University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Wisconsin 86, UCLA 70
POSTGAME QUOTESย
Wisconsin 86, UCLA 70
Big Ten Tournament, Quarterfinals
Indianapolis, Ind. (Gainbridge Fieldhouse)
March 14, 2025ย
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
on where the game went wrongย against Wisconsin
โYou have to give Wisconsin credit โ they shot the lights out. We all have weaknesses and there are teams that can shoot it at five positions. We donโt match up well with teams like that, and we havenโt all year. Michigan made shots like that. We donโt have an athletic lineup that can just switch and really shut them down. Theyโre a hard team, we would have to beat them with offense. I watch certain teams play and I can tell that theyโre a bad matchup for us. I knew the matchup was going to be a problem, so we were going to have to be a high-execution team today, and the message was, โWe know we canโt try to win a three-point shooting contestโ. So if they get hot, we canโt just grab it and shoot it and try to match them, and thatโs what we did. That was hammered into them from the minute we found out we were playing them โ we canโt do that. Case in point, we were losing at half at home when we played them. And we were shooting like 15 threes. In the second half, we shot five threes, and we were 15-20 from two. We shot over 60 percent and stopped trying to match them. We took the bait miserably, today. Theyโre a tough matchup for us.โย
ย
on William Kyle IIIโs performance
โIโd like to give William Kyle credit. I thought that he played incredibly hard and competed. Iโm really proud of him, and it doesnโt surprise me. He hasnโt had a lot of minutes lately, but thatโs who he is. It didnโt surprise me that he competed that way.โย
ย
on if Wisconsin did a better job of being physical against Aday Mara ย
โLook, the problem is that when I answer a question, then people say, โCroninโs complaining about travel, he wants to leave UCLA,โ which is ridiculous. But you and I are together every week. All I do is answer your question. I didnโt say that. I just answered your question, and also, โOh he hates to travel,โ I have never said that, ever. Iโm not leaving UCLA until they make me leave, OK? So please stop with that. I just answered your question. Now, if I answer that question, itโs going to seem like I am making an excuse. Are they more physical with Aday? So the problem is if I answer that, then I am making an excuse. And I am not, I am not going to answer that. You know the answer, so you answer it. And Iโm not making an excuse. They kicked out ass. We didn't throw the ball to him [Aday Mara] enough to really make it a factor. If I answer that, Iโm complaining. Losers blame the officials, winners know why they win. And then winners know why they lose too. I try to teach these guys, if you get your ass kicked, thatโs why you lost, and we took the bait and shot a bunch of threes, which I alluded to earlier. We shot 30 threes today, and thatโs not who we are, to your point. We donโt shoot it well enough for that. We didnโt move the ball, and we didnโt get the ball to him. Did he get pushed? You can answer that. I donโt need the headline in your paper to say that I complained about the damn refs when I didnโt. We got our ass kicked, that is the headline.โย
ย
on John Tonjeโs performanceย
โI voted for him for player of the year in the league. We had to rank them, and I put Tonje one, [Braden] Smith from Purdue two. Very close, but I gave Tonje the nod. Thatโs how good I think he is.โย
ย
on moving on from this gameย
โItโs not the first time Iโve lost in my career. Like I said, itโs a bad matchup for us. Our big guys struggle to guard the perimeter. I alluded to the Michigan game, where Vlad Goldin hit a couple of threes, and Danny [Wolf] hit a couple. We just donโt have that type of team. Thatโs what it is. Whether you win or lose, you have to try to get better. We did not follow the game plan. The predictability was 50-50, on whether or not they were going to get hot against us. They lost three of their last five and shot 25 percent from the three-point line. I told the guys that they were probably going to get hot again. Thatโs just who they are. We cannot grab it and shoot it and try to match them, and thatโs what we did. That was the game. When we started doing that, playing like them instead of us, the game was over.โย
ย
UCLA guard Skyy Clarkย
on the teamโs performanceย against Wisconsin
โI think we came out too flat. We let their two best players hit some shots to get them comfortable and confident, and that just rolled over into the rest of the game. Thereโs not really much to say.โย
ย
on moving on from this lossย
โWe just have to come in and bring our own energy. If weโre not on the West Coast, the bench and the players just have to bring more energy and we have to play tougher.โ
ย
UCLA guard Sebastian Mackย
on guarding the three-point lineย
โTo be honest, we let them get comfortable too early. Once you get a team like that that can hit threes all over the floor, itโs hard to stop them. We didnโt do what we were supposed to do, game plan wise, we failed miserably at that. They just played comfortably, and they looked like it too. We looked like a team that came out flat and just stayed flat. Weโve got to work on not relapsing like what we did today.โ
