Postgame Quotes - UCLA 73, Northwestern 69
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 73, Northwestern 69
Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
March 3, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“We made it interesting. My buddy Scott Van Pelt likes having us on Bad Beats, so I’m trying to get on that show. When I’m up late at night watching the crazy stuff that happens, it’s entertaining. It’s the only thing I watch. We wanted to be on that show. We’re trying to be a team that can win in March. We weren’t tough enough at Purdue to get the job done defensively. We had this team at 54 points in their own gym with two minutes left. I thought our attention to detail was bad. You can’t tell me you care if you forget what you’re supposed to do, because we go over it more than anybody in scouting. You can’t tell me you care if, when we shoot the ball, you don’t go after the rebound. We’ve had a good year, but we’re not going to be significant or have a chance to make a run in March if we don’t go after the ball like our lives are on the line. And then we have to play defense with purpose and accountability to each other. And force shots over us – no more layups, no blow-bys, where they kick it out and shoot a three. Guard the ball, stay in front, and then rotate and attack and rotate and attack. I don’t think we played hard enough defensively for part of this Big Ten season. We did against Michigan State, who is going to win our league. We did it against them, we did it against Gonzaga, we did it against Arizona, so we’ve done it at a high level. But we haven’t been consistent, and that’s on me. It’s my job to try to get us there, because otherwise we’re going home early. Consistent teams will March on. I tell the guys the truth about what it’s going to take, but we’ve all got to accept the fact that we have to hold each other to a really high standard from an effort standpoint.”
on the last two minutes of the game
“In all seriousness, multiple times we should have called time out. We had three timeouts. I told the guys over and over to call time out, and we had a lot of dead balls. We had three timeouts and we were in trouble. The refs can’t hear me calling time outs. Tyler said he had the ball and he was trying to call time out, but it looked to me like he was trying to pass it. And then we have to make free throws late. We have to make one-and-ones late.”
on losing their lead late in the game
“It’s on me, I have to coach them better. We have to get the ball in and be strong with the ball. It was our possession and we had three time outs, so there was no reason to be in a hurry. Just keep calling time out or take the jump ball. But when they don’t do it, I’ve got to coach it better. I was alluding to our toughness and this was the best offensive rebounding we’ve had all season. They are second in the league in offensive rebounds, and they only had four. They only got one of their last 20 shots. I don't think we’ve come close to outrebounding a Big Ten team by 14. So our effort tonight was great until we decided to try to get on Scott Van Pelt’s show.”
on Aday Mara
“He was great. I want to play him more, but it's his conditioning. In games like this, it’s extremely physical, and he got really tired. At the end, I was trying to put faster guys in to switch their pick and rolls. The plays with him work all the time. I’ve got to make sure that guys throw him the ball. I had a heart-to-heart with Lazar about it. When he’s in there, he’s the best offensive player we have. You can’t stop him one-on-one, and he’s our best passer. So get it to him close to the rim and let him do his thing. He got a little cute late, got too fancy on me trying to make a great pass. His second-half defense was awesome, his first half was average.”
on the team’s defense in the second half
“I thought we contained the ball better. We made an adjustment on our pick and roll coverage. I thought we just contained the dribble better. When you don’t contain the dribble, then they kick it out for three.”
UCLA center Aday Mara
on his game-changing presence in the second half
“I was just trying to go for offensive rebounds, that’s what coach said. If I was able to score right away, I tried to score. If not, I just tried to pass the ball to the open guy. It was with rebounds, defense, and blocking shots.”
on getting the ball from his teammates
“It was good because they were playing drop and every time, so every time I was rolling, I had my defender on my back, so I was telling them to look at me every single time. The times where they looked at me and passed the ball, it was good because I was under the rim, and I would score or get fouled.”
on his two consecutive put-back dunks
“Every time I set the screen, we were talking about blowing by the big man. So I knew that if he tried to block the shot, I would be open for the put-back. So I followed him.”
on winning on the road in the Big Ten
“It’s good because every Big Ten road game is hard. We came from Purdue, which was a tough game that we played to the last minute. But it’s good to win this game because you don’t have your court advantage every time. Every win on the road is good.”
on the final two minutes of the game
“They tried to steal the ball and pressure to make us turn the ball over. We weren’t strong with the ball and they stole the ball. But you only have to win every game by one point.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on the final two minutes of the game
“Obviously, we need to keep our composure. I thought we played great defense in the second half, but at the end, we gave up. We were up 68-54. We can’t do that. We’ll learn from it. We need to just come together there and settle things down. Everyone needs to calm down and focus a little bit, focus on our defense and what we’ve been doing the whole game.”
on Aday Mara
“Aday played great. He had huge offensive rebounds, scoring, getting those dunks. It was awesome. I came in there after him and was able to keep it going a little bit. It was just a great team moment. He’s 7’3, he’s great.”
on winning on the road in the Big Ten
“I think it’s a big win, especially after the last game. It was a big win for us moving forward. We need to learn from our mistakes in this game and then get ready for USC.”
on the key to his offensive success
“The ball wasn’t really going in from three, but I just had to stay confident and keep shooting. I had great passes from DA and Skyy. I just have to stay confident.”
