University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA 69, Purdue 67
POSTGAMEย QUOTES
UCLA 69, Purdue 67
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented byย Wescomย Financial)
January 20, 2026
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coachย
opening remarks
โThey were making everything early. I told the guys, when it was 27-15, that we were getting good shots. Weโve been a little sensitive to that and especially with Skyy being out because he is our toughest fighter guy. I told them in the timeout that it is a long game. They made everything and we were missing open shots. We had one bad play and Trent had a turnover for a layup so I had to call timeout. They came back and then we came back and it was a great game.โ
ย
on Purdueโs team and head coach Matt Painter
โThey have a great team and Mattโs a great guy. One of the few guys with honor in our profession. He is a tremendous guy and one of the few guys that doesnโt tamper and hasnโt cheated a day in his life. Heโs got a great team and they got a chance to win the title if they stay healthy. So itโs just a great win for our guys.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs performance tonightย
โItโs great. He and I had a little talk and he listened. You got to perform, man โ canโt stand around when your team needs you. You got to get in there and throw some punches. Who sits there and lets their career end? You just gotta find a way and throw some punches to get in the ring. I donโt care if you miss, I want you to play. I give him all the credit because we donโt win if he doesnโt show up tonight. With 13 assists and 23 points, he got the job done.โ
ย
on Xavier Bookerโs rejuvenated performanceย
โWe donโt win without him. Itโs the same message. Just foul somebody, miss a shot, push somebody on the ground. Do something to show your teammates that you care. Thatโs it. This is a competitive sport and fortitude and passion matters. Iโm not happy that Book only had one foul. Just throw somebody out of bounds if you canโt get the rebound.โย
ย
on if his meetings with players were one on one
โNo, I do everything transparent in front of the team. You think they have one on one meetings in the Marines or basic SEAL training? No, they donโt and they tell you what time it is. In our program itโs the same time for everybody always.โ
ย
on the execution of the final play
โThey werenโt switching the pick and pop, so I was willing to live with it. The guys said theyโre going to switch it, and I said if they donโt, theyโre going to lose. It was a great read by Donovan. Those two executed and we got a wide open three.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs defensive performance on Braden Smith
โYeah, his effort was there and he was out there fighting, scrapping, playing with his heart, and not watching. Giving everything you got for your team, and thatโs what sports is all about. If werenโt inspired watching that kid from Indiana last night taking massive hits yesterday, thatโs inspiring. You know what Donovan did tonight is what we need from him every night. Heโs all over the place defensively and rising to the challenge, giving everything you got. โย
UCLA senior forward Eric Dailey Jr.ย
on feeling the crowd light up from Tylerโs pass
โThat definitely shook up the energy of the game. We have a lot of fans, and I want to thank the fans, first off. They brought that energy that we needed to play. Those are plays we need to shift energies.โ
ย
on how they accepted Coach Cronin being critical of the Bruins
โItโs mental toughness, honestly. Heโs not doing it to drag us, he's doing it to challenge us. When you are challenged like that publicly, you got to respond publicly. So thatโs what weโre doing.โย
ย
on feeling different early on in this game
โThis is just effort and attitude. Our effort and attitude tonight was way different. Donny had three blocks, and heโs our point guard. Weโve been talking about defense with the whole team, we already know they can score but stopping the players is what we need to do. We just need to continue this tight energy.โ
UCLA senior forward Tyler Bilodeau
on their toughness to come back up when they are downย
โI mean itโs a game of runs. It was early, we knew we had a lot of basketball left to play. We told each other we are going to make shots, weโre gonna be right back in this. We gotta get stops and we did that.โ
ย
on his how he felt making the final shotย
โYeah, Donny had been breaking down their defense all game. He had like 12 assists or something like that, and scoring too. He was able to drop two. It was a great pass by him, I was able to get open. I ripped that shot a lot so I just got my footwork right and let it go. I was hype, I was hyped up for sure.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent
on his message to you and how you embraced itย
โHe got on me pretty bad after the Ohio State game. Everyone was there in the locker room. He challenged me personally, mentally, everywhere where it counts, when he was challenging me this whole week. I think thatโs the response he wanted right there, being able to come back out and not back down. Just play hard. I think thatโs why they recruited me here, thatโs how it should be. Iโve been in the slumps for a while so my team still believes in me. Coach Cronin challenged me so badly this week and it was what I really needed personally. I think I responded really well.โย
ย
on how they responded to coachโs talk in the final timeoutย
โThere was about two minutes, 20 seconds left, something around there. We just needed stops, we got the two big stops right there at the end and we just needed to get baskets on the other side. We got two good looks with my three. They were hard hedging a lot but they werenโt switching. Tyler was open a lot. Those were just two great possessions to end the game off for us. Then we got another stop and a rebound.โย
ย
on how they accepted Cronin putting them on blastย
โI think we all responded right away. Even before we got on the plane after he got on us. He said the same thing to the media that he says to us so itโs not like itโs anything different than what we hear. Itโs like when we hear it in the media we already heard it in person so we all are used to it in a way. We are just gonna respond in the way we wanna respond.โย
ย
on their confidence and how to apply it moving forward
โAbsolutely, I mean, two of our earlier losses to Gonzaga and Arizona, I feel like we were in the game just as much. We know how good of a team we have. Itโs just which one of us shows up that night โ whether we are gonna play hard or weโre not. Thatโs been our struggle all season. I think we can learn from this a lot and go on a big run here.โย
ย
on the energy from the crowd feelsย
โIt feels amazing. The fans, we want to thank them for coming out. We got another one, Saturday at three, hope they come out again. They just give us great energy, like you said, when we get it done like that, say we didnโt have fans there, it doesnโt shift the momentum as much as it could. When they are in there getting loud, it just does nothing but help us. Thank you for the fans for coming out tonight.โ
Purdue head coach Matt Painter
on what the team needs to do better.
