Mick Cronin reveals a shocking fact after the win in Illinois

ByNBAUSA



All’s well that ends well, but UCLA’s head coach Mick Cronin sure didn’t like how his Bruins started Saturday’s home game against Illinois.

The Illini had a clear, if narrow, edge early in the Big Ten clash. But about five minutes in, they quickly picked themselves up and started running UCLA off the floor. For more than six minutes, Illinois completely dominated the Bruins, outscoring them 20-0 to take a 33-10 lead just over 10 minutes into the first half.

After the game, Cronin explained how bad it is it turned offensive for his team as Illinois continued to pull away.

“We didn’t run a single thing that we practiced for the first 10 minutes because we were upset because they were shooting,” Cronin said in a postgame press conference. “And I just thought — I was worried before the game because, you know, everybody’s got all the answers behind the keyboard. And these kids read that stuff. I’m oblivious, but I could see it — I didn’t like the look on their faces before the game. I think it was almost like they lost confidence. And we played so early, we told them like that until I wasn’t. Your career, guys, nobody’s carrying a gun, let’s play ball. I’m trying to get them to relax.”

Despite a big run from Illinois, the Bruins were within seven by the end of the first half. The deficit just kept shrinking until UCLA tied the game and eventually took a small lead. It couldn’t last, however, as Keaton Wagler made a pair of free throws with less than 20 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

Fortunately for the Bruins, some heroes were on their side as well. With 4.9 seconds left and a point, Donovan Dent took a pass at one end of the court and raced to the other, darting between and around defenders to set the game winner as time ran out.

With the win, UCLA is now 18-9 on the season and 10-6 in Big Ten play. On Saturday, the Bruins picked up back-to-back wins shameful losses on the roads in Michigan against the Wolverines and Michigan State.

UCLA plays its penultimate home game on Tuesday against arch-rival USC before heading to Minnesota for a weekend with the Golden Gophers.





2026-02-22 09:06:00

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