UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast: End of the Road for Bruins

In the latest episode of the UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast, Madeleine Considine dives into the Bruins’ second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Tennessee.

As the final horn echoed through Rupp Arena, the scoreboard told the story: UCLA 58, Tennessee 67. For Mick Cronin, it wasn’t just the end of a game. It marked the conclusion of a long, grueling season defined by resilience, growth and unrelenting effort.

Sitting at the podium well past midnight, Cronin didn’t sugarcoat it.

“Our season just ended. …Right now, my biggest concern is how bad the seats are on the flight, on that terrible plane that we're going on to fly home tomorrow,” Cronin said plainly.

“And is there any chance that Doug got me some hot food, because I don't eat on game day, that I got something edible.”

You can watch the episode below:

Behind the sharp humor was a coach who, in many ways, had given everything to squeeze every ounce out of his seventh-seeded Bruins, a team that had battled its way through a turbulent Big Ten slate and made it into the NCAA Tournament’s second round.

But Saturday night belonged to Tennessee.

“They’re a hell of a team,” Cronin said, praising the second-seeded Volunteers. “There was a time they were No. 1 in the country, I think. … You aren’t going to win when you score 58 points.”

Junior guard Skyy Clark picked up two quick fouls and was forced to sit for 17 minutes in the first half. Without their primary ball handler, UCLA struggled to find an offensive rhythm, and while Clark came out firing in the second half, finishing with a season-high 18 points, the damage had been done.

“We got off to a terrible start,’ Cronin said. “We were stopping them, and I don't have the first-half stats, but I think they had nine or 10 offensive rebounds at halftime. Our defense couldn't have been much better early, but we didn't do a good job on the glass in the first half for sure.”

The Volunteers strung together a 22-6 run spanning both halves, turning a back-and-forth battle into a commanding lead. The Bruins never quite recovered.

“I told our guys that this game was going to be won by other things — who gets the ball when it comes off the rim, who is strong with the ball,” Cronin said. “They screened better than we screened.”

Despite the disappointment, Cronin wasn’t ready to shift his focus to the future.

“Right now, guys, it's 12:40 a.m. … You're going to ask me about next year,” he said. “Not next year, not right now.”

The Bruins end their season 23-11 overall, with a 13-7 record in their first full Big Ten campaign. They reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time under Cronin and once again proved they could battle with the nation’s best.

But the sting of the ending was unmistakable.

The Bruins may have exited the tournament stage on Saturday, but their coach made one thing clear: the fight, the fire, the hunger, it never leaves. Not for a program like UCLA. Not for a coach like Mick Cronin.

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