NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL FOUR: UCLA VS GONZAGA

April 3, 2021

Mick Cronin

Lucas Oil Stadium - Unity Court (South)

UCLA Bruins

Semi-Final Postgame Media Conference

Gonzaga - 93, UCLA - 90

COACH CRONIN: First of all, congratulations to Gonzaga. Coach Few is a great guy. They've got a great team. Obviously everybody's going to ask what I just told my team. So I'll just tell you. I just told them they've got to let the last shot go. And as much as they want to be beat down right now and gutted and miserable, they've got to let it go because they're winners. They won.

As a coach, all you can do is ask your players to give you everything they've got. And I mean, come on guys, all you've got to do is watch. To see a team improve the way we've improved, to lose Chris Smith, Jalen Hill, to have injuries to Cody Riley, to Johnny Juzang, all the way to poor Jules Bernard throwing up all night, missing practice today, taking IVs to get himself on the court. And then to a half-court bank shot at the buzzer.

These guys, they deserved a better ending, but like I told them, as Coach Wooden would say, true greatness is giving your best effort. And that's what they did.

Q. Johnny gets that put-back and then starts to make the jumper, what's going through your mind? What are you trying to instruct your team to do during that time and as you see the shot go in? Take me through the emotions.

COACH CRONIN: I'm going to try -- I'm not sure your question, but I'm going to do my best. When Johnny got the put-back, I was running -- I didn't have a time-out to set our defense. We were out of timeouts. I was running at my guys to get their attention to trap the ball.

I got their attention late, and they came to him late. And it's not their fault because we trained them to get back, get back, get back, because Gonzaga is so fast. But I knew the clock was short. And I knew all he had was a desperation. I've lost on that before. Literally, if you look at the film, I was running to try to get him to come up so he couldn't dribble into that shot. Obviously it was still a bank shot from half court.

Q. Outstanding season. As you look ahead to next season, I know it's hard to look into next year, but when do you decide to get back into things, and what do you tell this team with the guys coming back towards next season?

COACH CRONIN: That's the least of my worries, with all due respect, right now. Right now I'm just trying to give them a talk about this season and how proud I am of them. And some of the players spoke in there. Cody spoke. Tyger spoke. Johnny spoke. It was an honor to be their coach.

And I apologize, but next season is the last thing on my mind right now.

Q. I'm just curious, was that the best college basketball game you've been a part of, in your opinion?

COACH CRONIN: That's another tough one. I'd say no because we didn't win. But I'm sure for you guys, you guys, it was great to watch. Obviously a great game. Showing my age a little bit, though, my friend. This is my 18th year as a head coach, 25 in college. So we didn't win, so I can't give it that tag.

But I know what you're saying. Obviously it was a great game with big-time performances by a lot of players in this game. I thought it was a well-officiated game.

Obviously I was hoping they would call a block at the end of the play, at the end of regulation, when Johnny broke to the basket. It might have been a charge. I haven't seen the film. I would say this, it's the hardest play in the world for an official. And if I see the film and it looked like the guy was moving, then sometimes things aren't meant to be. And I could tell you the official, if he did miss it, I'm sure he didn't mean to. But maybe it was a charge. I don't know.

Great game. Great experience for us, and we're going to stay positive.

Q. Tyger came up with some really big shots early and the layup to tie things in overtime in order to put you ahead in regulation. What type of performance did he give you guys tonight?

COACH CRONIN: He was great. 17 points, seven assists, one turnover. Maybe a big key to the game was when we had the lead, had the game the way we wanted, and he goes out with his second foul with 8:23 in the first half. That didn't help us.

We were able to get to the half only down one. But maybe if he doesn't go out, we get the half, we get the half up five or six. But that being said, to answer your question, Tyger, he was awesome. And I'll add he took at least two charges that were called, at least two, I'm not sure -- he might have had more.

Q. What does this performance in the NCAA Tournament, in your second year at UCLA, what does that do to establish an identity and define your program?

COACH CRONIN: Well, we've been doing that since last year. There was no tournament last year. But obviously it's all positive. I told the guys I hear all the stuff. People wanted the final they got.

We might not have been the best team in the country all year, but we became one of the best four teams in the country, period. This was not a fluke tonight. We would not have gotten blown out Monday night. We didn't sneak in. You know how good Michigan and Alabama -- I guess hopefully it's all positive, especially to our Bruin faithful back home.

Trust me, as a coach, I appreciate fans. Even when they're mad at me, because I just appreciate the fact that they're a fan, because we lost our fans this year, you know, in all sports.

You really miss it. So my message to our fans is get your season tickets. Let's get this pandemic over with and pack Pauley Pavilion and make UCLA a yearly elite program. That's what I came to UCLA for.

Fans were awesome towards the end of last year with our late games. And to them, keep their head up, and we'll just keep -- we're just getting started. So this is my first tournament. So we're just going to take a rest right now. These guys are all tired. Get back, see some sun back home.

Q. Wanted to get your thoughts on Jaime Jaquez's play. We've been following him and the positivity he's brought to not only the school, himself, the program and you, and your bonding with him, but to us as a community, to be able to say that we've seen Lorenzo Mata, and now here is Jaime Jaquez, and here's Jaime Jaquez Jr., in, as we say, the spotlight. It's good for our community. It's good for everybody. And just your thoughts on the Iron Man play he just showed the entire tournament.

COACH CRONIN: Well, to your point, you used the term "Iron Man." That's a great term for him, because that's what he is. He gave us a fighting spirit that we needed last year. And that's why he was inserted into the lineup as a freshman. And the guys have gravitated, and there's guys on the team that he's the guy that he plays so hard every day. He's one of those guys that he rises everybody else's level of intensity -- he raises, I should have said.

In some games he scores a lot. Obviously he's a very talented kid. So he can shoot it. He can drive it. He continues to improve. But as you pointed out, he's such a good guy. Such a good person from a great family. But pointedly, within a team, players like him are so important. Character is so important. And we have other guys that have it. But your question's about him.

Q. Yes.

COACH CRONIN: Obviously, he's got the heart of a lion. I'm honored to be his coach. So thank goodness he's with us, because obviously he's been a huge piece for me to rebuild this program, get it back to where we want to have it.

Q. Did Gonzaga do everything you thought they would do now that you've seen them in person what makes them hard to beat on Monday?

COACH CRONIN: Here's what I would say: They do have really good players. Timme is a great offensive player. But they have to overcome some things. I don't want to sit here tell you my opinion point those out. But the reason I bring that up is that Mark is such a great coach that very few teams execute at their level, at their pace. They do a lot of changing of what they're doing, and it was such a chess match to coach against him.

We did it -- he's got me twice now in overtime. Maui in 2011 and now here in the Final Four. He's a great guy. I think he's just vastly, vastly underrated as a tactician because people say they've got all this talent.

To pass the ball -- it's really hard to get guys to pass the ball to each other consistently and play as a team the way they do. So their talent level is high. But their coaching elite as well.