Postgame Quotes - UCLA 97, UC Riverside 65
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 97, UC Riverside 65
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
December 23, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on UCLA utilizing a three-guard lineup
“I think you have to get your best players on the court, by any means. I played Skyy too much and I didn’t get Donovan enough minutes, but I knew we were going to win. I was trying to balance minutes a little bit better. I wanted to make sure I got Trent over 20 minutes today.”
on the three-guard lineup and using that in Big Ten play
“Yes, I don’t worry about that because they got nothing to do with our rebounding. We got Trent who is 6-4, and I played Kobe Johnson. I don’t think that’s the issue by any stretch of imagination. I think the issue is if you play small, you have to be a tremendous offensive team. You’re playing small because you’re going to spread the floor. I watch somebody like Houston, who plays small with two point guards. They’re as good as I, maybe I've ever seen, Coach Sampson’s team offensively. They put up almost 100 points on Arkansas the other day. I watched Arkansas beat Texas Tech and they’re pretty good, they get NBA players, so when you have talented guards and you spread the floor, then you are harder to defend.”
on Jamar Brown being an offensive spark in the game
“He always does and he was just a tremendous find in the portal. Because of the school he came from, people ripped us on their websites. They think we need someone from NC State or somewhere else. They like him now, don’t they? I got friends who are NBA scouts that like him. They care about making threes, playing defense, and unreal hustle. If he was a little bit bigger then he’d be a lock for sure. Jamar always gives us great toughness, and he is just a winning player.”
on Tyler Bilodeau’s career-high 34-point effort on Tuesday
“He shouldn’t have missed the seven shots he missed, since it was a couple fadeaways. They don’t double team, so I told him you got one night here to where you’re just going to keep dribbling until you shoot. Just go out and have fun.”
on Trent Perry’s performance against UC Riverside
“Trent is a good player. He told me he stepped on somebody or something, so I had to take him out. He would have played more in the second half, but I don’t know if you saw him limping. I think he keeps passing up open threes, which really irritates me and he knows it. What happens is when you do that in the Big Ten when you dribble when you’re supposed to shoot, you’re going to turn it over. I don’t care what your name is, if it’s LeBron or Russell, you are going to turn it over. You have to shoot when you should shoot, and the guys that know that are the best players in the world. Those are the guys that everybody is looking for that can make the right decision with the ball.”
UCLA senior Tyler Bilodeau
on his increase in playing at the five position and how that affects the team
“I’m used to it. I played the five last year, so wherever coach needs me, I’ll play. With the three-guard lineups, I think it’s good. We can get out, run, transition, we’re fast. We can switch on defense – just have to keep working.”
on continuing to score at a high level when entering Big Ten play
“I think I have to keep trusting my teammates, my coaching staff – keep trusting my work. Trying to play the right way. But the biggest thing I care about is winning, so whatever we need to do to get that done.”
on his connection with guard Skyy Clark
“It’s great. We played together last year, and then carrying it over this year, we’ve gotten a feel for each other’s game. We know where we like it on the court, and we have to keep trying to build that chemistry and trying to win games.”
on any challenges with rebounding responsibilities while operating in a three guard lineup
“I don’t know, I think B [Brandon Williams] is a pretty tough guy. He gets in there. He’s scrappy, so I don’t think it should be [difficult]. I think it just comes down to our mindset [with] all five of us. Coaches talk about team rebounding. I think it could be anyone getting involved, but I don’t worry about that too much.”
UCLA sophomore Trent Perry
on playing in a three-guard lineup and how that helps the team
“Whatever the team needs, I’ll do it. Whatever lineup works. Tyler’s at the five. He’s been playing the five a lot recently, and he’s been getting open looks. In the three-guard lineup, we’ve been pushing in transition a lot more. We’re just finding the groove before the Big Ten. Whatever it takes to win.”
on how prepared they are to resume Big Ten play on January 3 (at Iowa)
“I think we still need to get better every day. We have this break coming up. It’s going to be good for us to relax, recharge – kind step away from basketball for a minute. Then we have to get right back to work. I think we have Iowa on the road for our first game of Big Ten, and we’ve just got to get better. Every day.”
on Coach Cronin’s remarks that he has been passing up shots
“I’m just trying to find a balance between being a facilitator and being a scorer. I’m able to do both on the floor. Today, I was trying to just get into the paint a little more and try to complete plays for others. There are some games where I have to shoot the ball. This game, I was trying to just get my assists up a little bit, make plays, and work on my decision making.”
