Postgame Quotes – UCLA 79, Sacramento State 48
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 79, Sacramento State 48
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
November 18, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“Good win. I hate to see a player get hurt. I hope the best. Jeremiah Cherry went down holding his knee. That was me one time back in 1989, so I hate to see that. Here’s the story of the game – first half 33 deflections, second half, nine. The guys that started the game set the tone, that’s what they did in practice yesterday when they won by 20. They set the tone today. I gave the other guys a chance because they need to practice coming out of the locker room with more energy, and they didn’t get the job done. Our defensive rebounding continues to be a problem. We forced 41 misses, they [Sacramento State] got 14 of the 41. It seemed really bad to me. We’re not going anywhere if we don’t get better on the defensive backboard. Eric Dailey Jr. took it to heart. I think Steve Jamerson II was having a great game, but then he twisted his ankle. We’ll see tomorrow how he feels.”
on the effort given toward loose ball plays
“What I tell the team is, like we got beat the other night, that I have no problem losing on the scoreboard. I have a problem when I don’t think we played hard enough, or smart at the end of games. That I have a problem with. So, as Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon, ‘We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die my way’. I just can’t stomach playing any other way. I never had to ask Jaime Jaquez to dive on the floor. He struggles shooting, Adem [Bona] can’t shoot, and Jaylen Clark’s not a shooter, and they’re all in the NBA. And Tyger Campbell was the toughest dude of all time at 5’10”. That team was going to win a title. Not because of Mick Cronin, because those four guys, with Amari and Dave on my staff, those guys had unbelievable hardened toughness. Unbelievable. We played Colorado here one time – we were supposed to lose, and they had a good team. And they just started stealing every ball, it was unreal. It was unbelievable to watch. Now I’ll never forget that. Like we were supposed to lose that night. So, I mean do you want me to give out brownie buttons for guys diving on the floor? I don’t know.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s response after his injury to start the season
“Practice. He’s great in practice, he got 10 rebounds. Four assists, one turnover. The biggest problem in coaching, Mike [Bibby]’s got it now, because he’ll never coach a player as good as him. It’s an interesting conundrum as a coach. But they all think they’re going to be him, which is comical. It’s really, really hard, really, really hard, to get guys to realize, Eric Dailey’s rebounding as a college player will directly correlate to his chances of being a pro, I would say 20 times more than his scoring percentage. His rebound percentage. Because nobody is ever gonna run a play for him if he makes the NBA. Ever. But, you know, Eric’s a tough dude.”
on the likelihood of sticking with tonight’s starting lineup
“We’ll see how guys practice. Right now, we’re in a mode of trying to learn how to play hard enough to earn the jersey that they wear. I have great respect for the jersey. I left my hometown, and coaching at my alma mater, I feel terrible that they haven’t been to the tournament in a while, because of how much respect I have for UCLA basketball. And I try to respect that my players play with that kind of effort and show that same respect.”
on the nine deflections in the second half compared to 33 in the first
“I gave the guys to start the second half, and they didn’t set the tone. Their energy was low. The guys that brought the energy didn’t start the second half. So that goes into my assessing. How are we going to get off to a good start? A lot of coaches, like Tommy Lloyd doesn’t start [Anthony] Dell’Orso. Whether it’s that you’re trying to bring a sixth man off the bench, my feeling is, you better start the lineup that’s gonna play the best defense possible and not turn it over. We’re searching. It’s early. I tried to start my defensive lineup tonight. Gives you the best chance to get off to a good start, and I wanted to get off to a good start.”
UCLA junior forward Eric Dailey Jr.
on tonight’s starting lineup and how they practiced
“I think he just wanted to see a different group, to just go out there and bring energy to start the game off. I’m proud of the guys that started and proud of the guys who came in too, they kept it going. That just shows our level of intensity has to be higher to start the game off and the way we play on defense is the way we have to play all the time.”
on Coach Cronin’s message and how passes it to the team
“Whatever he says goes because I don’t know any better. That’s why I'm here. If I knew better, then I’d probably be somewhere else. So, just applying what Coach says really works. He knows what he’s talking about and he’s a great coach. At the end of the day just do exactly what he says. He doesn’t ask us to do anything we're not capable of doing.”
