WATCH: Mick Cronin, UCLA Players on Beating St. Mary's in NCAA Tournament
UCLA men's basketball coach Mick Cronin, guard Tyger Campbell, guard Jules Bernard and guard Johnny Juzang spoke with the media following their 72-56 win over No. 5 seed St. Mary's in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.
Cronin gave an update on guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who went down with an ankle injury, and also talked about how so many Bruins elevated their games. The players talked about seeing Jaquez go down, what they did to close the win out without him and how they were able to start knocking down shots in the second half.
Opening statement
Mick Cronin: First of all, congratulations to Randy. A great coach, what he's accomplished at St. Mary's. I was thinking about this, I'm probably coaching against a guy that's either going to have a statue in front of the arena, or at the very least, his name on the court for what he's accomplished. They had an unbelievable year. They haven't lost in over two months to a team not named Gonzaga. And they'd also beaten them in the time, who's obviously ranked No. 1 in the nation. So it was a great win for us. Best-case scenario, Logan Johnson played great, and we still won. I love him dealer. But these guys performed. Coach Palmer had a great plan defensively with his scout. I'm very lucky to have him, we're all lucky to have him. And these guys performed today. So they all stepped their games up. Cody's out on the radio, but these guys all shot over 50 percent, sitting up here. And made big-time plays. And more importantly, they got to the foul line, too. Tyger has just been a dominant player. That, and we played the whole game with six turnovers. So that's a marketed way we play. It makes it hard to score on us, because we just don't give easy baskets. We make you play five-on-five because we don't give the ball away. So it was a great win for us.
Playing together as a team, five players in double figures and closing out the game after Jaime went out?
Johnny Juzang: Yeah, no, the togetherness has been great. You can just feel it. I know all of us can. So it's really fun to play that way, man. We love playing with each other. We love to go out there and compete. And we're just playing to win. And it's the best feeling, man. Especially in March, man. It's -- we have so much fun.
Defensive adjustments or something click midway through the first half?
MC: I think, you know, sometimes it's just our guys. You know, we're a game plan specific team. Kind of like the Patriots defensively. Like, we don't always just play cover two. So our pick-and-roll coverage was much different today than we do most of the time. And I gotta give coach Palmer all the credit for that. I think it just took some time for them to get in the rhythm of doing it and stepping up our intensity. But I think they were – coach Lewis – whatever they were to start the game, six for nine, from that point on, they were 13 for 40. So quick math, 30, 31 percent, so, the rest of the game. They're a high efficiency team. They've got a lot of shooters, great coach. So we tried to make them into a non-passing team and make guys score on us off the dribble. But that's was, obviously -- that's when the game changed. That, and these guys, like I said, these guys, they performed. Because St. Mary's is a great defensive team, now. And what did we shoot for the game, 65 percent? Like that don't happen against them. But these guys, they put the ball in the basket and they played these guys to the foul line.
Coach, I wanted to ask about Jaime Jaquez's first half. He pretty much couldn't be guarded down there. Was there an element of just kind of letting him go at that point?
MC: Yeah, I was wondering what Randy was going to do. They're a walnut team, he's a coach Majerus disciple. So I was hoping that that would work. Because they don't even trap Drew Timme sometimes. So I was hoping they would give him one-on-one coverage. I liked our chances. These guys will tell you, we got a lot of faith in him, you give him one-on-one coverage. Koloko has been the only guy that gives him trouble. And he's a first-round pick at seven-foot. We just tried to ride that. And at halftime, we talked about the trap's coming. I mean, they're going to adjust, they're going to converge much harder on him. I think he got a couple of turnovers. But then these guys all took over from that point on. We started running some more off-the-ball screens for Johnny and Jules. And we thought we could get them open off screens today. The big guys did a good job. They knocked down the shots.
How did you see Jaime's injury and can you talk about his impact on the team and what you're missing when he's not out there?
MC: We got until Friday to play. And trust me, if he can walk, he'll play. I know him. He'll probably -- most guys that have what he has would have sat the rest of the season out. So he's got some issues. He's had, plus -- yeah, he's had so many sprained ankles, I don't know how much he can sprain it anymore. So we'll see. Fortunately, we got until next Friday. He – obviously, we play through him a lot on offense. But I just told Jaylen Clark and Peyton, these guy will tell you, these guys got talent and these guys are still playing. So, obviously, you want Jaime to be healthy. But if he's not, we got other guys we can play. As you saw down the stretch, Jalen Clark has had some big-time games for us. And Peyton is really playing well of late, really playing well of late. His defensive and length, it makes a big, big difference for us. And he's just slowed down offensively. So when he doesn't turn it over, I can keep him out there, so. But hopefully he plays. But to answer you, what he gives to our team, he's one of the best players in the country.