โWe did well, in terms of rebounding, and we had less turnovers and we had a good shot [at the end of the game]. We got the ball to where we wanted to get it. I think the fact that they had six or eight blocked shots was a key for them [UCLA]. They blocked one of our three-pointers and also several attempts we had at the rim.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs play
โHe definitely was the player of the game. He had 23 [points] and 13 [assists]. When we tried to switch, that really got us in trouble, because he would penetrate into the paint.โ
ย
on Purdueโs final shot attempt
โWe just kind of drew up a play where we had Braden [Smith] possibly get a shot, but if he wasnโt open, we wanted to make sure that other guys were shot-ready. We really didnโt have a set play, but we were just trying to figure out who was going to be open to take the shot. It was a great shot. It just didnโt go down.โ
ย
on the 27-15 lead that Purdue had midway through the first half
โOur bench got us that lead, and then we made a substitution and got our starters back in. [Xavier] Booker made a three and things started to change. He really did a great job out there.โ
ย
on how they learn from this loss
โWe just have to stay in the process and get better. Since we got beat pretty badly by Iowa State, weโve gotten better defensively. We just have to use adversity to get better.โ
UCLA 69, Purdue 67
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented byย Wescomย Financial)
January 20, 2026
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coachย
opening remarks
โThey were making everything early. I told the guys, when it was 27-15, that we were getting good shots. Weโve been a little sensitive to that and especially with Skyy being out because he is our toughest fighter guy. I told them in the timeout that it is a long game. They made everything and we were missing open shots. We had one bad play and Trent had a turnover for a layup so I had to call timeout. They came back and then we came back and it was a great game.โ
ย
on Purdueโs team and head coach Matt Painter
โThey have a great team and Mattโs a great guy. One of the few guys with honor in our profession. He is a tremendous guy and one of the few guys that doesnโt tamper and hasnโt cheated a day in his life. Heโs got a great team and they got a chance to win the title if they stay healthy. So itโs just a great win for our guys.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs performance tonightย
โItโs great. He and I had a little talk and he listened. You got to perform, man โ canโt stand around when your team needs you. You got to get in there and throw some punches. Who sits there and lets their career end? You just gotta find a way and throw some punches to get in the ring. I donโt care if you miss, I want you to play. I give him all the credit because we donโt win if he doesnโt show up tonight. With 13 assists and 23 points, he got the job done.โ
ย
on Xavier Bookerโs rejuvenated performanceย
โWe donโt win without him. Itโs the same message. Just foul somebody, miss a shot, push somebody on the ground. Do something to show your teammates that you care. Thatโs it. This is a competitive sport and fortitude and passion matters. Iโm not happy that Book only had one foul. Just throw somebody out of bounds if you canโt get the rebound.โย
ย
on if his meetings with players were one on one
โNo, I do everything transparent in front of the team. You think they have one on one meetings in the Marines or basic SEAL training? No, they donโt and they tell you what time it is. In our program itโs the same time for everybody always.โ
ย
on the execution of the final play
โThey werenโt switching the pick and pop, so I was willing to live with it. The guys said theyโre going to switch it, and I said if they donโt, theyโre going to lose. It was a great read by Donovan. Those two executed and we got a wide open three.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs defensive performance on Braden Smith
โYeah, his effort was there and he was out there fighting, scrapping, playing with his heart, and not watching. Giving everything you got for your team, and thatโs what sports is all about. If werenโt inspired watching that kid from Indiana last night taking massive hits yesterday, thatโs inspiring. You know what Donovan did tonight is what we need from him every night. Heโs all over the place defensively and rising to the challenge, giving everything you got. โย
UCLA senior forward Eric Dailey Jr.ย
on feeling the crowd light up from Tylerโs pass
โThat definitely shook up the energy of the game. We have a lot of fans, and I want to thank the fans, first off. They brought that energy that we needed to play. Those are plays we need to shift energies.โ
ย
on how they accepted Coach Cronin being critical of the Bruins
โItโs mental toughness, honestly. Heโs not doing it to drag us, he's doing it to challenge us. When you are challenged like that publicly, you got to respond publicly. So thatโs what weโre doing.โย
