Postgame Quotes – UCLA 78, Oregon 52
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 78, Oregon 52
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom)
January 30, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“Obviously, we jumped on them early, I thought that was the key. We came out of the gate being highly efficient on offense. Bittle had it going trying to match us, but our defense got better as the game went on. I’m sure Coach Altman would say that’s not their best game. 16th-ranked team in the country, so that’s obviously not their best game, I understand that. Jackson Shelstad, for him not to score, I don’t know if he’s not feeling well tonight, he didn’t take a shot in the second half. For the last month, he’s been one of the best guards in the country, so I’m not sure. But I’m very proud of our guys for this last stretch of games. It’s been a long grind for us since December, since we started in the Big Ten.”
on improvements that the team has made
“I’m really happy with our 19 assists. Our point guard play is elevating, Dylan’s playing great. Skyy’s got eight assists and his defense is elite.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.
“Eric Dailey is pretty dominant. Eric Dailey spends more time in the gym on his shooting and is the most dedicated guy I’ve ever coached on his diet, his rest, his commitment to what he’s trying to accomplish in basketball. And it pays off for him. It doesn’t surprise me when I see him do this because I’ve watched him do this since he moved to L.A. last May, a month early, before summer school, and was in the gym two hours a day. He was as good as you can be offensively.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s improved shooting
“He’s lifting his elbow, getting a little bit more arc. Keeping his head still. If you don’t keep your head still, it’s attached to your neck, attached to your shoulders, you’re going off balance. You watch all of the great shooters; they keep their heads still. You might fall out of it after you let go. Everything you tell [Eric Dailey Jr.] he takes to heart. We told him to keep his head still and to get more arc. But the guy lives in the gym. It doesn’t surprise me. He was a back breaker today when it was still a game.”
on Tyler Bilodeau
“It wasn’t his ankle late, he started cramping.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s leadership
“It’s always good to have somebody like that. Lazar is the same way, by the way. He’s a professional, and he’s been great for Aday because they share an apartment. He gives Aday a lights out time. It’s always good to have somebody like that, because it rubs off on your teammates. Especially when they see what he’s doing.”
on Skyy Clark’s defense
“Something wasn’t right with Jackson [Shelstad]. He’s a great player. But Skyy does a great job. I told the guys at half time, regardless of the situation, if you can take the other team’s best offensive player and shut him out, you’re going to win nine out of ten times. If you want to be a good defensive team, you have to be able to take the other team’s best player away.”
on giving the team a day off
“Coaching isn’t a science. I’m all for analytics, but there’s an art to it. My assistant coaches are great and they can’t wait until it’s their scout day, they want to start giving the players all of their info. But I told them, if you tell the players now, their heads will explode. They haven’t had a day off from the scouting report for a long time. They need to worry about maybe doing some schoolwork. It’s amazing, they actually go to school. You hear all about college athletics, but no one ever mentions academics. In recruiting, no one asks, nobody talks about it on talk shows. But our guys go to UCLA, the number one public institution in the country. It’s not easy.”
on tonight’s crowd
“It makes a huge impact. The students were awesome, the crowd was awesome. The players love it. I try to tell them their energy has to come from their bench, because you have to win on the road. You’ve got to be tough enough, but there’s no question that it helps.”
UCLA guard Dylan Andrews
on what frustrated the team the most during the game
“I wouldn’t say anything really frustrates us. It’s always next play. Especially when you have a dead ball.”
on Skyy Clark’s performance on defense
“I would say that his performance on defense was fantastic. His energy on the ball, his offense. It’s not too much to really say what he did, especially we kept our main focus with Jackson Shelstad. We kept him to 29 minutes and two points, when he has been their leading scorer over the last four or five games, and all credit to Skyy.”
on Aday Mara
“I really wanted him to get that lob down. Just having a guy like Aday, he’s 7’2” or 7’3”, he takes up so much space on the court. When he has the ball, there are not too many big guys who have the IQ of a guard or a wing like him.”
