Mick Cronin blames "horrible" decisions from UCLA players after Ace Bailey's Rutgers triumph over Bruins

UCLA men's basketball head coach Mick Cronin has recently faced a lot of criticism for calling his own players "soft" in a streak of losses for the Bruins. After Rutgers pulled off a comeback victory on the Bruins, Coach Cronin doubled down on pointing at his players' faults in the game.

In the post-game press conference, Mick Cronin was asked why his team found it tough to find any offensive rhythm vs Rutgers. His first focus was the offensive inefficiency of his team.

“We're missing wide open shots," Cronin said. "I mean, go on the road, take care of the ball, you only get nine turnovers. Obviously Tyler [Bilodeau] had a tough night. Their physicality bothered him, clearly, but he missed some open looks too, had a lot of open looks."

"Lazar [Stefanovic] off a play we ran. He's unguarded, Eric Dailey [Jr] unguarded top of the key. He was 0-for-3… we had a lot of open looks.”

Mick Cronin then moved on to describe the defensive issues in the UCLA Bruins and how their 'horrible decision making' ended up costing them the game vs Rutgers.

“You can't give up 45 points in the second half and win a and win a conference game, period," he said. "I don't care what your name of your team is and where the game is being played, you're not going to win.

"We really struggled to guard the ball. Our decision making with not being able to guard the ball, knowing teams are just going to late in the clock, they're just driving in we're fouling. It's just horrible, just horrible late clock defense by us,”ehe further added.

Rutgers stars Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey in action [NCAA Basketball: UCLA at Rutgers - Source: Imagn]

Kobe Johnson had 13 points in the game, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-4 from beyond the 3-point line. Despite Johnson being the only player on the Bruins team to shoot above 60% from the field, Coach Mick Cronin had criticism for him as well.

“We never trailed the first half. Maybe we could have got up 10 or so. He [Kobe Johnson] made a really bad decision with his foul in the back court. 75 ft from the basket to just, he just whacked the guy, it was a foul. You know it's a bad decision. Didn't help."

Ace Bailey led all scorers for Rutgers vs UCLA with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Dylan Harper also had an impressive showing with 18 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds. These two are in the conversation to potentially be first-round picks in the NBA's 2025 draft with the likes of Cooper Flagg and more.

Why Mick Cronin faced a lot of heat from the media and fans

Mick Cronin's UCLA lost two back-to-back games against Michigan and Nebraska. In the post-game press conference, coach Cronin tore into his players and staff. He claimed that he was the most energetic guy during practices and on the court, and called Bruins' current situation a 'joke'.

Mick Cronin shouting at UCLA players on the sideines [NCAA Basketball: Michigan at UCLA - Source: Imagn]

However, the part that triggered fans and the media the most was that he called the Bruins "soft" and "delusional." This did not sit well with many as they expected some accountability from Mick Cronin instead of shifting blame onto the players and his own coaching staff.

In the aftermath of this loss, the UCLA Bruins have now fallen out of the AP Top 25 College basketball rankings and don't even have a single vote to get back in. They were in the rankings for about 5 weeks before this rough stretch has now cost them a spot on the elite list.