Mick Cronin’s postgame speech wasn’t one found in many coaching handbooks.
After his team dismantled Southern Utah by 45 points on Tuesday night, the UCLA coach talked with his players about finances and education.
“You’ve got to take times like that where there’s not much to say about the game and try to talk about something that could be useful for them,” Cronin said. “The value of saving money and the value of education, especially one from UCLA — don’t underestimate either one of them.”
Something else that shouldn’t be discounted: the Bruins’ defense.
UCLA made it difficult for Southern Utah to simply get a shot off on the way to an 88-43 rout at Pauley Pavilion in which it forced 30 turnovers while logging a fifth consecutive victory as part of its most complete effort of the season.
That was the most turnovers the Bruins (6-1) have forced since they harassed Fairfield into 32 in November 1999. They also piled up 15 steals, four blocks and a season-high 62 deflections, which are defined as tipped passes, steals, blocks and loose balls collected.
“We made them look worse than they really are,” said UCLA forward Lazar Stefanovic, who scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first half. “They’re not a bad team. They’re 6-1 [coming in] for a reason. So we did a really, really good job.”
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Cronin described himself as a “nervous wreck” coming into the game given that the Thunderbirds had taken unbeaten Loyola Chicago down to the final minute before falling for their first loss.
But in a sign of things to come, the Bruins forced a turnover less than a minute into the game when guard Skyy Clark dove onto the court for a steal, clapping in celebration after the Thunderbirds compounded their mistake with a foul.
It was the start of complete domination. UCLA outrebounded Southern Utah by 14 while committing 22 fewer turnovers and shooting 47.5% to the Thunderbirds’ 35%.
“Southern Utah was completely out of gas,” Cronin said of a team completing a weeklong trip.
Forward Eric Dailey Jr. added 15 points for the Bruins and point guard Dylan Andrews scored nine of his 11 points in the second half, energizing the small crowd with a flurry of jump shots.
Only a handful of UCLA students showed up for the roll call, Thanksgiving week draining the arena of its usual pregame pep.
The place wouldn’t stay quiet for long.
Andrews collected the opening jump ball with a firm hand slap that could be heard in the upper reaches of the arena. He scored on the game’s opening possession after taking a pass from Kobe Johnson underneath the basket for a layup.
The Bruins would lead the rest of the game.
It wasn’t a perfect showing, but it was close. Cronin cracked that assistant coach Darren Savino, who works with the big men, would have to run sprints as punishment for center Aday Mara’s three illegal screens.
Stefanovic’s highlight came with just under eight minutes left when he drove for a one-handed dunk in transition that had his teammates dancing on the bench.
But the loudest cheer was still to come. In the final minute, UCLA walk-on guard Jack Seidler made a spinning layup for his first career basket, prompting his teammates to mob him in celebration after the final buzzer.
Xavier Sykes scored 10 points and was the only player to reach double figures for Southern Utah, which escaped setting records for futility by making four consecutive shots late in the game.
Having won every game since losing to New Mexico early this month, UCLA soon will discover how far it’s come. It opens Big Ten play Dec. 3 against Washington at home before going on the road to face Oregon later that week. Then come even bigger tests against No. 24 Arizona, No. 12 North Carolina and No. 3 Gonzaga.
“We weren’t ready as a group for that, to play that hard and that intense,” Cronin said of the setback against the Lobos, “and obviously from here on out you’ve got Big Ten play starting the next two games and then you’ve got three top-20 teams. That’s your December, so we’re going to find out.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
