Mick Cronin dispels belief that homecourt advantage matters in basketball

The UCLA Bruins hit the road in Big Ten player and made the trip to Lincoln where head coach Mick Cronin saw his team lose to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday.

Nebraska fans have been known for creating strong environments across all sports and in basketball the home court advantage is a tough one with the Cornhuskers now winning 20 straight home games and going 37-5 at home dating back to the 2022-23 season. Despite that, Cronin insisted after the game that he doesn’t believe in home court advantage mattering in college basketball.

“I don’t really believe in that stuff,” Mick Cronin said. “I believe in coaching and execution and players. I just don’t believe in that stuff.”

Nebraska ended up winning 66-58. It was a game where the Cornhuskers outrebounded, shot a higher percentage from three-point range, shot more than twice the free throws, and turned the ball over less than UCLA did in the game.

“So, their players did a great job on the defensive end. They were the better defensive team today, and that’s why they won. I don’t think environment has anything to do with anything. I just don’t. I think it makes it more fun for the players, maybe you. You know, I don’t know,” Cronin said. “But, yeah, I don’t think that has anything to do with the whole thing. Maybe more in football because of the elements, cold, rain, whatever. Basketball, somebody cheers so you can play better? Not a big believer in that. I think it’s got more to do with Juwan Gary and Brice Williams.”

This season, Mick Cronin’s UCLA team now sits at 8-0 at home, 2-2 at neutral sites, and 1-1 in road games this season. All but three of those games have also been non-conference games. That comes a season after UCLA went 9-7 at home, 2-4 at neutral sites, and 5-6 in away games.

Mick Cronin and UCLA will be back in action on January 7th when the Bruins return home to play the Michigan Wolverines. Their next road game is going to be on Friday after a long trip across the country to the Maryland Terrapins.

Mick Cronin downplays absence of Eric Dailey Jr. on Nebraska loss

UCLA was without Eric Dailey Jr. for the Nebraska game. Despite that, Mick Cronin downplayed his absence in the loss.

“Yeah but, we still – I don’t like that stuff. It’s five-on-five. It’s not like (hockey). It’s not the power play. You don’t got to play a man down. We’re missing two guys but it’s still not the power play. We got guys on scholarship that are good enough players,” Cronin said.

“You can’t go 4-28 and have any chance to win against a team that stands people in the paint and dares you to shoot. It is what it is. Really, I mean – look, that’s pretty much the game in a nutshell.”