This question is for Tyger. Considering how close you guys are, what did it mean emotionally to see Jaime down?
Tyger Campbell: You know, it's rough whenever a guy goes down on either team. But to see Jaime go down, I was watching him. It was good to see him to be able to walk off the court. Our guys were helping him. And so, all we can do is come together. He's going to get the treatment he needs, he's going to get the rehab he needs, and hopefully he'll be good by Friday.
Question for the players and the coaches. Initial thoughts about making the Sweet 16 in Philadelphia against North Carolina?
MC: Well, we were supposed to play them, but we all got COVID in December. I went down first, then you got it, then it was Jules. And then it just started down the line. We were supposed to play in Vegas, so now we're going to play in Philly with the season on the line. That's all. But I would say, the way they're playing – when we went through our walk-through today, they were up 25. So I was curious as to who the heck the one seed was, from what I was watching. They got McDonald's All-Americans. And Hubert Davis, by the way, is one of the great guys in basketball. So I knew him as an announcer. So they're playing well. To beat Baylor, who's top five. They beat Duke at Duke. Can't be playing – beat Marquette. You can't be playing better than Carolina is playing. They're shooting the lights out.
This is for coach. I know it wasn't just a random switch, but what went into the idea to have Cody Riley defend Kuhse, because he was very effective against him?
MC: Yeah, Cody did an unbelievable job. We just thought they do such a good on job in their pick-and-roll defense, in their pick-and-roll offense trace, that if you try to get over, he hits the roll guy. If you try to help off the wings on the rollers, he hits the shooter. If you dare him to drive it and score, he drives it and scores. So we just felt we had to switch it and make them play one-on-one. We tried to take his pick-and-roll game away from him and try to make him an iso one-on-one player. That's why Cody played more than Myles. Because, obviously, Cody being smaller. And he's played that way with us when we've had to do it. It's, obviously, harder for Myles, as tall as he is. We were also prepared, as a coaching staff, to go super small with Jaylen Clark at the five, if we needed to. We just thought their pick-and-roll offense was devastating. We watched them carve people up for the last 24 hours. So Cody did an unbelievable job on that.
For all three of you, you held them scoreless six and a half minutes in the first half. What did that feel like out there, and how much did you guys just kind of build on the intensity of the way you were playing defense and want keep that going?
Jules Bernard: You know, they started off hot, obviously. But just -- I feel like in a lot of our games, once we start picking up our energy on defense and getting deflections, getting steals, riling teams on offense. There was one possession where I think they almost had a 24 – is it 30, yeah – and our bench was going crazy. So I think that was like one of the momentous plays and from there, we just kept our energy up on defense and kept making plays on offense. And just building momentum throughout the game really helped us, so...
Jules, you had some huge 3s down the stretch there. Can you just talk about your play and how you were feeling out there?
JB: I felt good. I felt like the first three in the second half, Johnny made a great drive and kicked it out. That's something that we preached, you know, drive to pass for this game. And he made a great pass, I was wide open and knocked it in. And just my teammates finding me and being aggressive. That's about it. In this stage, it's on the players to perform and we all did that. So that's just the main focus.
This is for Tyger. What does Jaime mean to this team?
TC: Well, I think coach already answered it. He's one of the best players in the country. So in having one of the best players in the country on your team, you know, he's going to bring a lot. He brings defensive grit. Offensively, he's a matchup nightmare. And he can hit the open shot. He's just a really good all around player, and he brings toughness to our team, as well.
MC: Bill, you might want to look because we've played a lot without him, unfortunately, this year. I can't just remember -- these guys have all been hurt. There was some five or six games now with our whole team. So it would be back to normal for us if he didn't play. It's been going on all year. But, obviously, we hope he does. But I can't remember how many he missed.
Johnny, there was a stretch there in the second half you made three straight midrange jumpers. Are you starting to feel more into a rhythm after coming back from that injury?
JJ: Yeah, man, trying to, but really, I just got great looks. The sets that we were running for those plays, and then my teammates finding me, and the big men just hitting me so wide open. They were screening and I was pretty wide open. No, feeling good, man. Just trying to build up. But it's my teammates finding me and getting good looks.
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