UCLA 73, Northwestern 69
Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
March 3, 2025
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
“We made it interesting. My buddy Scott Van Pelt likes having us on Bad Beats, so I’m trying to get on that show. When I’m up late at night watching the crazy stuff that happens, it’s entertaining. It’s the only thing I watch. We wanted to be on that show. We’re trying to be a team that can win in March. We weren’t tough enough at Purdue to get the job done defensively. We had this team at 54 points in their own gym with two minutes left. I thought our attention to detail was bad. You can’t tell me you care if you forget what you’re supposed to do, because we go over it more than anybody in scouting. You can’t tell me you care if, when we shoot the ball, you don’t go after the rebound. We’ve had a good year, but we’re not going to be significant or have a chance to make a run in March if we don’t go after the ball like our lives are on the line. And then we have to play defense with purpose and accountability to each other. And force shots over us – no more layups, no blow-bys, where they kick it out and shoot a three. Guard the ball, stay in front, and then rotate and attack and rotate and attack. I don’t think we played hard enough defensively for part of this Big Ten season. We did against Michigan State, who is going to win our league. We did it against them, we did it against Gonzaga, we did it against Arizona, so we’ve done it at a high level. But we haven’t been consistent, and that’s on me. It’s my job to try to get us there, because otherwise we’re going home early. Consistent teams will March on. I tell the guys the truth about what it’s going to take, but we’ve all got to accept the fact that we have to hold each other to a really high standard from an effort standpoint.”
on the last two minutes of the game
“In all seriousness, multiple times we should have called time out. We had three timeouts. I told the guys over and over to call time out, and we had a lot of dead balls. We had three timeouts and we were in trouble. The refs can’t hear me calling time outs. Tyler said he had the ball and he was trying to call time out, but it looked to me like he was trying to pass it. And then we have to make free throws late. We have to make one-and-ones late.”
on losing their lead late in the game
“It’s on me, I have to coach them better. We have to get the ball in and be strong with the ball. It was our possession and we had three time outs, so there was no reason to be in a hurry. Just keep calling time out or take the jump ball. But when they don’t do it, I’ve got to coach it better. I was alluding to our toughness and this was the best offensive rebounding we’ve had all season. They are second in the league in offensive rebounds, and they only had four. They only got one of their last 20 shots. I don't think we’ve come close to outrebounding a Big Ten team by 14. So our effort tonight was great until we decided to try to get on Scott Van Pelt’s show.”
on Aday Mara
“He was great. I want to play him more, but it's his conditioning. In games like this, it’s extremely physical, and he got really tired. At the end, I was trying to put faster guys in to switch their pick and rolls. The plays with him work all the time. I’ve got to make sure that guys throw him the ball. I had a heart-to-heart with Lazar about it. When he’s in there, he’s the best offensive player we have. You can’t stop him one-on-one, and he’s our best passer. So get it to him close to the rim and let him do his thing. He got a little cute late, got too fancy on me trying to make a great pass. His second-half defense was awesome, his first half was average.”
on the team’s defense in the second half
“I thought we contained the ball better. We made an adjustment on our pick and roll coverage. I thought we just contained the dribble better. When you don’t contain the dribble, then they kick it out for three.”
UCLA center Aday Mara
on his game-changing presence in the second half
“I was just trying to go for offensive rebounds, that’s what coach said. If I was able to score right away, I tried to score. If not, I just tried to pass the ball to the open guy. It was with rebounds, defense, and blocking shots.”
on getting the ball from his teammates
“It was good because they were playing drop and every time, so every time I was rolling, I had my defender on my back, so I was telling them to look at me every single time. The times where they looked at me and passed the ball, it was good because I was under the rim, and I would score or get fouled.”
on his two consecutive put-back dunks
“Every time I set the screen, we were talking about blowing by the big man. So I knew that if he tried to block the shot, I would be open for the put-back. So I followed him.”
on winning on the road in the Big Ten
“It’s good because every Big Ten road game is hard. We came from Purdue, which was a tough game that we played to the last minute. But it’s good to win this game because you don’t have your court advantage every time. Every win on the road is good.”
on the final two minutes of the game
“They tried to steal the ball and pressure to make us turn the ball over. We weren’t strong with the ball and they stole the ball. But you only have to win every game by one point.”
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau
on the final two minutes of the game
“Obviously, we need to keep our composure. I thought we played great defense in the second half, but at the end, we gave up. We were up 68-54. We can’t do that. We’ll learn from it. We need to just come together there and settle things down. Everyone needs to calm down and focus a little bit, focus on our defense and what we’ve been doing the whole game.”
on Aday Mara
“Aday played great. He had huge offensive rebounds, scoring, getting those dunks. It was awesome. I came in there after him and was able to keep it going a little bit. It was just a great team moment. He’s 7’3, he’s great.”
on winning on the road in the Big Ten
“I think it’s a big win, especially after the last game. It was a big win for us moving forward. We need to learn from our mistakes in this game and then get ready for USC.”
on the key to his offensive success
“The ball wasn’t really going in from three, but I just had to stay confident and keep shooting. I had great passes from DA and Skyy. I just have to stay confident.”