Mick Cronin calls out UCLA for getting 'exposed' on defense vs. Illinois

Mick Cronin was not pleased with the defensive effort from UCLA in an 83-78 loss to Illinois on Tuesday evening. It was tied for the second-most points the Bruins have given up all year and also snapped a seven-game winning streak for the team.

Cronin didn’t hold back in his assessment postgame, diving right into his criticism of the defense.

“We got exposed defensively tonight,” the coach said. “Different guys not being able to guard the ball and stay in front. That was my biggest concern. Obviously, we didn’t have a lot of prep time. Played Saturday, it’s Tuesday and we had to travel across the country. So that was a huge concern. Look, it’s not an excuse. We had time but I know that this was a tough matchup for some of our personnel and I don’t wanna name names.”

UCLA allowed the Fighting Illini to shoot more than 50% from the floor and nearly 40% from 3-point range in the loss. Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic combined to go 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and scored 40 of Illinois’ 83 points.

The Bruins didn’t do a bad job keeping up as they actually shot 52.2% from downtown. They trailed by as much as 16 points with less than five minutes remaining before going on a 13-0 run to cut it down to a one-possession game. UCLA would come as close as two points but couldn’t quite get over the hump as its comeback bid fell just short.

In conference only games, the Bruins rank fourth among Big Ten teams with an average of 70.1 points allowed per game. That in mind, the performance that they had Tuesday was well below average for what they’ve proven themselves capable of this season.

Addditionally, UCLA has proven especially skilled at finding ways to pick the pocket of its opponents this year, averaging 7.7 steals per game in Big Ten play. That was an area where they still excelled against the Fighting Illini, forcing eight steals and a total of 14 turnovers.

Ultimately, though, the defensive display wasn’t good enough for them to win the game as the Bruins fell to 18-7 (9-5 Big Ten) on the year. They still find themselves in a solid position to make the NCAA Tournament if they can finish out the year strong.

Mick Cronin and UCLA have six games remaining on its regular season schedule, beginning with a meeting with Indiana on Saturday. It will look to rebound from its poor defense this past week in attempt to get back on the winning track.