Mick Cronin shares thoughts on winning Pac-12 Championship

Mick Cronin just won his first Pac-12 regular season title today with UCLA’s victory at Colorado. That brought the Bruins to 16-2 in conference play and finally put them out of reach from the rest of the league.

After their 60-56 win in Boulder on Sunday, Cronin applauded the accomplishment by his team as the first step of their larger journey. He knows what this means for their season and it puts them in a pretty exclusive club.

“Yeah, it was nice. On our way to what we’re trying to accomplish, if you want to stay in the West? You gotta try and win the Pac-12,” said Cronin. “It’s nice to do it on the road. I take a lot of pride in who we are on the road. It’s hard to win on the road. To, 18 games in, have a three-game lead with two games to play in a high major conference? I don’t know if anybody else has that.”

Right you are, Coach Cronin. UCLA is the only conference leader in the Power Five that has officially clinched its league yet. However, it’s been no surprise for the Bruins considering their play through 18 games as they’ve won by an average of over 12 points per game.

The Bruins still have a long way to go to accomplish what they’re really after this season. Even so, this is a strong start as winning ‘the conference of champions’ is significant regardless of when or how you do it. Now, with the first league title out west under his belt, Cronin has two more regular season games to lead his team in before they keep their pursuit going both in the Pac-12 Tournament as well as in March Madness.

Jaime Jaquez explains the ‘bittersweet’ feeling as UCLA career nears its end

Jaime Jaquez is in the midst of a memorable senior campaign for UCLA as the Bruins close in on a potential record-breaking finish to the season. The Bruins are at the front of the pack of the Pac-12 regular season title with more accolades potentially on the way.

Jaquez himself has been having a great season, too. He leads the Bruins in points with and rebounds 16.8 and 8.1 per game respectively. Both stats rank fourth overall in the conference.

With the season winding down, Jaquez is getting sentimental about his final go-around with his UCLA teammates.

“It’s bittersweet,” Jaquez said. “I’m very excited. I’m very eager to play. I want March to start already. But at the same time, I’m trying to take my sweet time with it. I’m gonna enjoy every moment. We got one last road trip coming up here. We’re gonna make most of it.”