UCLA forward Eric Dailey Jr.
on building his routine
“I know what type of player I am. I need to stay in the gym. I’ve always been that kind of player since high school. It’s something that works for me, staying consistent in the gym. Doing the same thing every day. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy, just seeing the ball go in the hoop, that’s really it from a work ethic side. Just having that same mindset.”
on why the shots went down tonight
“I’ve been doing the same thing before the games and my teammates trust to make certain shots. The fans were there, it was good having the crowd, and that really gets the energy going. When crowds involved, the shots go in. I just think it's my teammates finding me and trusting me to hit the shots, that’s really it.”
on how it feels to get his shots in
“It’s good for the wins, it helps winning. Whatever I can do to help us win, whether it’s making shots, rebounding, defending, making one more pass to my teammates, I just like to help winning.”
on how Aday Mara affects the game when he’s on the court
“We can stretch out a little bit. Aday is a good passer so I can cut, and he sees everybody on the court. Just having a seven-footer in there it helps rim protection. He gives blocks, and he can rebound and dunk. It just helps us all out there having a bigger guy out there as well.”
on the play where Aday Mara threw him a pass on a breakaway for a dunk
“It was fun. I know Aday can pass so I said I’m taking off if he gets it, and I came out with the dunk. That shows Aday’s IQ right there, just being able to look up the floor as soon as he gets it. Big shout out to Aday for that.”
on the team coming together and the winning streak
“Slowly but surely, with each game, we are getting better. I think we are going to peak at the right time.”
Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman
opening statement
"We got out to a slow start. It was embarrassing to shoot four for twenty-three from the three. Lots of those were not good shots. We kind of made a run in the second half. We just have to play a lot better.”
on their three-point defense
“We didn’t have any deflections. Their ball movement was good and they basically got what they wanted.”
on their three-point shooting
“We just took some quick threes. Nobody was in position to rebound. We made some bad decisions. Right now, we are a poorly coached team. We started two for thirteen to start the game and we didn’t execute.”
on their plan moving forward
“We just have to play better, even on the defensive end. We just didn’t get it done tonight. The only area we won tonight was points in the paint. As a coaching staff, we have to demand not to take quick threes.”
on their upcoming game against Nebraska
“It’s going to be a tough game. We are not playing well right now. We just don’t have a lot of confidence.”
UCLA 78, Oregon 52
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom)
January 30, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“Obviously, we jumped on them early, I thought that was the key. We came out of the gate being highly efficient on offense. Bittle had it going trying to match us, but our defense got better as the game went on. I’m sure Coach Altman would say that’s not their best game. 16th-ranked team in the country, so that’s obviously not their best game, I understand that. Jackson Shelstad, for him not to score, I don’t know if he’s not feeling well tonight, he didn’t take a shot in the second half. For the last month, he’s been one of the best guards in the country, so I’m not sure. But I’m very proud of our guys for this last stretch of games. It’s been a long grind for us since December, since we started in the Big Ten.”
on improvements that the team has made
“I’m really happy with our 19 assists. Our point guard play is elevating, Dylan’s playing great. Skyy’s got eight assists and his defense is elite.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.
“Eric Dailey is pretty dominant. Eric Dailey spends more time in the gym on his shooting and is the most dedicated guy I’ve ever coached on his diet, his rest, his commitment to what he’s trying to accomplish in basketball. And it pays off for him. It doesn’t surprise me when I see him do this because I’ve watched him do this since he moved to L.A. last May, a month early, before summer school, and was in the gym two hours a day. He was as good as you can be offensively.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s improved shooting
“He’s lifting his elbow, getting a little bit more arc. Keeping his head still. If you don’t keep your head still, it’s attached to your neck, attached to your shoulders, you’re going off balance. You watch all of the great shooters; they keep their heads still. You might fall out of it after you let go. Everything you tell [Eric Dailey Jr.] he takes to heart. We told him to keep his head still and to get more arc. But the guy lives in the gym. It doesn’t surprise me. He was a back breaker today when it was still a game.”
on Tyler Bilodeau
“It wasn’t his ankle late, he started cramping.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s leadership
“It’s always good to have somebody like that. Lazar is the same way, by the way. He’s a professional, and he’s been great for Aday because they share an apartment. He gives Aday a lights out time. It’s always good to have somebody like that, because it rubs off on your teammates. Especially when they see what he’s doing.”