on who stood out and who he was proud of this game
“First off, I think Brandon Williams since he didn’t play last year and hasn’t really played since his freshman year. For him to start tonight, I think that’s a really big moment for him and his confidence, because we’re going to need him. Trent obviously since you guys have seen him first start against West Georgia, and it’s definitely carrying over and he’s doing what he’s supposed to do as a point guard. Jamar was bringing toughness, and even Steven too, until he got hurt. He was bringing energy on the boards. For those guys to be ready, it doesn't matter about who are the starters or who's on the bench. It’s about being ready at the end of the day, and being ready to play basketball regardless of if you start or come off the bench. It doesn't matter where you're at, as long as when you get in the game you're ready to play.
UCLA junior forward Xavier Booker
on what the team wanted to see after a loss to Arizona
“Just defending, staying in front of guys, and just rebounding. That’s the main thing. Coach gets on me about rebounding and just hitting the guy and blocking them out. I felt like just standing solid on defense, helping your teammate out whenever he gets beat. The main thing was just defense and rebounding.”
UCLA sophomore guard Trent Perry
on his mindset coming into the game
“Just go out there and give it my all and be confident. I felt like I kind of let my team in our last game against Arizona because I wasn’t too aggressive. I could have done better defensively getting more rebounds and things like that. I wanted to pick myself up and the team to just come out there with a lot of intensity on defense.”
on the starters vs. reserves in practice
“We were just battling it out and we looked up at the scoreboard and there it was. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if we’re all playing very hard in practice regardless. Whatever the teams may be one day, we are always going to play hard and we’re always competing no matter what.”
Sacramento State head coach Mike Bibby
on what he learned in the team’s toughest test of the season
“We learned how big, strong, and lengthy these guys are. We had a good second half. It was just that the shots didn’t fall. When the shots don’t fall, the game is gonna be like this. We were 13-of-54 from the field, and you’re not gonna win many games like that. I like how the guys came back and kept fighting in the second half. We lost the second half by six points. That’s why I wanted to play these big teams, to get ready for our conference, and see how basketball is played.”
UCLA 79, Sacramento State 48
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
November 18, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“Good win. I hate to see a player get hurt. I hope the best. Jeremiah Cherry went down holding his knee. That was me one time back in 1989, so I hate to see that. Here’s the story of the game – first half 33 deflections, second half, nine. The guys that started the game set the tone, that’s what they did in practice yesterday when they won by 20. They set the tone today. I gave the other guys a chance because they need to practice coming out of the locker room with more energy, and they didn’t get the job done. Our defensive rebounding continues to be a problem. We forced 41 misses, they [Sacramento State] got 14 of the 41. It seemed really bad to me. We’re not going anywhere if we don’t get better on the defensive backboard. Eric Dailey Jr. took it to heart. I think Steve Jamerson II was having a great game, but then he twisted his ankle. We’ll see tomorrow how he feels.”
on the effort given toward loose ball plays
“What I tell the team is, like we got beat the other night, that I have no problem losing on the scoreboard. I have a problem when I don’t think we played hard enough, or smart at the end of games. That I have a problem with. So, as Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon, ‘We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die my way’. I just can’t stomach playing any other way. I never had to ask Jaime Jaquez to dive on the floor. He struggles shooting, Adem [Bona] can’t shoot, and Jaylen Clark’s not a shooter, and they’re all in the NBA. And Tyger Campbell was the toughest dude of all time at 5’10”. That team was going to win a title. Not because of Mick Cronin, because those four guys, with Amari and Dave on my staff, those guys had unbelievable hardened toughness. Unbelievable. We played Colorado here one time – we were supposed to lose, and they had a good team. And they just started stealing every ball, it was unreal. It was unbelievable to watch. Now I’ll never forget that. Like we were supposed to lose that night. So, I mean do you want me to give out brownie buttons for guys diving on the floor? I don’t know.”
