Postgame Quotes - Purdue 76, UCLA 66
POSTGAME QUOTES
Purdue 76, UCLA 66
West Lafayette, Ind. (Mackey Arena)
February 28, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what went wrong at the end of the game
“Our defense wasn’t quick enough to win. We had too many turnovers. We had 14 turnovers and we were minus five on the turnover chart. We don’t do that. And they were unforced. To give Purdue credit, their backs were against the wall tonight, and we got their best effort. We couldn’t handle it. I thought it was a close game, we took a few iffy shots, but then the bottom line was we couldn’t stop them. Defensively, I thought Will did okay, but he didn’t get to play a lot. Will’s plus five – everybody else is in the minus. We’ve got guys that are minus 10 [and] 19. We didn’t get the job done defensively. Give them credit, they have a hell of a team, and Smith’s a great player. A couple weeks ago, when the bracket came out, they were a three seed. They were sold out with an unbelievable crowd and they knew they had to will their team to victory. In this league, you can play well. We did for about 32 minutes. It was somewhere around the seven-minute mark in the game is when they went on their run. But even when we’re were playing well, and it was a close back-and-forth game, we got the lead in the second half, I was never happy with us defensively. Never happy with us defensively. I say this every time, but real teams, they can defend for 40 minutes. Teams that are going to march on, they can defend for 40 minutes. We just couldn’t do it tonight.”
on struggling to hit jump shots on offense
“We struggled to pass. And at times, we aren’t the best passing team. I have to watch some film.”
on how this loss can affect UCLA’s seed at the Big Ten Tournament
“I could care less about the seeding. This was a great opportunity against a hell of a team in a sold-out building that was going to try to will their team to victory because they were desperate for a win. If we could have overcome that tonight, it would have been monumental. We played well for a long period of time, but even with that, our shot making and defense was not what I want it to be. That is the challenge – that’s the challenge with us. There was a time when we were one of the top five defensive teams.”
on what must improve for UCLA on defense
“Our pick and roll coverage is terrible, and our post defense.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on the physicality of the game at Purdue
“It was a really physical game. I think they were a little more physical than us. [Kaufman-Renn] He is a great player and he played a great game tonight.”
on guarding Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn
“He’s really strong, and when he gets to his right hand, he can make a lot of contested shots.”
on the team’s defense
“We have to pay more attention to the scouting report, and I think we need to do a better job at stopping the ball.”
on the team’s offense down the stretch
“We had some turnovers, and they got a couple of rebounds, too. They hurt us when they went on that run.”
on the team’s shot selection
“I think we should have tried to get the ball more and get the open three when they trapped. We have to learn from it.”
on his takeaways from this game
“We need to watch film, watch the breakdowns. We started the game with way too many turnovers. We need to eliminate those. I thought we did a decent job on the glass offensive rebounding. It could have been better in the second, I think we let up a bit in the second half. We just need to learn from this on and get ready for the next one.”
UCLA guard Sebastian Mack
on the difference in his play in the first and second halves
“We had so many lapses that it was hard to get a flow going. We were making mistakes and they were just getting out on the break and doing what they do best. I feel like we struggled today on the defensive end. We didn’t follow what Coach said, and that hurt us a lot.”
on how the Bruins can improve defensively
“Pay attention and listen. Those are the only two things. And we have to have that heart to go out there and fight.”
on Purdue’s late game threes
“There were breakdowns. We weren’t paying attention or listening to what we needed to do.”
on their last two regular season games
“We need to listen and fight, come out there swinging.”
Purdue 76, UCLA 66
West Lafayette, Ind. (Mackey Arena)
February 28, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what went wrong at the end of the game
“Our defense wasn’t quick enough to win. We had too many turnovers. We had 14 turnovers and we were minus five on the turnover chart. We don’t do that. And they were unforced. To give Purdue credit, their backs were against the wall tonight, and we got their best effort. We couldn’t handle it. I thought it was a close game, we took a few iffy shots, but then the bottom line was we couldn’t stop them. Defensively, I thought Will did okay, but he didn’t get to play a lot. Will’s plus five – everybody else is in the minus. We’ve got guys that are minus 10 [and] 19. We didn’t get the job done defensively. Give them credit, they have a hell of a team, and Smith’s a great player. A couple weeks ago, when the bracket came out, they were a three seed. They were sold out with an unbelievable crowd and they knew they had to will their team to victory. In this league, you can play well. We did for about 32 minutes. It was somewhere around the seven-minute mark in the game is when they went on their run. But even when we’re were playing well, and it was a close back-and-forth game, we got the lead in the second half, I was never happy with us defensively. Never happy with us defensively. I say this every time, but real teams, they can defend for 40 minutes. Teams that are going to march on, they can defend for 40 minutes. We just couldn’t do it tonight.”
on struggling to hit jump shots on offense
“We struggled to pass. And at times, we aren’t the best passing team. I have to watch some film.”
on how this loss can affect UCLA’s seed at the Big Ten Tournament
“I could care less about the seeding. This was a great opportunity against a hell of a team in a sold-out building that was going to try to will their team to victory because they were desperate for a win. If we could have overcome that tonight, it would have been monumental. We played well for a long period of time, but even with that, our shot making and defense was not what I want it to be. That is the challenge – that’s the challenge with us. There was a time when we were one of the top five defensive teams.”
on what must improve for UCLA on defense
“Our pick and roll coverage is terrible, and our post defense.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on the physicality of the game at Purdue
“It was a really physical game. I think they were a little more physical than us. [Kaufman-Renn] He is a great player and he played a great game tonight.”
on guarding Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn
“He’s really strong, and when he gets to his right hand, he can make a lot of contested shots.”
on the team’s defense
“We have to pay more attention to the scouting report, and I think we need to do a better job at stopping the ball.”
on the team’s offense down the stretch
“We had some turnovers, and they got a couple of rebounds, too. They hurt us when they went on that run.”
on the team’s shot selection
“I think we should have tried to get the ball more and get the open three when they trapped. We have to learn from it.”
on his takeaways from this game
“We need to watch film, watch the breakdowns. We started the game with way too many turnovers. We need to eliminate those. I thought we did a decent job on the glass offensive rebounding. It could have been better in the second, I think we let up a bit in the second half. We just need to learn from this on and get ready for the next one.”
UCLA guard Sebastian Mack
on the difference in his play in the first and second halves
“We had so many lapses that it was hard to get a flow going. We were making mistakes and they were just getting out on the break and doing what they do best. I feel like we struggled today on the defensive end. We didn’t follow what Coach said, and that hurt us a lot.”
on how the Bruins can improve defensively
“Pay attention and listen. Those are the only two things. And we have to have that heart to go out there and fight.”
on Purdue’s late game threes
“There were breakdowns. We weren’t paying attention or listening to what we needed to do.”
on their last two regular season games
“We need to listen and fight, come out there swinging.”