ย
Wisconsin 86, UCLA 70
Big Ten Tournament, Quarterfinals
Indianapolis, Ind. (Gainbridge Fieldhouse)
March 14, 2025ย
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
on where the game went wrongย against Wisconsin
โYou have to give Wisconsin credit โ they shot the lights out. We all have weaknesses and there are teams that can shoot it at five positions. We donโt match up well with teams like that, and we havenโt all year. Michigan made shots like that. We donโt have an athletic lineup that can just switch and really shut them down. Theyโre a hard team, we would have to beat them with offense. I watch certain teams play and I can tell that theyโre a bad matchup for us. I knew the matchup was going to be a problem, so we were going to have to be a high-execution team today, and the message was, โWe know we canโt try to win a three-point shooting contestโ. So if they get hot, we canโt just grab it and shoot it and try to match them, and thatโs what we did. That was hammered into them from the minute we found out we were playing them โ we canโt do that. Case in point, we were losing at half at home when we played them. And we were shooting like 15 threes. In the second half, we shot five threes, and we were 15-20 from two. We shot over 60 percent and stopped trying to match them. We took the bait miserably, today. Theyโre a tough matchup for us.โย
ย
on William Kyle IIIโs performance
โIโd like to give William Kyle credit. I thought that he played incredibly hard and competed. Iโm really proud of him, and it doesnโt surprise me. He hasnโt had a lot of minutes lately, but thatโs who he is. It didnโt surprise me that he competed that way.โย
ย
on if Wisconsin did a better job of being physical against Aday Mara ย
โLook, the problem is that when I answer a question, then people say, โCroninโs complaining about travel, he wants to leave UCLA,โ which is ridiculous. But you and I are together every week. All I do is answer your question. I didnโt say that. I just answered your question, and also, โOh he hates to travel,โ I have never said that, ever. Iโm not leaving UCLA until they make me leave, OK? So please stop with that. I just answered your question. Now, if I answer that question, itโs going to seem like I am making an excuse. Are they more physical with Aday? So the problem is if I answer that, then I am making an excuse. And I am not, I am not going to answer that. You know the answer, so you answer it. And Iโm not making an excuse. They kicked out ass. We didn't throw the ball to him [Aday Mara] enough to really make it a factor. If I answer that, Iโm complaining. Losers blame the officials, winners know why they win. And then winners know why they lose too. I try to teach these guys, if you get your ass kicked, thatโs why you lost, and we took the bait and shot a bunch of threes, which I alluded to earlier. We shot 30 threes today, and thatโs not who we are, to your point. We donโt shoot it well enough for that. We didnโt move the ball, and we didnโt get the ball to him. Did he get pushed? You can answer that. I donโt need the headline in your paper to say that I complained about the damn refs when I didnโt. We got our ass kicked, that is the headline.โย
ย
on John Tonjeโs performanceย
โI voted for him for player of the year in the league. We had to rank them, and I put Tonje one, [Braden] Smith from Purdue two. Very close, but I gave Tonje the nod. Thatโs how good I think he is.โย
ย
on moving on from this gameย
โItโs not the first time Iโve lost in my career. Like I said, itโs a bad matchup for us. Our big guys struggle to guard the perimeter. I alluded to the Michigan game, where Vlad Goldin hit a couple of threes, and Danny [Wolf] hit a couple. We just donโt have that type of team. Thatโs what it is. Whether you win or lose, you have to try to get better. We did not follow the game plan. The predictability was 50-50, on whether or not they were going to get hot against us. They lost three of their last five and shot 25 percent from the three-point line. I told the guys that they were probably going to get hot again. Thatโs just who they are. We cannot grab it and shoot it and try to match them, and thatโs what we did. That was the game. When we started doing that, playing like them instead of us, the game was over.โย
ย
UCLA guard Skyy Clarkย
on the teamโs performanceย against Wisconsin
โI think we came out too flat. We let their two best players hit some shots to get them comfortable and confident, and that just rolled over into the rest of the game. Thereโs not really much to say.โย
ย
on moving on from this lossย
โWe just have to come in and bring our own energy. If weโre not on the West Coast, the bench and the players just have to bring more energy and we have to play tougher.โ
ย
UCLA guard Sebastian Mackย
on guarding the three-point lineย
โTo be honest, we let them get comfortable too early. Once you get a team like that that can hit threes all over the floor, itโs hard to stop them. We didnโt do what we were supposed to do, game plan wise, we failed miserably at that. They just played comfortably, and they looked like it too. We looked like a team that came out flat and just stayed flat. Weโve got to work on not relapsing like what we did today.โ
ย