NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - AKRON VS UCLA

March 17, 2022

Mick Cronin

Jaime Jaquez

Jules Bernard

Tyger Campbell

Moda Center

UCLA Bruins

Media Conference

UCLA 57, Akron 53

MICK CRONIN: First of all, want to congratulate John and Akron on a great season. I told him after the game they were probably the most well-coached, best defensive team we've played all year.

Their point guard was so tough, all their guys were so tough, the smallest guys on our post guys, and we couldn't get the ball inside. It's just a credit to the coaching staff at Akron, their kids, their toughness. We were well aware of how hard this game was going to be.

We've got a veteran team. It wasn't a battle because we weren't ready; I can tell you that. These guys are veterans. They understood, they trusted the coaching staff and the scouting report.

Great win for us. We finally got some shots to go down, made some adjustments, gutted it out. Keys in the second half for us were Jaime had six assists. We only turned it over twice in the second half, which allowed us to get enough shots to where we finally started making some. Also, offensive rebounding in the second half.

In a game like that, this reminds me of my Big East days. You're going to win a rock fight, you've got to put your hardhat on and you've got to take care of the ball, get some extra possessions. And the offensive rebounding was huge, and we didn't turn it over. We were able to finally get some -- hang in there and get some stops and get a few shots to go down.

Castaneda played great, and congrats to Akron on their season.

Q. How did your past experiences in the tournament conference play help you in these high pressure situations? You played a huge role as a team coming together in this comeback win.

JULES BERNARD: We're a resilient team, and we have a great camaraderie, and we know we've been in positions like that before, and we knew the caliber of team we were playing.

We got down and they made some tough shots, and then they had an and-one foul to put them up seven or eight. We just gathered together and stayed calm. I think that was the most important thing, and got stops on defense, and obviously, like Coach said, the big thing was offensive boards.

I feel like Cody Riley, Jaime Jaquez, everyone who came in gave us 30 minutes. We stuck it out. I feel like that's the mark of a great team is when you're battled and you face a challenge and you come out on top.

Q. Tyger, you scored eight straight points there at the end. What was going through your mind there?

TYGER CAMPBELL: My teammates just kept finding me, and I just was wanting to make a play. I knew down the stretch, Coach made some adjustments, and I just wanted to execute on them, and the shots went in.

Q. Tyger, can you talk about the three-pointer at the end of the shot clock, and take us through that play?

TYGER CAMPBELL: You know, it was a broken play. We didn't really have a shot. I was up at the top. Jaime could have shot it, but he found me behind him, tossed it to me, and I looked up at the shot clock and I knew I had to let it go. And when I shot it, it felt good, and it just went in. It was a great shot.

Q. Coach, looking ahead to Saturday, you'll be going against a player you recruited, Logan Johnson --

MICK CRONIN: That's my guy. I love him dearly and his entire family.

Q. What enticed you to recruit him, and have you followed his career at St. Mary's?

MICK CRONIN: Absolutely. Text after games, he'll text congratulations. Darren and I, Savino, we love him dearly. Couldn't be more happy for the way his career has evolved. Obviously talk to Randy extensively. So it was a great fit when Logan decided to leave after we left.

But recruited him because he's one of the best athletes that you'll see play college basketball. He's also one of the best people, from a great family. He impacts the game in every possible way. He blocks shots. How many point guards block shots? Anyway, I could talk about him a lot.

Great challenge. Randy is a great coach. Obviously they played great tonight. Logan is the best. Just very happy that it's worked out for him.

Obviously I felt terrible, it was the roughest day of my life professionally when I had to leave them kids.

Really, really happy it's worked out the way it has for him.

Q. Coach, from appearances it looks like you coached Tyger I'll say hard.

MICK CRONIN: We have a Midwest -- I don't know where you're from.

Q. Portland.

MICK CRONIN: We're city guys from the Midwest. We're on the same wavelength.

Q. How would you describe that dynamic?

MICK CRONIN: He's from the Quad Cities. Back there where he's from, there's not a lot of soft guys. My brother beat me up for fun when I grew up. And I just got to a point I made him do it just to make him do it.

But anyway, no, in all seriousness, we're on the same page. Tonight we had to be. We had to make a lot of adjustments.

