Postgame Quotes - UCLA 86, Presbyterian 46
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 86, Presbyterian 46
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
November 21, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“We had 42 deflections tonight, and I thought the last couple games our team attitude has been something I could be proud of. It’s amazing how guys play better when they have the right attitude and the right approach to the game. Obviously, the game wasn’t in doubt. I think they had the cow on the ropes and I think they were tired. They had a long West Coast trip and this was their third game. Our defensive rebounding was the best it had been all year. They didn’t shoot it well, but they got some guys who can rebound. We really did our best defensive job on the backboard. We played the first 13 minutes of the second half with no turnovers. It was also the highest shooting percentage in a game of the last seven years of coaching.”
on sophomore Brandon Williams’ performance
“I think it was his best game of his career and especially as a Bruin. He had six deflections and seven rebounds. He knocks some shots in that we needed with Tyler [Bilodeau] down with injury.”
on the team’s scoring in the paint against Presbyterian
“When you score a lot of points, you get 50 in the paint. It’s hard to miss those. They were pressuring, so we were able to set some pressure release screens back on the ball near half-court which worked out for us. A couple handoffs that worked for us versus their pressure as well. I thought we passed it better to guys that were open in the interior, so it’s hard to miss those layups”
on getting players to buy into the system
“That goes week to week. You know it’s not easy to stay engaged. You have to recruit good guys – make sure they have good people around them that are going to be smart enough to tell them that I know more than their agent and their workout basketball trainer. That’s the number one thing. Number two is that it is a weekly thing. Even with great kids, because they start reading their press clippings and when the hungry dog gets the bone, they get complacent. We try talking about having the proper focus, attitude, and humility all the time. Kobe Bryant once said ‘Don’t ever listen to what people tell you how good you are until you retire.’ ”
on creating a positive attitude for this game
“Again, it comes down to picking the right guys. Then try to get them to understand the truth and that if they were that good then they wouldn’t be in school still. Jaylen Clark came in and told the team ‘No disrespect to any of you guys, but if you get into the NBA nobody’s going to run a play for any one of you. So, you better be good at the things he’s telling you.’ ”
UCLA senior guard Skyy Clark
on how the team responded to the message from Coach Cronin
“I thought we responded the correct way. I thought we had two really good practices, not just as a starting five, but as a team. I feel like that carried over into how we started the game today for sure.”
on what allowed for his strong performance this game
“My teammates trusting me, and just taking what the defense was giving me. There was a lot of open lanes. Coach said that they’re a “deny” team, so they leave a lot of gaps for drives. I just saw it and made the layup.”
on the team’s improved mindset
“Those are the things that we’ll have do to get to the national championship. We’ve got a lot of talent, but it’s really about who’s going to play the hardest – who is going to box out and dive on the floor for loose balls. I think that’s what is going to get us there.”
on what sparked his aggressiveness on offense:
“Again, my teammates just trusting me with the ball, and there were a lot of lanes that were open. That’s really it honestly.”
on how this UCLA team continues to come together
“We all have one common goal, like Coach Cronin says all the time. All these dudes, they have a great attitude. There’s not one guy I wouldn’t trust watching my dog, or anything like that. I really think that it’s a mindset thing, and the whole team’s got it. We want to get to the national championship and bring home that 12th ring.”
on how Coach Cronin’s coaching style and desire to excel motivates the team
“I mean, how can it not motivate you? We know he believes in us, not just as a team but as individuals. Like you said, he’s a straight shooter. You want someone like that in your life. For most of us, this is our last stop. After this, we’re not going to have someone who’s going to be on us like this. Very grateful to have someone like that for sure.”
UCLA redshirt sophomore guard/forward Brandon Williams
on what kind of work and preparation went into tonight being one of his best games
“I think just throughout my redshirt sophomore year and then coming to now, just staying down and putting in the work. I know my teammates trust me and they want me to be better. That’s really the mindset – just keeping my confidence and keeping my head down and working.”
on whether the mindset for tonight’s game was better than the past few games
“I would say, yeah, I think that we know what we need to do. We’re an older team. We all want to win. We all want to be successful, so we’re just coming together and doing what we have to do to win.”
on how Cronin’s coaching style and desire to put the team in the best position to win
“I would say I agree. That’s why everyone is here is here. Nobody wants a coach that’s going to sugarcoat it for them and not tell them what they need to get better at when they make mistakes. We need that.”
