Bruins’ Mick Cronin frustrated after first loss

On By Littum

22 UCLA Bruins failed to match the intensity of the New Mexico Lobos as they fell 72-64 on Friday night at a neutral site in Henderson, Nev. Sixth year.

A frustrating showing from the Bruins, who turned the ball over 21 times and failed to take care of the basketball on key possessions. There were points in the game for the Bruins to make a comeback, but those moments were hindered by costly turnovers that led to buckets at the other end.

Bruins coach Mick Cronin gave his overall thoughts on the performance, leading with the key statistic that hurt the Bruins the most.

“21 turnovers. It’s hard to beat division two teams with 21 turnovers,” Cronin said after the game. “Obviously, extremely disappointed, extremely disappointed with some of our guards, disappointed that we’re taking care of three things. You’ve got to defend, rebound, take care of the ball. We didn’t defend, we didn’t take care the ball.”

Cronin talked about the team’s intensity not reaching the level of their opponent. He is a very honest coach who will not sugarcoat things when there are problems. He made that known again after the match.

“We tried, but they don’t listen,” Cronin said. “They didn’t listen, they learned the hard way. But at the end of the day, I don’t blame them, (I) blame the coaching staff. We have to make sure they’re ready, we weren’t ready for the intensity of this Du could see clearly, it was very clear, I mean, Sebastian Mack was just making people take the ball away from him.

Mack is a sophomore guard who returns to a bigger role in his second year under Cronin. He finished with two points and three turnovers in nine minutes of action. He wasn’t the only Bruin to have a handful of turnovers.

“You get 21 turnovers, you lose by eight, what if you have 10, you have 11 more possessions,” Cronin said. “I mean, Dylan (G Dylan Andrews) and Sebastian throw the ball away for layups, just give it to them for layups. I told him ‘guys, we were better than last year,’ but we lacked talent. .”

the junior guard, Andrewshad a team-high six giveaways, added just four points and two assists. Cronin certainly expects more from one of his veterans. Andrews and Mack will surely learn from their early struggles and respond in a significant way.

Freshman guard Trent Perry received some valuable minutes and was one of the few bright spots in the loss. He chipped in with eight points, three rebounds and a pair of assists with just one turnover. Perry showed that he was involved in every play, a big reason why he played 23 minutes.

“He’s (Perry) young, I thought he did a solid job,” Cronin said. “I thought he went in and mixed it up, tried to get some loose balls and some rebounds. He got into the game, other guys were watching.”

The biggest takeaway from this brutal loss is that it happened so early in the year. The Bruins will have three more weeks to prepare for their first season in the Big Ten. Cronin and the rest of the coaching staff will analyze the issues and make the correct change for success going forward.

“It’s good to play a game early like this,” Cronin said. “Obviously, for me to assess where we are and what’s going to happen, I’m just getting a dose of reality.”

The Bruins will look to shake off the loss and move on to their next opponent when they return home to face Boston University on Monday, November 11th. Cronin’s group will certainly make adjustments and it will begin to show over the next few contests.

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