Mick Cronin calls out Big Ten officiating: 'I don't expect to get any calls this year in our first year'

UCLA head coach Mick Cronin didn’t mince words when he talked about the officiating in the Big Ten following the Bruins’ win over Indiana.

Regarding a technical foul on Sebastian Mack, Cronin turned it into a general statement about the refs within the conference. He turned it into comments about not getting calls on the road and his general frustrations with officiating.

Safe to say, Cronin probably didn’t make too many friends in referee circles.

“I didn’t see the play,” Cronin said postgame. “They said that he got fouled and then his arm went out. I don’t expect to get calls on the road and I don’t expect to get any calls in our first year in this league.”

Mack was also asked about his technical situation.

“It was nothing, really,” Mack said. “I grabbed my arm and tried to rip it out of there, but it’s cool. It’s just the game, it’s Big Ten basketball, you’ve just got to play through it.”

In the 72-68 win over Indiana, UCLA let a 10-point halftime lead slip, but managed to hang on for the victory. Tyler Bilodeau led the way with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Skyy Clark and Kobe Johnson scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“You can play well in this league and lose,” Cronin said. “We did not play bad at Maryland. We were down nine when I decided to hit the showers and send a message. Ace Bailey is the second or third pick in the draft, and he hit a fall-away contested three on us in the corner. They were at full strength against us. We didn’t play bad. Dylan [Andrews] had the flu and he played five minutes. People just see the results. I think, whether you win or lose, you have to improve. You have to evaluate your team and your individuals.”

So despite Cronin battling injuries, the officials, adversity, whatever it may be, UCLA is 19-7 on the season.

“Ultimately, we’re playing in a one-and-out tournament. Everybody thinks that they know who’s going to win it and that we have no chance, but that’s not the way that we approach it. We will not approach it like that when the day comes, because we practice under 11 banners. Nobody else does that.”

Cronin and UCLA are back in action at home Tuesday against Minnesota at 10:30 p.m. ET.