UCLA fifth-year guard Jamar Brown
on how he’s feeling the season is going for himself and the team so far
“For myself, I would say I’m just getting better in practice every day. Just listening to what the coaches want, and practicing against these guys every day and getting better. Learning a lot from them and learning a lot from the coaches – just getting better every day and progressing until we get to March Madness.”
on how he views his role on this team
“Yeah, just doing whatever the coaches want from me, whether that be defense, rebounding, shooting. I’m here to do whatever it takes to help this team win, whether that be the defensive little things or rebounding. I’m going to continue to do that kind of stuff. If that’s what he wants me to do, then I’m going to do it, and if that’s what’s going to continue to help us win, I’m going to keep doing it.”
Presbyterian head coach Quinton Ferrell
opening remarks
“It’s a top-25 team in the country on their home court. I thought we had some jitters and nerves. It took us a while to settle in. I thought they were really good defensively. They were playing really hard, they were playing really aggressive. It took us out of the stuff we were trying to do, we needed to slow down and execute a little bit better. Credit to their defense in the first half. We got off to a slow start. We actually made a run and did some good stuff in the middle, but we just couldn’t sustain it.”
on what the team can take from tonight’s game
“I think now, for us, when we put the schedule together, we’ve had a marathon in the first couple weeks of the season. We played eight games – it’s got to be the most in the country. We’ve had a really great start to the season. We’ve had a few buy games in there against Power-4 opponents. I think for us now, we get a slight break before we play again on Wednesday. We gotta get back, we gotta practice. We lost our starting point guard in the first game of this trip so that was really hard for our group just from an organization and running a team standpoint. I was pleased with what I saw from our point guard in the two games since the Sacramento State game. I do think that we have a chance to take off. I’m excited about the group and what I’ve seen tonight. I just challenged the guys, just to make sure that no matter if we’re up 10 or down 10, up 20 or down 20, that our competitive spirit, our attitude, and our fight is not condition-based. As long as we continue to learn that, I think we’ll be pretty good this season.”
UCLA 86, Presbyterian 46
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
November 21, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“We had 42 deflections tonight, and I thought the last couple games our team attitude has been something I could be proud of. It’s amazing how guys play better when they have the right attitude and the right approach to the game. Obviously, the game wasn’t in doubt. I think they had the cow on the ropes and I think they were tired. They had a long West Coast trip and this was their third game. Our defensive rebounding was the best it had been all year. They didn’t shoot it well, but they got some guys who can rebound. We really did our best defensive job on the backboard. We played the first 13 minutes of the second half with no turnovers. It was also the highest shooting percentage in a game of the last seven years of coaching.”
on sophomore Brandon Williams’ performance
“I think it was his best game of his career and especially as a Bruin. He had six deflections and seven rebounds. He knocks some shots in that we needed with Tyler [Bilodeau] down with injury.”
on the team’s scoring in the paint against Presbyterian
“When you score a lot of points, you get 50 in the paint. It’s hard to miss those. They were pressuring, so we were able to set some pressure release screens back on the ball near half-court which worked out for us. A couple handoffs that worked for us versus their pressure as well. I thought we passed it better to guys that were open in the interior, so it’s hard to miss those layups”
on getting players to buy into the system
“That goes week to week. You know it’s not easy to stay engaged. You have to recruit good guys – make sure they have good people around them that are going to be smart enough to tell them that I know more than their agent and their workout basketball trainer. That’s the number one thing. Number two is that it is a weekly thing. Even with great kids, because they start reading their press clippings and when the hungry dog gets the bone, they get complacent. We try talking about having the proper focus, attitude, and humility all the time. Kobe Bryant once said ‘Don’t ever listen to what people tell you how good you are until you retire.’ ”
on creating a positive attitude for this game
“Again, it comes down to picking the right guys. Then try to get them to understand the truth and that if they were that good then they wouldn’t be in school still. Jaylen Clark came in and told the team ‘No disrespect to any of you guys, but if you get into the NBA nobody’s going to run a play for any one of you. So, you better be good at the things he’s telling you.’ ”
UCLA senior guard Skyy Clark
on how the team responded to the message from Coach Cronin
“I thought we responded the correct way. I thought we had two really good practices, not just as a starting five, but as a team. I feel like that carried over into how we started the game today for sure.”
