Mick Cronin on what has caused UCLA's struggles: ‘The guys’ minds are on other things’

UCLA has lost five of their last six because Mick Cronin says they’ve gotten away from who they were.

Cronin spoke about the Bruins’ issues following their latest loss of 75-68 at Rutgers on Monday.

“Oh, we’re struggling,” Cronin said postgame in Piscataway. “It’s pretty obvious.”

Cronin says that starts because of how they’ve fallen off on the defensive end. After an 10-1 start where UCLA allowed 57 points per game on 38% shooting from the field, they’re giving up 75.3 ppg. on 47.8% overall shooting during this stretch at 1-5. They’ve also gone from averaging a slight edge on the glass over that same span at +4.6 to -2.8.

That falloff is Cronin’s reasoning for this poor run with it being clear to him that his team is thinking about other things besides defense. That’s not helping them either, though, as the Bruins are averaging just 74.6 points on so-so shooting percentages.

“Look, we went from a great defensive team – a team that held Arizona to 54, who’s really good and they’re playing like it now. Gonzaga probably won’t lose the rest of the year. We held them to 62 or (63) – something like that,” said Cronin. “It’s what I was trying to explain that, you know, guys’ minds are on other things. You know, you start thinking you’re winning because of who you are and your talent level. You were winning because of your defense. We were always winning because of our defense.

“In this league, in high-major leagues – if you can’t stop somebody, you give up 45 points (in the second half)? You’re not going to win. It doesn’t matter who you are. You know, we’re not – I mean, maybe some teams shoot the lights out. You know, some types of team can do that. We’re not that. We don’t shoot the lights out. We’ve got to play defense. We were minus-eight on the glass, I believe. So you can’t stop them and you’re minus-eight on the glass. The games pretty simple, guys. There’s phases to the game. You know, three phases to the game – defense, rebounding, execution on offense.”

Although losing just one over the first month and a half of the season with a nine-game win streak as part of that, UCLA has now lost five in just the last three and a half weeks. With that, Cronin says it’s a must that the Bruins get back to what there doing on the defensive side to end their four-game losing streak in conference play.

“We better,” said Cronin. “We better.”