UCLA Basketball: Why Mick Cronin Appreciated First Tough Early Season Game, Despite Loss

The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team was handed their first loss of the season at the Maui Invitational on Monday, falling 71-69 to Marquette. It was a hard-fought game until the very end, and the Bruins just missed some changes to take it over. They made up for it with a 76-48 victory over Chaminade in the consolation bracket on Tuesday, and will face Gonzaga today.

Going up against the fourth-ranked team in the country, the Bruins did their best to stay competitive. They are a very young squad this season, so mistakes were bound to happen at some point.

Head coach Mick Cronin wasn’t sweating the loss to Marquette and even appreciated how tough the game was. He understands that games like this can really impact a young team in a great way.

“Games like this are good for you,” Cronin said. “It tells you the truth.”

Per Lauryn Olina Wang of The Daily Bruin

The Bruins showed that they could handle the pressure against a tough team, and that is what Cronin is looking for from his squad this early in the season. They can take lessons from this game and apply them moving forward to make sure that they execute if in the same situation.

Sophomore power forward Adem Bona gave his thoughts on how the game went, and even he said that they lost themselves a little at the end.

“We got distracted a little bit and lost sight of the game plan we had,” Bona said. Towards the end of the game, we got back into the game plan.”

Per Lauryn Olina Wang of The Daily Bruin

Even in defeat, the Bruins showed who they were and fought to the end. It was a solid showing from them, and losses are to be expected throughout the year. But it’s how they recover from those losses that will show what kind of team they really are.

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