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UCLA men’s basketball guard/forward Jaime Jaquez, guard Tyger Campbell and center Myles Johnson talked to reporters after the Bruins’ 98-63 victory over North Florida on Wednesday. The three players talked about the team's turnaround midway through the first half and how prepared they feel heading to Las Vegas to rematch No. 1 Gonzaga next week. 

Imposing presence on defense?

Myles Johnson: Well yeah definitely, coach Cronin always emphasizes I’m always the biggest person out there, and I think today I made that pretty well known. It definitely helped the team a lot, getting offensive rebounds, kicking it out. I’m surrounded by amazing shooters. Even on defense, just getting a rebound so I can push it out and start our offense. It just felt like the game (inaudible). It felt good.

Improved 3-point shooting?

Tyger Campbell: Well this summer I just really worked on it. I worked on my base and holding my follow through and a couple different things, but coach has just told me he has confidence in me and he just tells me to go and he doesn’t really restrict me at all. He trusts me with the shots I take and I just try to take the right ones and the open ones.

Four double-digit scorers outside of you?

Jaime Jaquez Jr.: I think that just says a lot about our team and how unselfish we are. It doesn’t really matter whose night it is. We’re all going to share the ball, we’re all going to the shots that we want to get. It just speaks to the unselfishness I think of our team.

Pump fake signature move?

JJJ: I think it's really effective. Coach always preaches, 'Get off two feet. And stick your second foot down and plant so you can go up strong.' That's also something that I've also done since I was a kid too, try to get the pump fake, get guys to jump and draw fouls. That's just something that's always been a part of my game.

How much further defensively do you have to go to beat a team like Gonzaga?

JJJ: We have a lot more to go. We got some practice days ahead of us, where we're going to go back to practice and sharpen up our defense and our mentality of where we need to be on the floor.

Anything notable said in the timeout before the run to end the first half?

TC: I don't think there was anything said that I can remember from Coach. But we just looked up and we huddled coming out of that and we were just preaching, 'Defense, defense, defense.' So our defense led to some offensive opportunities, and we're just grateful for that.

This article first appeared on FanNation All Bruins and was syndicated with permission.

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