on Skyy Clark’s defense
“Something wasn’t right with Jackson [Shelstad]. He’s a great player. But Skyy does a great job. I told the guys at half time, regardless of the situation, if you can take the other team’s best offensive player and shut him out, you’re going to win nine out of ten times. If you want to be a good defensive team, you have to be able to take the other team’s best player away.”
on giving the team a day off
“Coaching isn’t a science. I’m all for analytics, but there’s an art to it. My assistant coaches are great and they can’t wait until it’s their scout day, they want to start giving the players all of their info. But I told them, if you tell the players now, their heads will explode. They haven’t had a day off from the scouting report for a long time. They need to worry about maybe doing some schoolwork. It’s amazing, they actually go to school. You hear all about college athletics, but no one ever mentions academics. In recruiting, no one asks, nobody talks about it on talk shows. But our guys go to UCLA, the number one public institution in the country. It’s not easy.”
on tonight’s crowd
“It makes a huge impact. The students were awesome, the crowd was awesome. The players love it. I try to tell them their energy has to come from their bench, because you have to win on the road. You’ve got to be tough enough, but there’s no question that it helps.”
UCLA guard Dylan Andrews
on what frustrated the team the most during the game
“I wouldn’t say anything really frustrates us. It’s always next play. Especially when you have a dead ball.”
on Skyy Clark’s performance on defense
“I would say that his performance on defense was fantastic. His energy on the ball, his offense. It’s not too much to really say what he did, especially we kept our main focus with Jackson Shelstad. We kept him to 29 minutes and two points, when he has been their leading scorer over the last four or five games, and all credit to Skyy.”
on Aday Mara
“I really wanted him to get that lob down. Just having a guy like Aday, he’s 7’2” or 7’3”, he takes up so much space on the court. When he has the ball, there are not too many big guys who have the IQ of a guard or a wing like him.”
UCLA forward Eric Dailey Jr.
on building his routine
“I know what type of player I am. I need to stay in the gym. I’ve always been that kind of player since high school. It’s something that works for me, staying consistent in the gym. Doing the same thing every day. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy, just seeing the ball go in the hoop, that’s really it from a work ethic side. Just having that same mindset.”
on why the shots went down tonight
“I’ve been doing the same thing before the games and my teammates trust to make certain shots. The fans were there, it was good having the crowd, and that really gets the energy going. When crowds involved, the shots go in. I just think it's my teammates finding me and trusting me to hit the shots, that’s really it.”
on how it feels to get his shots in
“It’s good for the wins, it helps winning. Whatever I can do to help us win, whether it’s making shots, rebounding, defending, making one more pass to my teammates, I just like to help winning.”
on how Aday Mara affects the game when he’s on the court
“We can stretch out a little bit. Aday is a good passer so I can cut, and he sees everybody on the court. Just having a seven-footer in there it helps rim protection. He gives blocks, and he can rebound and dunk. It just helps us all out there having a bigger guy out there as well.”
on the play where Aday Mara threw him a pass on a breakaway for a dunk
“It was fun. I know Aday can pass so I said I’m taking off if he gets it, and I came out with the dunk. That shows Aday’s IQ right there, just being able to look up the floor as soon as he gets it. Big shout out to Aday for that.”
on the team coming together and the winning streak
“Slowly but surely, with each game, we are getting better. I think we are going to peak at the right time.”
Oregon Head Coach Dana Altman
opening statement
"We got out to a slow start. It was embarrassing to shoot four for twenty-three from the three. Lots of those were not good shots. We kind of made a run in the second half. We just have to play a lot better.”
on their three-point defense
“We didn’t have any deflections. Their ball movement was good and they basically got what they wanted.”
on their three-point shooting
“We just took some quick threes. Nobody was in position to rebound. We made some bad decisions. Right now, we are a poorly coached team. We started two for thirteen to start the game and we didn’t execute.”
on their plan moving forward
“We just have to play better, even on the defensive end. We just didn’t get it done tonight. The only area we won tonight was points in the paint. As a coaching staff, we have to demand not to take quick threes.”
on their upcoming game against Nebraska
“It’s going to be a tough game. We are not playing well right now. We just don’t have a lot of confidence.”