ย
on feeling different early on in this game
โThis is just effort and attitude. Our effort and attitude tonight was way different. Donny had three blocks, and heโs our point guard. Weโve been talking about defense with the whole team, we already know they can score but stopping the players is what we need to do. We just need to continue this tight energy.โ
UCLA senior forward Tyler Bilodeau
on their toughness to come back up when they are downย
โI mean itโs a game of runs. It was early, we knew we had a lot of basketball left to play. We told each other we are going to make shots, weโre gonna be right back in this. We gotta get stops and we did that.โ
ย
on his how he felt making the final shotย
โYeah, Donny had been breaking down their defense all game. He had like 12 assists or something like that, and scoring too. He was able to drop two. It was a great pass by him, I was able to get open. I ripped that shot a lot so I just got my footwork right and let it go. I was hype, I was hyped up for sure.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent
on his message to you and how you embraced itย
โHe got on me pretty bad after the Ohio State game. Everyone was there in the locker room. He challenged me personally, mentally, everywhere where it counts, when he was challenging me this whole week. I think thatโs the response he wanted right there, being able to come back out and not back down. Just play hard. I think thatโs why they recruited me here, thatโs how it should be. Iโve been in the slumps for a while so my team still believes in me. Coach Cronin challenged me so badly this week and it was what I really needed personally. I think I responded really well.โย
ย
on how they responded to coachโs talk in the final timeoutย
โThere was about two minutes, 20 seconds left, something around there. We just needed stops, we got the two big stops right there at the end and we just needed to get baskets on the other side. We got two good looks with my three. They were hard hedging a lot but they werenโt switching. Tyler was open a lot. Those were just two great possessions to end the game off for us. Then we got another stop and a rebound.โย
ย
on how they accepted Cronin putting them on blastย
โI think we all responded right away. Even before we got on the plane after he got on us. He said the same thing to the media that he says to us so itโs not like itโs anything different than what we hear. Itโs like when we hear it in the media we already heard it in person so we all are used to it in a way. We are just gonna respond in the way we wanna respond.โย
ย
on their confidence and how to apply it moving forward
โAbsolutely, I mean, two of our earlier losses to Gonzaga and Arizona, I feel like we were in the game just as much. We know how good of a team we have. Itโs just which one of us shows up that night โ whether we are gonna play hard or weโre not. Thatโs been our struggle all season. I think we can learn from this a lot and go on a big run here.โย
ย
on the energy from the crowd feelsย
โIt feels amazing. The fans, we want to thank them for coming out. We got another one, Saturday at three, hope they come out again. They just give us great energy, like you said, when we get it done like that, say we didnโt have fans there, it doesnโt shift the momentum as much as it could. When they are in there getting loud, it just does nothing but help us. Thank you for the fans for coming out tonight.โ
Purdue head coach Matt Painter
on what the team needs to do better.
โWe did well, in terms of rebounding, and we had less turnovers and we had a good shot [at the end of the game]. We got the ball to where we wanted to get it. I think the fact that they had six or eight blocked shots was a key for them [UCLA]. They blocked one of our three-pointers and also several attempts we had at the rim.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs play
โHe definitely was the player of the game. He had 23 [points] and 13 [assists]. When we tried to switch, that really got us in trouble, because he would penetrate into the paint.โ
ย
on Purdueโs final shot attempt
โWe just kind of drew up a play where we had Braden [Smith] possibly get a shot, but if he wasnโt open, we wanted to make sure that other guys were shot-ready. We really didnโt have a set play, but we were just trying to figure out who was going to be open to take the shot. It was a great shot. It just didnโt go down.โ
ย
on the 27-15 lead that Purdue had midway through the first half
โOur bench got us that lead, and then we made a substitution and got our starters back in. [Xavier] Booker made a three and things started to change. He really did a great job out there.โ
ย
on how they learn from this loss
โWe just have to stay in the process and get better. Since we got beat pretty badly by Iowa State, weโve gotten better defensively. We just have to use adversity to get better.โ