University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Purdue 73, UCLA 66
POSTGAME QUOTES
Purdue 73, UCLA 66
Big Ten Tournament (Semifinals)
Chicago, Ill. (United Center)
March 14, 2026
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
โExtremely proud of my team, down two great players, but we've got other great players. They came up with a valiant, valiant effort today. Couldn't be more proud of them. Obviously, Trent played 40 and Eric plays 34. We came back, took a lead. Honestly, what went through the back of my head was how are we going to play tomorrow? We're running out of bodies. Before you ask, Donny's got a calf strain. They were going to talk to me at halftime, and I said no need to play. Next week's more important. Like I said, guys stepped up on our team. Valiant, valiant effort by some kids that hadn't played a lot โ Brandon Williams, Steve Jamerson, Eric Freeny. Those three guys in particular off the bench probably didn't play a combined 10 minutes against Purdue last time we played them. Like I said, just really proud of my guys.โ
on players getting injured during conference tournaments
โYeah, it's not as complicated with this. Tyler could have played. Donny could have played. They'd have been playing hurt. But there's this, no point, I wouldn't have played them in a regular-season game. I just tried to take care of guys. The experience that Steve and Brandon and Eric Freeny got today, and Book [Xavier Booker] played a lot more minutes, can really help us next week when those guys are back. Obviously, we didn't achieve victory. With all due respect to the Big Ten, you can see how hard our guys are trying to win, but our guys are well aware because they practice under 11 banners that say National Championship, every day. They warm up under another banner with 19 Final Fours on it. We don't even have one with conference championships because there's 36, or something or so many. Next week is what it's about for us.โ
on if the team would like to hopefully play on Friday, instead of Thursday
โI think if you play on the weekend, and you've got to fly back to the West Coast, like we have to, and we can't get out until the morning, so we won't get home until Sunday. You would hope that we don't play till Friday. No, I'm not going to throw Matt under the bus, but he told me something that makes me confident that we'll play Friday, Coach Painter, who's a very smart guy. So I'm going to hope he's right. I don't want to jinx it. Put it this way, he just thought logistically that we would definitely play Friday. I don't know if that's about teams that play on the weekend. I don't know where he got that because at Cincinnati I was always playing on Sunday in the American Conference Championship, and we played on Thursday a lot. But Matt's smart, so I'm hoping he's right.โ
ย
on what he saw out of his frontcourt players, big men
โHe only hit one rebound. I love Book, but he's got to rebound the ball. I love him. He gave us some good offense today. Defense and rebounding, he's got to improve. Steve Jamerson, him and Book played 40 minutes at center. They had a combined one rebound. Steve had one. I'm sorry, yeah. Steve had one. Book had one. So they had a combined two. That's why we got out. Their five man had 14, [Oscar] Cluff, and when he was out, [Daniel] Jacobsen was in, but he didn't get any. The five spot was 14 to two. Everything else was a wash. There lies the issue.โ
ย
on what he was hoping to find out about the team this week
โWell, you are assuming that I was hoping to find out, I'm with them every day. I already know. So I wasn't hoping to find anything out. I'm not sure what you're, you're assuming that I was hoping to find out something with your question. I never said I was hoping to find out anything. I'm hoping to find out what time we're leaving and if I can get into a good restaurant tonight.โ
ย
on if he learned anything about his team
โNot really, no. No. I was happy with the way they competed โฆ we've got talent. We just haven't always had our mind on defense, which is very rare for teams that I coach, and we got great guys. Since March 1, or whenever the heck we played Nebraska, it's been pretty, it's been a noted change in our team. We've just got to keep it up, and we've got to get some rebounds out of the five spot. To do what we try to do. Now you guys are going to think that I'm crazy, but we're at UCLA. No matter who we take the floor against in the NCAA Tournament, we're going to run out there, and we're going to be the ones wearing the baby blue and the four letters. We believe in ourselves.โ
ย
on the way the team is playing at the moment
โWe're playing harder on defense, man. I'm not going to drop any fancy words on you Northwestern people. We're just playing harder on defense. Skyy's an elite โ I'm going to drop one on you โ he's an adroit defender, probably our only one. The other ones, it's demanded of them at all times and them to demand it of themselves. That's what's changed. That's what you're seeing.โ
ย
on the contributions from Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II
โAgain, they had seven baskets, so they got 17 points. But you can't get one rebound out of your center position, especially when you're playing Purdue, who's a great rebounding team, one of the best in the country. That was the difference in the game. Again, you didn't have to go to Northwestern to know that we lost by seven, and we're minus seven in second chance points.โ
UCLA junior Eric Dailey Jr.
on how the team played down the stretch run of the season
โDefinitely. That's what we've been looking for as a team, just finding that gelling together. We've definitely been coming together as a team late down the stretch of the season. We just need to keep this momentum going into next week.โ
on the teamsโ mindset after players go down with an injury
โLike he said, next man up. Everybody's got to play hard and play for their team.โ
UCLA sophomore Trent Perry
on the team mentality
โEven coming after a loss, as Coach said, we fought hard. Steven Jamerson, Eric Freeny, Williams, all those guys that came off the bench, it's going to be key for them, especially coming into March Madness with whatever we've got to face. I'm just very proud of our guys at the end of the day.โ
ย
on the mindset after players go down with an injury
โJust next man up. We had Skyy out earlier in the season, early in Big Ten play, and at the end of the day, it's next man up. We have a lot great players on this team. Everybody's capable and I feel like a lot of people showed that tonight."
