NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - NORTHWESTERN VS UCLA

March 18, 2023

Mick Cronin

Amari Bailey

Jaime Jaquez

Golden 1 Center

UCLA Bruins

Media Conference

UCLA 68, Northwestern 63

THE MODERATOR: We have our contingent from UCLA.

Mick, the atmosphere here in the building tonight was about as loud as we've ever heard it. Can you address that a little bit.

MICK CRONIN: Well, the Kings are really good. Mike Brown is a great guy, a great coach. Sabonis is pretty good. I have a feeling it's going to be rocking again like Vlade and Paja were out there come playoff time.

It's nice to see both of our fan bases support us. So much is made now about NIL, NBA and stuff. The college experience, this guy didn't have to go to college, he had seven-figure offer to skip college. Jaime could have left and been in the NBA this year. But they value the college experience, which is why we're so good.

But anyway, I want to congratulate Northwestern on their season. Chris is a friend and a great coach. He made some great adjustments in the second half. We countered with the little trap on their pick and rolls that slowed their offense down.

Boo Buie, Chase Audige, their other guys, Nicholson is a guy that didn't get in the game as a freshman. They're everything that's right about college basketball.

Great game. Two great teams. We're fortunate to grind it out even though Tyger didn't make a basket. If you would have told me Tyger wouldn't make a basket, I wouldn't have liked our chances. He's 12 of 12 at the foul line, so he's money.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Last night you said you would take talent over experience. A whole lot of defense. Talk about Amari's performance.

MICK CRONIN: What did Amari have? 14. I was hoping for 18. But it's my fault he didn't get enough shots. Still working on figuring that one out.

We tried to set a double for Dave, they ran over a guy, called the foul on us. I got to see the film on that one.

I would always say you want talent and experience, but I'll take talent. Amari has tremendous, tremendous talent. The more he plays, the more comfortable he gets, the better he gets. He's just as good on the defensive end as he is on the offensive end.

Q. The three that David hit put you up two possessions late, then David goes down, a scary sight. Your thoughts on that shot, how big it was? David's status at this point?

MICK CRONIN: None of us -- we're surprised when Dave misses because we see him every day in practice. He missed two open ones. Everybody was telling him in the huddle, all these guys, Hey, man, shoot the next one. None of us were surprised when that went in. It was his first make of the game from three.

Big shot. Guys got to make plays. The guys that make plays, the teams that have kids that make the plays, are the teams that are going to move on.

Looks like he didn't break his ankle, which I was worried that he did. I was having flashbacks to when I had a full head of hair in the spring of 2000 running out there and Kenyon Martin was playing there. Looks like he's got a bad sprain.

Jaime will give him some of that potion that he used last year. I'm just happy he didn't break his ankle. It's been crazy for us here lately.

Q. Audige didn't score in the first half, then he caught fire in the second. What did you have to do to scramble in the second half to keep him quiet?

MICK CRONIN: We lost him a few times on offensive rebounds. The reason the game was close is they had 14 offensive rebounds. They took 15 more shots than us.

I told these guys, it's like playing us, because we try to turn you over. The turnovers were even. We lost him off of offensive rebounds. He hit one tough one. Got to right on the Dylan. We told the guys he reminds us of Johnny Juzang. Great pullup to his right, can make an open three. He was in foul trouble in the first half. That was a big part of -- it's hard for him to score from the bench.

Look, the way they're constructed, he and Boo Buie, they got to take a lot of shots, the way their team is constructed. We held their percentages in check. They shot 37% as a team for the game. If we would have rebounded the ball, we would have controlled the whole game.

Q. In this world of college basketball, we've seen parity over the years. We're seeing it right now in this tournament. What you can say about how difficult it is to get into the Sweet 16 and how so many teams, no matter the conference, are giving their best game every single night to the point where we're seeing history this time.

MICK CRONIN: Well, look, this isn't new. I would say nothing's new. I'm from the Midwest. I'm getting used to L.A. where it's Dodgers, Lakers, then you get to college after that.

College basketball's one of the best sports to watch because how hard everybody plays every night. It's not just this tournament. Everybody just happens to be watching right now. If you'd have been in Vegas earlier when we played Illinois, it was like a Final Four game. That was November.

We don't play 82 games. The kids in college basketball, the intensity, it's so hard to score. I tell these guys, they're both going to play in the NBA, it's way easier to score up there. Way easier. Guys are tired. They went out the night before. They play 82 games.

Here, endless scouting report, you got days to prepare. Kids are trained, playing two games a week max. Zone defense helps everywhere. The intensity. It just happens to be right now the games are all on a neutral floor. The best 68 teams are playing.

But to me it's the best sport to watch all the time. I'm probably biased, though.

Q. You talked about the similarities between these teams. Was there anything at all that surprised you about the way this game unfolded?

MICK CRONIN: Not really. I didn't think they'd go away. I watched them too much. I saw 'em play during the regular season, because I root for Chris and Brian James. I have so much respect for Chris. He could have sat in Durham, North Carolina, and waited for Coach K to retire. He said, No, I'm from Chicago, I'm going to go home and take the Northwestern job. We're talking about a team that had never been to the NCAA tournament. I respect that.

He ran to a tough situation. Their team this year, I mean, like Penn State, somebody just told me they had a shot at Texas. Doesn't surprise me because I watched them play overtime games.