on Eric Dailey Jr.’s response after his injury to start the season
“Practice. He’s great in practice, he got 10 rebounds. Four assists, one turnover. The biggest problem in coaching, Mike [Bibby]’s got it now, because he’ll never coach a player as good as him. It’s an interesting conundrum as a coach. But they all think they’re going to be him, which is comical. It’s really, really hard, really, really hard, to get guys to realize, Eric Dailey’s rebounding as a college player will directly correlate to his chances of being a pro, I would say 20 times more than his scoring percentage. His rebound percentage. Because nobody is ever gonna run a play for him if he makes the NBA. Ever. But, you know, Eric’s a tough dude.”
on the likelihood of sticking with tonight’s starting lineup
“We’ll see how guys practice. Right now, we’re in a mode of trying to learn how to play hard enough to earn the jersey that they wear. I have great respect for the jersey. I left my hometown, and coaching at my alma mater, I feel terrible that they haven’t been to the tournament in a while, because of how much respect I have for UCLA basketball. And I try to respect that my players play with that kind of effort and show that same respect.”
on the nine deflections in the second half compared to 33 in the first
“I gave the guys to start the second half, and they didn’t set the tone. Their energy was low. The guys that brought the energy didn’t start the second half. So that goes into my assessing. How are we going to get off to a good start? A lot of coaches, like Tommy Lloyd doesn’t start [Anthony] Dell’Orso. Whether it’s that you’re trying to bring a sixth man off the bench, my feeling is, you better start the lineup that’s gonna play the best defense possible and not turn it over. We’re searching. It’s early. I tried to start my defensive lineup tonight. Gives you the best chance to get off to a good start, and I wanted to get off to a good start.”
UCLA junior forward Eric Dailey Jr.
on tonight’s starting lineup and how they practiced
“I think he just wanted to see a different group, to just go out there and bring energy to start the game off. I’m proud of the guys that started and proud of the guys who came in too, they kept it going. That just shows our level of intensity has to be higher to start the game off and the way we play on defense is the way we have to play all the time.”
on Coach Cronin’s message and how passes it to the team
“Whatever he says goes because I don’t know any better. That’s why I'm here. If I knew better, then I’d probably be somewhere else. So, just applying what Coach says really works. He knows what he’s talking about and he’s a great coach. At the end of the day just do exactly what he says. He doesn’t ask us to do anything we're not capable of doing.”
on who stood out and who he was proud of this game
“First off, I think Brandon Williams since he didn’t play last year and hasn’t really played since his freshman year. For him to start tonight, I think that’s a really big moment for him and his confidence, because we’re going to need him. Trent obviously since you guys have seen him first start against West Georgia, and it’s definitely carrying over and he’s doing what he’s supposed to do as a point guard. Jamar was bringing toughness, and even Steven too, until he got hurt. He was bringing energy on the boards. For those guys to be ready, it doesn't matter about who are the starters or who's on the bench. It’s about being ready at the end of the day, and being ready to play basketball regardless of if you start or come off the bench. It doesn't matter where you're at, as long as when you get in the game you're ready to play.
UCLA junior forward Xavier Booker
on what the team wanted to see after a loss to Arizona
“Just defending, staying in front of guys, and just rebounding. That’s the main thing. Coach gets on me about rebounding and just hitting the guy and blocking them out. I felt like just standing solid on defense, helping your teammate out whenever he gets beat. The main thing was just defense and rebounding.”
UCLA sophomore guard Trent Perry
on his mindset coming into the game
“Just go out there and give it my all and be confident. I felt like I kind of let my team in our last game against Arizona because I wasn’t too aggressive. I could have done better defensively getting more rebounds and things like that. I wanted to pick myself up and the team to just come out there with a lot of intensity on defense.”
on the starters vs. reserves in practice
“We were just battling it out and we looked up at the scoreboard and there it was. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if we’re all playing very hard in practice regardless. Whatever the teams may be one day, we are always going to play hard and we’re always competing no matter what.”
Sacramento State head coach Mike Bibby
on what he learned in the team’s toughest test of the season
“We learned how big, strong, and lengthy these guys are. We had a good second half. It was just that the shots didn’t fall. When the shots don’t fall, the game is gonna be like this. We were 13-of-54 from the field, and you’re not gonna win many games like that. I like how the guys came back and kept fighting in the second half. We lost the second half by six points. That’s why I wanted to play these big teams, to get ready for our conference, and see how basketball is played.”