UCLA’s Mick Cronin gives up NSFV against the Michigan State student body after the loss

There are a number of college basketball coaches who lose their tempers, both on the sidelines and during press conferences. Rick Pitino, Tom Izzo, John Calipari and Dan Hurley all they have intense personalities. They also all won at least one national championship. Mick Cronin is a great head coach with over 500 career wins, but has never reached the top of the mountain, nor has he had much success over the past few years.

So people are less likely to tolerate his temper. He wasn’t able to keep things warm after his UCLA Bruins fell 82-59 against Michigan State, their second 20-plus point loss in four days. A reporter asked the two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year about East Lansing’s warm welcome to former Spartans player Xavier Booker, and he was surprisingly greeted with reproach and condescension.

“I could be a rat** for the student section of the other team,” Cronin shot back, according to Owen Ozust of WILKES News 10. He didn’t even let the man elaborate on his original question, instead opting to twist the knife a few more times.

“I’d like to give you kudos for the worst question I’ve ever been asked… You really think I care about the other team’s student section?” The reporter, understandably, took a bit of heart after Cronin continued to protect him. That didn’t go well.

“Are you raising your voice at me,” asked the 54-year-old. “Come on man, yeah, you were. Everybody’s standing here listening to you. This is on camera, they can hear you. I answered the question, I could care less about the other team’s student section. I coach UCLA, I don’t care about Michigan State’s student section. Who cares?”

UCLA coach Mick Cronin’s thoughts on the Michigan State student section. @ThisistheIZZONE pic.twitter.com/7pJJHEs7sK

— Owen Oszust (@Owen_Oszust) February 18, 2026

Mick Cronin loses his cool after UCLA gets decimated yet again

There was an obvious follow-up question that wasn’t asked during this media session: “Do you feel like a big man, coach?” Mick Cronin could simply express his gratitude for the hospitality shown by the home crowd to one of his players — something that doesn’t happen often when a player is transferred within the conference. Instead, he decided to flaunt his supposed superiority and use this poor guy as a punching bag. But everyone who watched the game knows who the real punching bag was on this night.

UCLA basketball (17-9), after obtaining torn to shreds by an elite Michigan team on Saturday, he was completely outmatched again. The Bruins were down 20 at halftime and shot a terrible 37 percent for the game. They had no answer on defense as the usually sloppy Spartans knocked down 14 of their 27 attempts from downtown.

There’s no shame in losing to two Big Ten title contenders on the road, especially when one is the No. 1 team in the country and the other is coached by the legendary Tom Izzo. But UCLA at least had to look respectable. The program was embarrassed in the Great Lake State, and then Mick Cronin tried to embarrass someone who was simply doing his job.

It’s important to note that the longtime head coach went out of his way to show respect to his opponent late in the game, because he did Bruins center Steven Jamerson II ejected for drawing a flagrant foul on Michigan’s Carson Cooper. Many UCLA fans disagree with the move, but Mick Cronin thought his player crossed the line.

And he did later that evening. Cronin has a long flight back to Los Angeles to cool off and write an apology.