UCLA head coach Mick Cronin remained calm and collected in his team’s win over Arizona on Saturday. The Bruins had to break down the Wildcats’ 13-point lead in the second half before they could manage to seal the game, 57-54.
The two teams have played their finest games against each other at the McKale Center in Tucson, but their most recent encounter took place at the home of the Phoenix Suns, Footprint Center. However, the venue change did not faze Mick Cronin at all.
Alongside Bruins’ junior guard Skyy Clark, Cronin made his feelings clear at the postgame media conference. He answered a question about the difference between playing at the Footprint Center and the McKale center in terms of the audience reactions.
“Well, I thought the crowd was great. Restaurants are better here [in Phoenix],” said the Bruins head coach.
Mick Cronin also busted the myth about playing road games with a hostile crowd. When asked if there was a difference in the crowd from one venue to another, Cronin replied, “No, no, we could care less.
Cronin added, “Really, we won at Oregon last week. I think that stuff is vastly overrated.”
UCLA’s game against Arizona was considered a neutral-site game, making them 1-1 this season in neutral-site games. So far, the one true road game the Bruins have played was at Oregon, which they won. They played the majority of their games at home, where they are currently 7-0.
Mick Cronin praised Skyy Clark following Arizona win
Despite the struggles they faced in their matchup against the Arizona Wildcats, Mick Cronin’s UCLA Bruin managed to whittle down their opponent’s lead and run away with the victory.
Sitting down with Skyy Clark for a postgame media conference, Cronin talked about persevering despite their turnovers.
“While obviously not a pretty game—we combined for 36 turnovers and six made threes—so, obviously not a thing of beauty for either one of us, we persevered in the end,” Mick Cronin said.
The Bruins head coach also praised their junior guard, calling him “their smartest player.”
“Skyy made a great play on the offensive rebound and [was] smart enough to dribble it out. He’s probably our smartest player. I was happy for him, obviously, he had a big game today,” Cronin added.
The Bruins’ victory over the Wildcats marked their ninth win in their ten opening games of the season. Clark and junior forward Tyler Bilodeau led the charge for the Bruins, finishing the game with 15 and 17 points, respectively. Senior guard Kobe Johnson worked on both ends of the court, collecting seven points and seven rebounds along with four assists in 37 minutes of game time.
Saturday’s game between UCLA and Arizona was their first non-conference meeting since leaving the Pac-12. Arizona has since been in the Big 12 while UCLA moved to the Big Ten before the start of the current season.
After making it to the AP Top 25 for the first time this season in last week’s poll, UCLA jumped six places to 18th this week. Meanwhile, the Wildcats had fallen out of the AP Top 25 weekly poll for the first time in three years prior to Saturday’s game, and their defeat at the hands of the Bruins only served to add to their woes.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
