The UCLA basketball team picked up a big win on Thursday night at home against Colorado. It was fairly close the entire game, but the Bruins did let up a couple big leads. They led by 13 at one point in the second half, and they also led by seven with two minutes to play and let the Buffaloes make things tighter than they needed to be. Still, UCLA got the win, and the Bruins improved to 14-11 overall and 9-5 in conference play.
UCLA basketball did not start this season strong, but they have now won six games in a row and seven of their last eight. The Bruins are turning things around, and they are just 1.5 games back of first place in the Pac-12. Still, UCLA didn’t start the game off very strong, and Mick Cronin wasn’t happy about it.
“I would love for it to translate, but it won’t,” Mick Cronin said after the game in regards to playing Utah this weekend, according to an article from uclabruins.com. “Everything is a learning experience for us, what I try to tell our guys is it does not translate. We were not ready to play defensively in the first three minutes of this game, and I lost it. I went after a few guys and pulled a few guys aside; they started the game with two point-blank layups. It’s a concern because it is a long year, and the goal is to get your team ready on game night, not practice. This late in the year it is more like the pros because they are worn down, we came out flat, and I lost it, but I give the kids credit they responded.”
Not only did UCLA basketball not start the game well, but they also didn’t end it very well. After leading by seven with two minutes left, it looked over, but Colorado made it a one score game again.
“Well, we made it interesting,” Cronin said. “Colorado’s got a really, really good ball club. I have all the respect in the world for Tad Boyle as a coach. They hurt us with the back door, they hurt us with a couple of curls. We gave up some uncharacteristic layups that were really, really bad for my health. Dr. Ben Ansel at UCLA Medical is probably really concerned with me right now because he’s a big fan, if you were watching me. I don’t take too kindly with us breaking down with layups. But I also give them credit for that. At the end of the day, [Sebastian Mack] got us a few buckets, we ran a play for Lazar [Stefanovic] – he hit a big three on an off-night for him. But we got eight more shots than them, we’re plus nine on turnover margin and plus four on the offensive rebound margin. They had zero fast break points. They’re a top 30 team in the country on fast break points. I still think we’ve got to get better on offense so we can get away from people. But obviously a great win for us. We forced 14 turnovers; we forced nine in the first half. That was big.”
Obviously, things have gotten a lot better for UCLA as of late, but Cronin is still looking for ways for his team to improve.
“More points,” Cronin said in regards to how the offense can be better. “We don’t have enough assists. They (Colorado) did some good stuff. They do what I call emergency switch. When we were going to hurt them with the pick and roll, they switched it. When we weren’t going to hurt them, they were able to get through but they didn’t switch. That’s what really good defensive teams do. So I thought they had some really good late switches, and then we couldn’t get Adem [Bona] the ball in the second half. And that’s on me. I’ve got to get him more touches. We’re better the more he gets the ball.”
UCLA basketball is finding their stride, and we’ll see if they can continue their winning streak on Sunday when they host Utah at home.
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