.”
on limiting Washington’s effectiveness
“We were just being aggressive with them, not letting them get comfortable. When it comes to teams like them, they can eat us up. In practice, we were talking about not letting these guys get comfortable and get what they want.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on reacting to facing a double team from Washington
“I was just trying to see where the double was coming from and the rotations and finding the open guy. They were able to knock down shots and get advantages on drives, so that was good.”
on his defensive performance
“I’ve got to be better defensively, moving my feet, anticipating where the ball is and where my man is and help. Just overall, I’ll be better.”
Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle
opening remarks
“Give credit to UCLA. They really punched us in the mouth the first half, but I’m proud we responded in the second half, but we just couldn’t score. The score was 45-43. But we had some sloppy turnovers and we had some open threes that we didn’t hit. To win against a Mick Cronin team, you have to hit eight to 10 3-pointers.”
on which athletes stood out in tonight’s contest
“A couple of our guys stood out. Great Osobor, but you just can’t have eight turnovers when you handle the ball that much. I think Zoom Diallo played well for us. Tyler Harris also played well, he had a double-double, but hey, this is a hard place to play. It’s a new conference and we have to understand that we just have to get better. This is Big Ten basketball.”
on where his team goes from this point
“We just have to play with confidence. We’ll go back and get in the gym and understand that we can’t get punched in the mouth first. We have USC on Saturday, and then we go back to Seattle to play Eastern Washington.”