Credit to John, his team. They took so many things away from us. We were trying to get -- we were searching. Tyger and I were searching together trying to figure some things out, and I thought keeping the ball in the middle of the floor in his hands as much as I could was the answer.

It worked. And John tried to start trapping him, so we tried to start slipping. But I'm lucky he's with me. He knows I'm half crazy. Trust me, he's well aware.

Q. Tyger, can you speak to what it is about Coach's style that is effective for you?

TYGER CAMPBELL: Well, I know Coach. He coaches me hard for a reason. He wants me to be great. He knows that everything that he says I take in, and I take what he says -- he might say it in a certain way, but I get the meat out of it, if that makes sense. I get pretty much the message.

Coach knows I have the highest respect for him, and it's just how it is.

Q. Jaime, I'll start with you, and Jules and Tyger, you can join in. You took the floor -- I'm sure you were hyper focused on Akron, but you took the floor as the Jumbotron was showing Kentucky losing to St. Peter's, and a couple of you did look up at the Jumbotron. How much did you put that in the back of your mind, knowing that, outside of facing a tough team, there was chaos going on as you took the floor?

JAIME JAQUEZ: That's March for you right there. It happens every year, teams get upset. And we were watching that game thinking to ourselves: That can't be us tonight.

All props to Akron. They played great, played a great game, great team. But we just knew we didn't want to be the ones getting upset tonight, and we're looking forward to bigger things.

Q. What was going through your mind late in the second half when Akron was up and you guys were saying, oh, no, we're not going to fall for the trap, like what happened with Kentucky earlier tonight? And, Coach, what are your thoughts about your next matchup?

JULES BERNARD: I think we didn't panic, and like I said, we've been in those positions before last year in the tournament, also throughout our seasons.

So we know what that feeling is like, and we just try to stay composed as best as possible and know that our effort and toughness would pull us through.

Q. Jaime, wanted to ask you about Tyger's -- one of his threes down the line, when you had that open look, and in just a split second you gave that up and kicked it out to him in the corner. What was going through your mind?

JAIME JAQUEZ: Man, I don't even really know. I just know I got the ball, I think it was a kick-out for the rebound. I saw it, get back to me, I saw some guy coming, and I heard "Corner," and then I looked and just threw it to him.

I saw him wide open, and I knew this guy has got heart and he's going to make a big shot when we need him to. And I just saw him wide open, and I knew I've got to get him that shot.

Q. You guys had a nice tradition last year in the hotel of slapping the advance UCLA on each line. Chris Smith did that. Is there somebody designated to do that tonight?

JULES BERNARD: Russell Strong. Part of our team right there. After the game, he rubbed it on and took a big windup and smacked the board. Russ is our designated guy for that.

Q. Can you talk about Peyton Watson? He had a huge second half. And those minutes were so aggressive for him, I felt like he bridged the gap there.

MICK CRONIN: Yeah, I felt like he could be a good matchup defensively. We were trying to get stops, get us some length in the game. He knocked down a big shot.

These guys, we spend a lot of time on shooting, and then they come back at night and do it.

So Peyton had some great minutes. It was really impactful minutes. He didn't get a rebound, but his effort to go get some, he infused energy into our team, which we needed.

I think we're going to need it going forward for sure on Saturday because St. Mary's plays at the same pace, their tempo. We've got to try to do some stuff to make them uncomfortable, so you need your better athletes. So very, very happy for him.

But I would like to add that the biggest shot of the game was Jules' three in the corner. We were down five, I think, and cut it to two, and we were struggling. That was a big-time shot. There was no coaching involved in that. That's just gym time and this guy that's been doing big things for us for three years since I've been here. That was a big, big-time shot.

Q. Tyger, you didn't seem to show much emotion after you hit those big shots. What's going through your mind? What's going through your heart after you make two shots like that?

TYGER CAMPBELL: Just making sure we win. I don't really fall into those selfish things or getting hyped or anything. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to get hyped after you made a shot. We didn't do anything yet. I made a shot, and there was still time on the clock. I didn't really get excited until I got back to the locker room, saw everybody excited and just knowing that we won and we left this gym with a win tonight.

MICK CRONIN: You're talking about the deep one? He worked on that for 10 minutes yesterday during our shooting, during our free -- we had already practiced. He worked on that shot for 10 minutes yesterday.