ย
Purdue 73, UCLA 66
Big Ten Tournament (Semifinals)
Chicago, Ill. (United Center)
March 14, 2026
ย
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Menโs Head Basketball Coach
opening statement
โExtremely proud of my team, down two great players, but we've got other great players. They came up with a valiant, valiant effort today. Couldn't be more proud of them. Obviously, Trent played 40 and Eric plays 34. We came back, took a lead. Honestly, what went through the back of my head was how are we going to play tomorrow? We're running out of bodies. Before you ask, Donny's got a calf strain. They were going to talk to me at halftime, and I said no need to play. Next week's more important. Like I said, guys stepped up on our team. Valiant, valiant effort by some kids that hadn't played a lot โ Brandon Williams, Steve Jamerson, Eric Freeny. Those three guys in particular off the bench probably didn't play a combined 10 minutes against Purdue last time we played them. Like I said, just really proud of my guys.โ
on players getting injured during conference tournaments
โYeah, it's not as complicated with this. Tyler could have played. Donny could have played. They'd have been playing hurt. But there's this, no point, I wouldn't have played them in a regular-season game. I just tried to take care of guys. The experience that Steve and Brandon and Eric Freeny got today, and Book [Xavier Booker] played a lot more minutes, can really help us next week when those guys are back. Obviously, we didn't achieve victory. With all due respect to the Big Ten, you can see how hard our guys are trying to win, but our guys are well aware because they practice under 11 banners that say National Championship, every day. They warm up under another banner with 19 Final Fours on it. We don't even have one with conference championships because there's 36, or something or so many. Next week is what it's about for us.โ
on if the team would like to hopefully play on Friday, instead of Thursday
โI think if you play on the weekend, and you've got to fly back to the West Coast, like we have to, and we can't get out until the morning, so we won't get home until Sunday. You would hope that we don't play till Friday. No, I'm not going to throw Matt under the bus, but he told me something that makes me confident that we'll play Friday, Coach Painter, who's a very smart guy. So I'm going to hope he's right. I don't want to jinx it. Put it this way, he just thought logistically that we would definitely play Friday. I don't know if that's about teams that play on the weekend. I don't know where he got that because at Cincinnati I was always playing on Sunday in the American Conference Championship, and we played on Thursday a lot. But Matt's smart, so I'm hoping he's right.โ
ย
on what he saw out of his frontcourt players, big men
โHe only hit one rebound. I love Book, but he's got to rebound the ball. I love him. He gave us some good offense today. Defense and rebounding, he's got to improve. Steve Jamerson, him and Book played 40 minutes at center. They had a combined one rebound. Steve had one. I'm sorry, yeah. Steve had one. Book had one. So they had a combined two. That's why we got out. Their five man had 14, [Oscar] Cluff, and when he was out, [Daniel] Jacobsen was in, but he didn't get any. The five spot was 14 to two. Everything else was a wash. There lies the issue.โ
ย
on what he was hoping to find out about the team this week
โWell, you are assuming that I was hoping to find out, I'm with them every day. I already know. So I wasn't hoping to find anything out. I'm not sure what you're, you're assuming that I was hoping to find out something with your question. I never said I was hoping to find out anything. I'm hoping to find out what time we're leaving and if I can get into a good restaurant tonight.โ
ย
on if he learned anything about his team
โNot really, no. No. I was happy with the way they competed โฆ we've got talent. We just haven't always had our mind on defense, which is very rare for teams that I coach, and we got great guys. Since March 1, or whenever the heck we played Nebraska, it's been pretty, it's been a noted change in our team. We've just got to keep it up, and we've got to get some rebounds out of the five spot. To do what we try to do. Now you guys are going to think that I'm crazy, but we're at UCLA. No matter who we take the floor against in the NCAA Tournament, we're going to run out there, and we're going to be the ones wearing the baby blue and the four letters. We believe in ourselves.โ
ย
on the way the team is playing at the moment
โWe're playing harder on defense, man. I'm not going to drop any fancy words on you Northwestern people. We're just playing harder on defense. Skyy's an elite โ I'm going to drop one on you โ he's an adroit defender, probably our only one. The other ones, it's demanded of them at all times and them to demand it of themselves. That's what's changed. That's what you're seeing.โ
ย
on the contributions from Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II
โAgain, they had seven baskets, so they got 17 points. But you can't get one rebound out of your center position, especially when you're playing Purdue, who's a great rebounding team, one of the best in the country. That was the difference in the game. Again, you didn't have to go to Northwestern to know that we lost by seven, and we're minus seven in second chance points.โ
UCLA junior Eric Dailey Jr.
on how the team played down the stretch run of the season
โDefinitely. That's what we've been looking for as a team, just finding that gelling together. We've definitely been coming together as a team late down the stretch of the season. We just need to keep this momentum going into next week.โ
on the teamsโ mindset after players go down with an injury
โLike he said, next man up. Everybody's got to play hard and play for their team.โ
UCLA sophomore Trent Perry
on the team mentality
โEven coming after a loss, as Coach said, we fought hard. Steven Jamerson, Eric Freeny, Williams, all those guys that came off the bench, it's going to be key for them, especially coming into March Madness with whatever we've got to face. I'm just very proud of our guys at the end of the day.โ
ย
on the mindset after players go down with an injury
โJust next man up. We had Skyy out earlier in the season, early in Big Ten play, and at the end of the day, it's next man up. We have a lot great players on this team. Everybody's capable and I feel like a lot of people showed that tonight."
ย