Mick Cronin jokes about Dylan Andrews hitting clutch free throws: 'He didn't want to see me go to the hospital'

UCLA and coach Mick Cronin managed to hang onto a 72-68 win over Indiana after leading by as many as 13 points, then watching the lead slowly whittled away down the stretch.

A pair of clutch free throws by Dylan Andrews with four seconds left helped extend the margin to a two-possession game, sealing the win.

After the game, Cronin had a good laugh about the makes, which prevented disaster. At the time in the game, Andrews was just 1-of-7 from the floor and 1-of-3 from the charity stripe.

“Yeah, I think he’s a great kid and he really cares about his coach and he didn’t want to see me go to the hospital,” Cronin said about the clutch free throws.

Of course, Mick Cronin would know a thing or two about the hospital and about the stresses basketball can cause or exacerbate.

He went through a very scary personal health crisis about a decade ago, diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Ultimately, Cronin had to step away from the game — then the coach at Cincinnati — to deal with his health issues.

He’s been in good health of late, though, following the scary ordeal.

Mick Cronin had the issue further narrowed down to a tear in an artery carrying blood to his brain. With treatment, he was able to get by and improve the outlook considerably. Enough to return to coaching.

Still, any time he can avoid a little extra stress these days, he’s all for it. So take a bow, Dylan Andrews. Those free throws might have been more important than you thought.

And it’s great to see Mick Cronin is able to laugh about his health these days.