UCLA fifth-year senior Jamar Brown
on the transition to playing under Coach Cronin and the spark he gave in the first half
“Getting better every day. I feel like it starts in practice, from the summer. Kind of just learning every day. The little things he’s teaching us. Even these guys in Skyy, Donovan, Eric – everybody, all of the returners. They are giving me a lot of good things to utilize in the games, things like that. Just listening to them, listening to him, and applying that into the games.”
on Skyy Clark having recently commented that he is the hardest-working player in practice
“Just with my energy and the way that I’m playing, whether that be from talking … I’m one of the older guys on the team, so communicating on defense and letting guys know that we need to pick up the energy. Having high energy in practice, and there’s no slacking off. You can’t slack off with Cronin. We’ve been doing a pretty good job with that. We're going to continue to get better.”
on his mindset when playing
“Defense, rebounding, doing the things that Coach Cronin and the coaching staff ask from me. I’m going to do that from the highest ability possible and do whatever it takes to win.”
UC Riverside head coach Gus Argenal
opening statement
“Our biggest thing is if we were going to come out and play hard, but I think in the first half we ran out of gas. When De’Undrae [Perteete Jr.] went out, it really had an effect on them [UC Riverside].”
on who stood out with his team this afternoon
“BJ Kolly and Osiris Grady really stood out and played their best for us. Unfortunately, they had four and five turnovers, respectively, but they were really ready to go. Drew [Andrew Henderson] was our leading scorer and was up all night with food poisoning, so he was really playing sick out there.”
on where his team goes from this point
“We have Big West play – our next 18 games and we’ll be fighting. We are 1-1 [in the Big West] now, so we’re in the middle of the pack. We want to be playing our best basketball in February, leading up to March and trying to compete for a Big West Championship.”
UCLA 97, UC Riverside 65
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial)
December 23, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on UCLA utilizing a three-guard lineup
“I think you have to get your best players on the court, by any means. I played Skyy too much and I didn’t get Donovan enough minutes, but I knew we were going to win. I was trying to balance minutes a little bit better. I wanted to make sure I got Trent over 20 minutes today.”
on the three-guard lineup and using that in Big Ten play
“Yes, I don’t worry about that because they got nothing to do with our rebounding. We got Trent who is 6-4, and I played Kobe Johnson. I don’t think that’s the issue by any stretch of imagination. I think the issue is if you play small, you have to be a tremendous offensive team. You’re playing small because you’re going to spread the floor. I watch somebody like Houston, who plays small with two point guards. They’re as good as I, maybe I've ever seen, Coach Sampson’s team offensively. They put up almost 100 points on Arkansas the other day. I watched Arkansas beat Texas Tech and they’re pretty good, they get NBA players, so when you have talented guards and you spread the floor, then you are harder to defend.”
on Jamar Brown being an offensive spark in the game
“He always does and he was just a tremendous find in the portal. Because of the school he came from, people ripped us on their websites. They think we need someone from NC State or somewhere else. They like him now, don’t they? I got friends who are NBA scouts that like him. They care about making threes, playing defense, and unreal hustle. If he was a little bit bigger then he’d be a lock for sure. Jamar always gives us great toughness, and he is just a winning player.”
on Tyler Bilodeau’s career-high 34-point effort on Tuesday
“He shouldn’t have missed the seven shots he missed, since it was a couple fadeaways. They don’t double team, so I told him you got one night here to where you’re just going to keep dribbling until you shoot. Just go out and have fun.”
on Trent Perry’s performance against UC Riverside
“Trent is a good player. He told me he stepped on somebody or something, so I had to take him out. He would have played more in the second half, but I don’t know if you saw him limping. I think he keeps passing up open threes, which really irritates me and he knows it. What happens is when you do that in the Big Ten when you dribble when you’re supposed to shoot, you’re going to turn it over. I don’t care what your name is, if it’s LeBron or Russell, you are going to turn it over. You have to shoot when you should shoot, and the guys that know that are the best players in the world. Those are the guys that everybody is looking for that can make the right decision with the ball.”
