University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA 73, Oregon 57
POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 73, Oregon 57
Eugene, Ore. (Matthew Knight Arena)
January 28, 2026
ย
The Michael Price Family Head Basketball Coach Mick Cronin
opening remarks
โDefensively, our game plan, our guys did a pretty good job. We overcame a below average offensive performance, for us. Weโre a team that shoots almost 50 percent from the field. We havenโt shot 39 percent, I donโt remember the last time we shot under 40 percent, to be honest with you. But give them some credit on that. Itโs the dog days here guys, and itโs here, playing every three days. Everybodyโs going through it in the Big Ten. Youโre not going to be at your best every night. Everybodyโs fighting through injuries. Obviously, Oregon is. Without Skyy Clark, Iโm playing Trent Perry and Donovan Dent mostly the whole game. The problem is, thatโs not one game, thatโs our last seven games. Weโre 5-2 without Skyy, and those guys have logged a lot of minutes. Concerned about the quick turnaround for Saturday. We got the job done. I liked how we attacked the rim and got to the foul line.โ
ย
on any concerns with becoming complacent due to Oregonโs injuries
โNo, we donโt really operate that way. Players are in tune to the coach, so any situation like that, Iโm more intense with preparation. If youโre playing the number one team in the country, your players are going to be intense. So I make sure, in situations like this, that I bring the intensity and the focus, so the guys see how in tune I am to a game like this. We also just paused the film because they were beating Michigan and Michigan State, right behind me, in this building, in the second half. Those are two teams ranked in the top ten, and they were beating both of them. They were winning at half against Michigan. The second half, they had leads. We got up double figures early, so I give guys credit, they did a good job.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs scoring run in the second half
โI was just trying to get him to shoot the ball. You canโt be a reluctant shooter in this game. You canโt. You gotta believe in yourself. Weโre gonna go rebound it. When you get to 15 feet, 12 feet, jump up and shoot it. I had to fight with Trent [Perry] on that. I canโt have to fight the both of them. You canโt worry about a miss. He had a layup roll out, to start the game. You got to want to make the next one. He stopped shooting and I had to prod him again. Everybody is not gonna let Tyler Bilodeau stand there and tee it up. Theyโre not. Heโs got to do his thing. Worry about defense, shoot when youโre open. Especially when youโre attacking the rim. Passing in a phone booth never works. Theyโre rotating, and weโre going to rebound it.โ
ย
on Xavier Bookerโs involvement
โHeโs trying. Of course, Iโm not giving him much choice. Heโs got a little bald guy from Cincinnati chasing around a 6-11 guy from Indianapolis. Iโm on him, man. Iโm on him about โ go down swinging in life. Donโt go down standing and watching. Shoot the ball, go try to rebound the ball, foul the hell out of somebody. Donโt stand around โ youโre not a traffic cone. He impacted the game. He was doing whatever he could to stop them inside.โ
ย
on Saturdayโs matchup against Indiana
โObviously, we were traveling yesterday, I watched a little on my phone. I know they can shoot. I know they got three of the best shooters in our conference, and obviously an excellent coach. Theyโre riding a high right now. Theyโve got some older tough kids. Weโre going to need our crowd there Saturday.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent
on his success in the second half
โThey were giving me shots all night. I just made them in that stretch, I feel like. I hit the three and the layup, and kind of just sent our lead back up for us to be comfortable. Everyone is going on runs, itโs part of the game. We just have to manage it.โ
ย
on his biggest takeaway from tonightโs game
โThat we came out with a win. Itโs the best thing that you could ask for. Itโs kind of one of those games where we could easily slip, mentally, and they could just get away with us, but we came in with the right mindset. Coach had a good mindset. Iโm glad that we came out with that win.โ
ย
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
โI mean this is all fun. This is a kidโs game weโre playing, having fun with it. You got to take it with a grain of salt. Yeah, itโs a lot of travel, and yeah, itโs a lot of playing. But itโs something that we enjoy. So, we just got to keep doing our job and keep getting it done.โ
ย
UCLA junior Eric Dailey Jr.
