NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL SEMIFINAL - NORTH CAROLINA VS UCLA

March 25, 2022

Mick Cronin

Jaime Jaquez

Jules Bernard

Johnny Juzang

Wells Fargo Center

UCLA Bruins

Sweet 16 Postgame Media Conference

North Carolina 73, UCLA 66

Q. Jaime, how much was that ankle bothering you at all tonight? I know you toughed it out a lot.

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.: It wasn't bothering me.

Q. Jaime, Jules or Johnny, you guys had a three-point lead in a game that saw 14 lead changes. I know you haven't looked at the film, but when you look back at those last two minutes, what's going through your mind?

JULES BERNARD: Just do whatever it takes to get a win and get a stop. I mean, that's our mentality. But obviously that's not how it went. They had players who played big shots and big plays. Yeah, but whenever we're in that position, we're always thinking, stay solid on defense, get a stop and get a rebound. But that's not how it went.

Q. Johnny, there's been a lot of talk the last couple weeks about how close you guys are as a team. Obviously you had that big run last year and then a couple wins this year in the tournament. Can you reflect on how close you guys were and how that impacts how you react after a tough loss like this?

JOHNNY JUZANG: Yeah, it makes it, I think, really tough and makes it really hurt because you love playing with this group, and for it to end the way it did, it hurts.

Yeah, I felt like we had a real chance to do something really big, so just unfortunate. We all love playing with each other and playing for Coach. It sucks.

Q. Jules, Caleb Love in the second half played really well, had 27 points. Can you just talk about trying to stop him?

JULES BERNARD: I mean, he's a great player, and I feel like he got some good looks early and knocked them down. When you give a player like that good looks and he starts knocking them down and getting in a rhythm, they can get hot in this tournament. One hot player can send you home.

He's a great player, and he made some tough shots, but I give credit to him.

Q. The game seemed to swing on that kind of crazy inbounds save that Bacot made. Did that seem like -- for Jaime, that obviously sparked their run and made a nice play to spark what they did.

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.: Yeah, that play was a crucial play, I think, down the stretch. They got hot, they started making tough shots, and it happens like that sometimes. It is what it is.

Q. Coach, from your standpoint in that last two minutes, did you feel there was any defensive breakdown? Was it simply your shots not going in? They got hot? How would you describe it?

MICK CRONIN: Well, look, as a coach you can get upset about certain things. The truth is we had a lot of good execution and the ball didn't go in. Our last three threes were wide open. We got Jaime the ball down low. He's delivered for us all year time and time again. He got to his right hand and missed a two-footer, just rolled out on him. Johnny missed a couple. Jaime had a couple clean looks that just didn't go in, and Caleb Love made good shots.

The turning point of the game, we were up two or three -- we're up three with two minutes left, give or take a few seconds. That changed the game. We get that rebound, it's a different -- but you never know what happens. But obviously that's going to keep me up at night. Everybody in here saw. We get that rebound -- they took a really hard shot. Again, that's good defense. Then I think Bacot saved it and threw it up and it goes right to Love and he shoots it in.

Sometimes, you know what they say about the sun, right?

Q. 15 offensive rebounds, 19 second-chance points --

MICK CRONIN: We knew that was going to be the biggest problem. That was my focus -- Coach Darren does a great job with personnel. I jump in, tell them all this isn't going to matter if we can't get the rebound. We didn't get the job done on the defensive glass. They've got too much firepower to give them second shots, third shots at times.

It would be fitting that our downfall where we had the lead was another offensive rebound. That, and I thought we let Caleb Love get some lay-ups that were inexplicable. I don't worry about the hard shots. The lay-ups were the problem.

Q. We were talking yesterday about how this group was the group that was here when you came in. What's the reaction in the locker room --

MICK CRONIN: Oh, they're heartbroke.

Q. Knowing this is the --

MICK CRONIN: Yeah, they're heartbroke. But like I tell them, we all play at UCLA, we practice under the pyramid of success, and true greatness is giving your best effort. Give your best effort to get your degree, be a good person, be a good teammate. They've restored UCLA to the national scene. They can't -- my message to them is you can't let people say, well, hey, you did not win it all this year or your season is not a success. That's a ludicrous statement. Although I came to UCLA to try to get this 12th title and I'm not going to leave until I do.

But for them -- I'm a teacher, so for them their lesson has got to be did they give their best effort, and the answer is yes. These guys did a great job of making UCLA basketball relevant again.

I'm very proud of them. Just try to hammer home to them that you can't let this loss define your career because we all know, especially those of us from LA in here, what they've done to turn our program around.

Q. You get to the Final Four last year playing through a season with many challenges due to the COVID pandemic. You have a pause this year due to COVID. You play without fans for a couple of games. Here you are in the second weekend again. Unfortunately for you, you come up short. What's this whole thing been like, advancing and having so many challenges off the basketball court these last two years?

MICK CRONIN: It's been wild since Chris Smith went down, to be honest with you. I mean, the COVID has been horrible for our world, but for our injuries it's been crazy. But like I told the guys, it's a great life lesson. You don't make excuses, you get better, find a way to find through it. We always give our best effort. It's not like we didn't play well tonight. Couldn't get a stop and a rebound when the game was on the line, and Love hit a big shot, we executed.

Like I said, sometimes about the sun, it doesn't always shine in the same place. You have to understand that. You have to be a man and deal with it.

But yeah, it's been interesting the last few years, everything that we've been through. But a lot of people have. There's people in Ukraine going through way worse. I get to go through it as a coach at UCLA, so it makes it all that much better.