They're a grizzled, tough team. They hit some tough shots. Buie hit a step-back three, Audige hit some tough ones. Their hustle on the offensive glass really bothered us. And it didn't surprise me that they came back at us.

Q. You've talked about having winning players on your team. This is now your third consecutive time going to the Sweet 16. Seems like your guys consistently find ways to pull things out. What is the difference between a team that maybe steps up a lot of the times, like you guys almost all the time?

MICK CRONIN: Well, look, I was fortunate, I worked for two of the best ever to walk the college sidelines. My dad was a Hall of Fame high school coach. I was trained on how to win and how to coach winning basketball.

You got to defend and take care of the ball and play smart. Obviously you got to have players. Force another team to try to make shots to beat you. Being able to make adjustments and your players follow the adjustment. All that stuff is important.

Chris was hurting us with the iso, I told these two to start trapping. We immediately got a steal.

Like I said, man, when I got the job, people started asking about style of play. W-I-N. We got to teach guys how to win. There's a lot of ways to win. I would tell you our transition early is what got us the lead. I thought that was big because they're such a good halfcourt defensive team.

It's not like we had a lot of practice to get ready for that. I was able to talk to the guys about when we get a stop, we're flying down for layups because we don't want to get into a game in the 50s.

We just try to teach guys how to play winning basketball. You got to be able to play situational winning basketball because situations change. You got to play smart.

Look, man, you got a guy that gets the ball to Tyger, he missed a free throw against Arizona, and in hindsight I'm glad, I'm glad. We weren't happy coming here. The odds of him missing again are very low, you know? That's just who he is.

I would take players, though, over coach.

Q. Jaime or Amari, Northwestern missed its last 12 of 14 shop attempts. Besides the traps mentioned, was there anything you think shifted defensively over the last eight minutes?

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.: Yeah, I think on the switches, I was talking to Amari during the game, we were switching kind of flat. I talked to him, and we talked to Coach in the huddle. We started getting up, switching up into them, bringing up the pressure again like in the first half. I think we shied away from it in the second half with just light switching. I think in the second half we picked it up a lot more.

Q. When Adem, his shoulder, he comes to the sideline...

MICK CRONIN: He's sore. He's extremely sore. If he gets hit on it in any way, he's sore.

The fact that he's out there shows you what a warrior he is. He's really sore. I mean, he's playing with a brace on. I mean, he could get a hit in it, he could reach for a ball. Any type of movement like that is going to aggravate him and it's just going to be like that.

Q. Was there a discussion on keeping him out of the game?

MICK CRONIN: He's going to be sore. There's always going to be a discussion. I don't know the details. It's going to happen.

Q. Amari, your explosion, the way you elevate, has taken the next level recently. Do you think your athleticism is at the height it is now?

AMARI BAILEY: What?

MICK CRONIN: Talking about his athleticism? He did win the dunk contest. He showed me when he won the dunk contest back in the day, that's right.

Q. (No microphone.)

MICK CRONIN: Oh, his? I thought you were talking about his. Both of them, it helps when you're not hurt.

AMARI BAILEY: I would say it's getting there. Not where I want it to be, but this will do for the time being. Any athleticism that I can use for defense or offense, I'll take it, so...

Q. Coach and Amari, talk a little bit about Dylan Andrews stepping up, hitting your free throws, your fellow freshman.

MICK CRONIN: He hit the three, too.

Q. The clutch free throws, six I think.

MICK CRONIN: Not a surprise. Not a surprise. Dylan's a tough kid.

AMARI BAILEY: I would agree with Coach.

Q. I saw you say something to him.

AMARI BAILEY: I was just saying moments like this he's built for. All our guys get in extra work. I've seen Dylan shoot thousands of free throws. To see him go up and hit two, in this environment, I'm not surprised by it all. He just steps up to challenges.

Q. Amari, you're from Chicago. Is this a tough brand of Chicago basketball that you're used to?

AMARI BAILEY: Yeah, I would say so. It was a nice, physical game, so... That's something we always invite over here, just collectively as a group. I'm glad we got the win.

Q. Jaime, what is it like playing with these freshmen?

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.: I think I told them after the first game, after you play your first game, you're not really a freshman anymore. We expect you to step up. There's a reason coach recruited you. Coach takes pride in the players he recruits to this program. You can see that in the freshmen he's brought in.

They're so big for us. We wouldn't be in this position without them. I don't think they're freshmen anymore. They stepped up to the plate.

MICK CRONIN: We're plus 10 with Dylan in the game in his 15 minutes.

Q. Jaime, I know individual accolades aren't something you're always about. Tonight you passed Bill Walton on UCLA's all-time scoring list.

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.: That's crazy. That's insane. I'll be sure to tell Bill when I see him.

Q. Given how much Bill has meant to the aura of UCLA basketball, what does it mean to you?

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.: Yeah, I mean, that's kind of crazy. I didn't know that. But it's funny because we see Bill all the time in the mornings. He always does our games back at home.

Just to be in a conversation with a guy that's so great like that, I mean, I'm just blessed. I'm just blessed to be in this position, blessed to play under such a great coach, blessed to go to this institution.

I don't really know what to say. That's crazy.

MICK CRONIN: Come back for a fifth year (smiling).