on his biggest takeaway from tonightโs game
โI think the biggest takeaway is just being disciplined. Late game. In crucial situations, being disciplined, knowing our rotations. We have a good lead, and to sustain that lead, we have to be disciplined to keep running it up. I think thatโs really the biggest thing. We did rebound good and we played hard. Definitely, offensively, we were good. Definitely got to make more shots, offensively. That was probably one of our worst nights offensively with the ball going in, of course.โ
ย
on how much he focused on rebounding
โThatโs all that coach has been stressing with me. Rebounding, using my athleticism to go crash [the boards]. Even if I donโt get the rebound, just being down there and one of my teammates will get the rebound eventually. Just having that mindset, going to crash, and being a dog on the board. Thatโs really it.โ
ย
on having multiple offensive weapons from 3-point range
โAs long as we rebound, we can get shots off any time we want. Us being able to shoot the 3-ball spreads the defense out. It creates driving lanes as well. When we see a shot go up, just go rebound and throw it back out, and weโll throw one in for sure.โ
ย
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
โJust got to have a next game mentality. Got to get your body right, get your mind right for the next game. Get as much rest as you can. Itโs hard in college, of course. Itโs not like we just have the whole day off. Just having that same mindset and keeping the same routine that we have.โ
ย
UCLA 73, Oregon 57
Eugene, Ore. (Matthew Knight Arena)
January 28, 2026
ย
The Michael Price Family Head Basketball Coach Mick Cronin
opening remarks
โDefensively, our game plan, our guys did a pretty good job. We overcame a below average offensive performance, for us. Weโre a team that shoots almost 50 percent from the field. We havenโt shot 39 percent, I donโt remember the last time we shot under 40 percent, to be honest with you. But give them some credit on that. Itโs the dog days here guys, and itโs here, playing every three days. Everybodyโs going through it in the Big Ten. Youโre not going to be at your best every night. Everybodyโs fighting through injuries. Obviously, Oregon is. Without Skyy Clark, Iโm playing Trent Perry and Donovan Dent mostly the whole game. The problem is, thatโs not one game, thatโs our last seven games. Weโre 5-2 without Skyy, and those guys have logged a lot of minutes. Concerned about the quick turnaround for Saturday. We got the job done. I liked how we attacked the rim and got to the foul line.โ
ย
on any concerns with becoming complacent due to Oregonโs injuries
โNo, we donโt really operate that way. Players are in tune to the coach, so any situation like that, Iโm more intense with preparation. If youโre playing the number one team in the country, your players are going to be intense. So I make sure, in situations like this, that I bring the intensity and the focus, so the guys see how in tune I am to a game like this. We also just paused the film because they were beating Michigan and Michigan State, right behind me, in this building, in the second half. Those are two teams ranked in the top ten, and they were beating both of them. They were winning at half against Michigan. The second half, they had leads. We got up double figures early, so I give guys credit, they did a good job.โ
ย
on Donovan Dentโs scoring run in the second half
โI was just trying to get him to shoot the ball. You canโt be a reluctant shooter in this game. You canโt. You gotta believe in yourself. Weโre gonna go rebound it. When you get to 15 feet, 12 feet, jump up and shoot it. I had to fight with Trent [Perry] on that. I canโt have to fight the both of them. You canโt worry about a miss. He had a layup roll out, to start the game. You got to want to make the next one. He stopped shooting and I had to prod him again. Everybody is not gonna let Tyler Bilodeau stand there and tee it up. Theyโre not. Heโs got to do his thing. Worry about defense, shoot when youโre open. Especially when youโre attacking the rim. Passing in a phone booth never works. Theyโre rotating, and weโre going to rebound it.โ
ย
on Xavier Bookerโs involvement
โHeโs trying. Of course, Iโm not giving him much choice. Heโs got a little bald guy from Cincinnati chasing around a 6-11 guy from Indianapolis. Iโm on him, man. Iโm on him about โ go down swinging in life. Donโt go down standing and watching. Shoot the ball, go try to rebound the ball, foul the hell out of somebody. Donโt stand around โ youโre not a traffic cone. He impacted the game. He was doing whatever he could to stop them inside.โ
ย
on Saturdayโs matchup against Indiana
โObviously, we were traveling yesterday, I watched a little on my phone. I know they can shoot. I know they got three of the best shooters in our conference, and obviously an excellent coach. Theyโre riding a high right now. Theyโve got some older tough kids. Weโre going to need our crowd there Saturday.โ
ย
UCLA senior guard Donovan Dent
on his success in the second half
โThey were giving me shots all night. I just made them in that stretch, I feel like. I hit the three and the layup, and kind of just sent our lead back up for us to be comfortable. Everyone is going on runs, itโs part of the game. We just have to manage it.โ
ย
on his biggest takeaway from tonightโs game
โThat we came out with a win. Itโs the best thing that you could ask for. Itโs kind of one of those games where we could easily slip, mentally, and they could just get away with us, but we came in with the right mindset. Coach had a good mindset. Iโm glad that we came out with that win.โ
ย
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
โI mean this is all fun. This is a kidโs game weโre playing, having fun with it. You got to take it with a grain of salt. Yeah, itโs a lot of travel, and yeah, itโs a lot of playing. But itโs something that we enjoy. So, we just got to keep doing our job and keep getting it done.โ
ย
UCLA junior Eric Dailey Jr.
on his biggest takeaway from tonightโs game
โI think the biggest takeaway is just being disciplined. Late game. In crucial situations, being disciplined, knowing our rotations. We have a good lead, and to sustain that lead, we have to be disciplined to keep running it up. I think thatโs really the biggest thing. We did rebound good and we played hard. Definitely, offensively, we were good. Definitely got to make more shots, offensively. That was probably one of our worst nights offensively with the ball going in, of course.โ
ย
on how much he focused on rebounding
โThatโs all that coach has been stressing with me. Rebounding, using my athleticism to go crash [the boards]. Even if I donโt get the rebound, just being down there and one of my teammates will get the rebound eventually. Just having that mindset, going to crash, and being a dog on the board. Thatโs really it.โ
ย
on having multiple offensive weapons from 3-point range
โAs long as we rebound, we can get shots off any time we want. Us being able to shoot the 3-ball spreads the defense out. It creates driving lanes as well. When we see a shot go up, just go rebound and throw it back out, and weโll throw one in for sure.โ
ย
on staying sharp with waves of games every other day
โJust got to have a next game mentality. Got to get your body right, get your mind right for the next game. Get as much rest as you can. Itโs hard in college, of course. Itโs not like we just have the whole day off. Just having that same mindset and keeping the same routine that we have.โ
ย