Mick Cronin shares main concern guarding Boo Buie in second half

UCLA coach Mick Cronin had a strong message to send his team at halftime of their NCAA matchup against Northwestern and Boo Buie. The Bruins led through the first half with a 35-25 lead over Northwestern behind strong defense, but the final minutes of the half gave Cronin a major headache with how they guarded the Wildcats star.

As the teams went into the locker rooms for the break, Cronin made it as simple as he could what his message to the team will be — keep Boo Buie out of the paint or lose and go home.

“Well look, we let Boo Buie get in the lane the second half whenever he wants like he did the last three minutes, they’re gonna come back on us. So we gotta do a better job of that. We gotta get our deflections back up, get the pace going because they’re a good half-court defensive team,” said Cronin before halftime.

Despite Cronin’s disappointment with their defense to close the half, the Bruins held Buie to just five points, two rebounds and two assists in the first half.