UCLA senior Tyler Bilodeau
on his increase in playing at the five position and how that affects the team
“I’m used to it. I played the five last year, so wherever coach needs me, I’ll play. With the three-guard lineups, I think it’s good. We can get out, run, transition, we’re fast. We can switch on defense – just have to keep working.”
on continuing to score at a high level when entering Big Ten play
“I think I have to keep trusting my teammates, my coaching staff – keep trusting my work. Trying to play the right way. But the biggest thing I care about is winning, so whatever we need to do to get that done.”
on his connection with guard Skyy Clark
“It’s great. We played together last year, and then carrying it over this year, we’ve gotten a feel for each other’s game. We know where we like it on the court, and we have to keep trying to build that chemistry and trying to win games.”
on any challenges with rebounding responsibilities while operating in a three guard lineup
“I don’t know, I think B [Brandon Williams] is a pretty tough guy. He gets in there. He’s scrappy, so I don’t think it should be [difficult]. I think it just comes down to our mindset [with] all five of us. Coaches talk about team rebounding. I think it could be anyone getting involved, but I don’t worry about that too much.”
UCLA sophomore Trent Perry
on playing in a three-guard lineup and how that helps the team
“Whatever the team needs, I’ll do it. Whatever lineup works. Tyler’s at the five. He’s been playing the five a lot recently, and he’s been getting open looks. In the three-guard lineup, we’ve been pushing in transition a lot more. We’re just finding the groove before the Big Ten. Whatever it takes to win.”
on how prepared they are to resume Big Ten play on January 3 (at Iowa)
“I think we still need to get better every day. We have this break coming up. It’s going to be good for us to relax, recharge – kind step away from basketball for a minute. Then we have to get right back to work. I think we have Iowa on the road for our first game of Big Ten, and we’ve just got to get better. Every day.”
on Coach Cronin’s remarks that he has been passing up shots
“I’m just trying to find a balance between being a facilitator and being a scorer. I’m able to do both on the floor. Today, I was trying to just get into the paint a little more and try to complete plays for others. There are some games where I have to shoot the ball. This game, I was trying to just get my assists up a little bit, make plays, and work on my decision making.”
UCLA fifth-year senior Jamar Brown
on the transition to playing under Coach Cronin and the spark he gave in the first half
“Getting better every day. I feel like it starts in practice, from the summer. Kind of just learning every day. The little things he’s teaching us. Even these guys in Skyy, Donovan, Eric – everybody, all of the returners. They are giving me a lot of good things to utilize in the games, things like that. Just listening to them, listening to him, and applying that into the games.”
on Skyy Clark having recently commented that he is the hardest-working player in practice
“Just with my energy and the way that I’m playing, whether that be from talking … I’m one of the older guys on the team, so communicating on defense and letting guys know that we need to pick up the energy. Having high energy in practice, and there’s no slacking off. You can’t slack off with Cronin. We’ve been doing a pretty good job with that. We're going to continue to get better.”
on his mindset when playing
“Defense, rebounding, doing the things that Coach Cronin and the coaching staff ask from me. I’m going to do that from the highest ability possible and do whatever it takes to win.”
UC Riverside head coach Gus Argenal
opening statement
“Our biggest thing is if we were going to come out and play hard, but I think in the first half we ran out of gas. When De’Undrae [Perteete Jr.] went out, it really had an effect on them [UC Riverside].”
on who stood out with his team this afternoon
“BJ Kolly and Osiris Grady really stood out and played their best for us. Unfortunately, they had four and five turnovers, respectively, but they were really ready to go. Drew [Andrew Henderson] was our leading scorer and was up all night with food poisoning, so he was really playing sick out there.”
on where his team goes from this point
“We have Big West play – our next 18 games and we’ll be fighting. We are 1-1 [in the Big West] now, so we’re in the middle of the pack. We want to be playing our best basketball in February, leading up to March and trying to compete for a Big West Championship.”