on what allowed for his strong performance this game
“My teammates trusting me, and just taking what the defense was giving me. There was a lot of open lanes. Coach said that they’re a “deny” team, so they leave a lot of gaps for drives. I just saw it and made the layup.”
on the team’s improved mindset
“Those are the things that we’ll have do to get to the national championship. We’ve got a lot of talent, but it’s really about who’s going to play the hardest – who is going to box out and dive on the floor for loose balls. I think that’s what is going to get us there.”
on what sparked his aggressiveness on offense:
“Again, my teammates just trusting me with the ball, and there were a lot of lanes that were open. That’s really it honestly.”
on how this UCLA team continues to come together
“We all have one common goal, like Coach Cronin says all the time. All these dudes, they have a great attitude. There’s not one guy I wouldn’t trust watching my dog, or anything like that. I really think that it’s a mindset thing, and the whole team’s got it. We want to get to the national championship and bring home that 12th ring.”
on how Coach Cronin’s coaching style and desire to excel motivates the team
“I mean, how can it not motivate you? We know he believes in us, not just as a team but as individuals. Like you said, he’s a straight shooter. You want someone like that in your life. For most of us, this is our last stop. After this, we’re not going to have someone who’s going to be on us like this. Very grateful to have someone like that for sure.”
UCLA redshirt sophomore guard/forward Brandon Williams
on what kind of work and preparation went into tonight being one of his best games
“I think just throughout my redshirt sophomore year and then coming to now, just staying down and putting in the work. I know my teammates trust me and they want me to be better. That’s really the mindset – just keeping my confidence and keeping my head down and working.”
on whether the mindset for tonight’s game was better than the past few games
“I would say, yeah, I think that we know what we need to do. We’re an older team. We all want to win. We all want to be successful, so we’re just coming together and doing what we have to do to win.”
on how Cronin’s coaching style and desire to put the team in the best position to win
“I would say I agree. That’s why everyone is here is here. Nobody wants a coach that’s going to sugarcoat it for them and not tell them what they need to get better at when they make mistakes. We need that.”
UCLA fifth-year guard Jamar Brown
on how he’s feeling the season is going for himself and the team so far
“For myself, I would say I’m just getting better in practice every day. Just listening to what the coaches want, and practicing against these guys every day and getting better. Learning a lot from them and learning a lot from the coaches – just getting better every day and progressing until we get to March Madness.”
on how he views his role on this team
“Yeah, just doing whatever the coaches want from me, whether that be defense, rebounding, shooting. I’m here to do whatever it takes to help this team win, whether that be the defensive little things or rebounding. I’m going to continue to do that kind of stuff. If that’s what he wants me to do, then I’m going to do it, and if that’s what’s going to continue to help us win, I’m going to keep doing it.”
Presbyterian head coach Quinton Ferrell
opening remarks
“It’s a top-25 team in the country on their home court. I thought we had some jitters and nerves. It took us a while to settle in. I thought they were really good defensively. They were playing really hard, they were playing really aggressive. It took us out of the stuff we were trying to do, we needed to slow down and execute a little bit better. Credit to their defense in the first half. We got off to a slow start. We actually made a run and did some good stuff in the middle, but we just couldn’t sustain it.”
on what the team can take from tonight’s game
“I think now, for us, when we put the schedule together, we’ve had a marathon in the first couple weeks of the season. We played eight games – it’s got to be the most in the country. We’ve had a really great start to the season. We’ve had a few buy games in there against Power-4 opponents. I think for us now, we get a slight break before we play again on Wednesday. We gotta get back, we gotta practice. We lost our starting point guard in the first game of this trip so that was really hard for our group just from an organization and running a team standpoint. I was pleased with what I saw from our point guard in the two games since the Sacramento State game. I do think that we have a chance to take off. I’m excited about the group and what I’ve seen tonight. I just challenged the guys, just to make sure that no matter if we’re up 10 or down 10, up 20 or down 20, that our competitive spirit, our attitude, and our fight is not condition-based. As long as we continue to learn that, I think we’ll be pretty good this season.”