Postgame Quotes – UCLA 79, Sacramento State 48

POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 79, Sacramento State 48
Los Angeles, Calif. (at Pauley Pavilion introduced by Wescom Financial)
November 18, 2025

Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
opening assertion
“Good win. I hate to see a player get hurt. I hope the best. Jeremiah Cherry went down holding his knee. That was me one time back in 1989, so I hate to see that. Here’s the story of the game: first half 33 deflections, second half – nine. The guys that started the game set the tone, that’s what they did in practice yesterday when they won by 20. They set the tone today. I gave the other guys a chance because they need to practice coming out of the locker room with more energy, and they didn’t get the job done. Our defensive rebounding continues to be a problem. We forced 41 misses, they [Sacramento State] got 14 of the 41. It seemed really bad to me. We’re not going anywhere if we don’t get better on the defensive backboard. Eric Dailey Jr. took it to heart. I think Steve Jamerson II was having a great game, but then he twisted his ankle. We’ll see tomorrow how he feels.”

on the hassle given in unfastened ball performs
“What I tell the team is, like we got beat the other night, that I have no problem losing on the scoreboard. I have a problem when I don’t think we played hard enough, or smart at the end of games. That I have a problem with. So, as Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon, ‘We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die my way’. So, I just can’t stomach playing any other way. I never had to ask Jaime Jáquez to dive on the floor. He struggles shooting, Adem [Bona] can’t shoot, and Jalen Clark’s not a shooter, and they’re all in the NBA. And Tyger Campbell was the toughest dude of all time at 5’10”. That staff was gonna win a title. Not due to Mick Cronin, as a result of these 4 guys, with Amari and Dave on my employees, these guys had unbelievable hardened toughness. Unbelievable. We performed Colorado right here one time; we had been purported to lose, and so they had staff. And they simply began stealing each ball, it was unreal. It was unbelievable to observe. Now I’ll always remember that. Like we had been purported to lose that evening. So, I imply would you like me to present out brownie buttons for guys diving on the ground? I don’t know.”

on Eric Dailey Jr’s response after his harm to begin the season

“Practice. He’s great in practice, he got 10 rebounds. Four assists, one turnover. The biggest problem in coaching, Mike [Bibby]’s got it now, because he’ll never coach a player as good as him. It’s an interesting conundrum as a coach. But they all think they’re gonna be him, which is comical. It’s really, really hard, really, really hard, to get guys to realize, Eric Dailey’s rebounding as a college player will directly correlate to his chances of being a pro, I would say 20x more than his scoring percentage. His rebound percentage. Because nobody is ever gonna run a play for him if he makes the NBA. Ever. But, you know, Eric’s a tough dude.”

on the probability of sticking with tonight’s beginning lineup

“We’ll see how guys practice. Right now, we’re in a mode of trying to learn how to play hard enough to earn the jersey that they wear. I have great respect for the jersey. I left my hometown, and coaching at my alma mater, I feel terrible that they haven’t been to the tournament in a while, because of how much respect I have for UCLA basketball. And I try to respect that my players play with that kind of effort and show that same respect.”

on the 9 deflections within the second half in comparison with 33 within the first

“I gave the guys to start the second half, and they didn’t set the tone. Their energy was low. The guys that brought the energy didn’t start the second half. So, that goes into my assessing; how are we going to get off to a good start? A lot of coaches, like Tommy Lloyd doesn’t start [Anthony] Dell’Orso. Whether it’s that you’re trying to bring a sixth man off the bench, my feeling is, you better start the lineup that’s gonna play the best defense possible and not turn it over. We’re searching. It’s early. I tried to start my defensive lineup tonight. Gives you the best chance to get off to a good start, and I wanted to get off to a good start.”

 

UCLA junior ahead Eric Dailey Jr.

On tonight’s beginning lineup and the way they practiced

 

“I think he just wanted to see a different group, to just go out there and bring energy to start the game off. I’m proud of the guys that started and proud of the guys who came in too, they kept it going. That just shows our level of intensity has to be higher to start the game off and the way we play on defense is the way we have to play all the time.”

 

On Coach Cronin’s message and the way passes it to the staff

“Whatever he says goes because I don’t know any better. That’s why I’m here. If I knew better, then I’d probably be somewhere else. So, just applying what Coach says really works. He knows what he’s talking about and he’s a great coach. At the end of the day just do exactly what he says. He doesn’t ask us to do anything we’re not capable of doing.”

 

On who stood out and who he was happy with this sport

“First off I feel Brandon Williams since he didn’t play final yr and hasn’t actually performed since his freshman yr. For him to begin tonight I feel that’s a very large second for him and his confidence as a result of we’re going to wish him. Trent clearly because you guys have seen him first begin towards West Georgia and it’s positively carrying over and he’s doing what he’s purported to do as some extent guard. Jamar was bringing toughness and even Steven too till he bought harm. He was bringing power on the boards. So for these guys to be prepared, it does not matter about who’re the starters or who’s on the bench. It’s about being prepared on the finish of the day and being able to play basketball no matter in case you begin or come off the bench. It does not matter the place you are at, so long as if you get within the sport you are able to play.

 

UCLA junior ahead Xavier Booker

on what the staff wished to see after a loss to Arizona

“Just defending, staying in front of guys, and just rebounding. That’s the main thing. Coach gets on me about rebounding and just hitting the guy and blocking them out. I felt like just standing solid on defense, helping your teammate out whenever he gets beat. The main thing was just defense and rebounding.”

 

UCLA sophomore guard Trent Perry

on his mindset coming into the sport

“Just go out there and give it my all and be confident. I felt like I kind of let my team in our last game against Arizona because I wasn’t too aggressive. I could have done better defensively getting more rebounds and things like that. I wanted to pick myself up and the team to just come out there with a lot of intensity on defense.”

 

 

on the starters vs. reserves in follow

“We were just battling it out and we looked up at the scoreboard and there it was. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if we’re all playing very hard in practice regardless. Whatever the teams may be one day, we are always going to play hard and we’re always competing no matter what.”

 

Sacramento State Head Coach Mike Bibby

on what he discovered within the staff’s hardest check of the season

“We discovered how large, sturdy, and prolonged these guys are. We had second half, it was simply that the pictures didn’t fall. When the pictures don’t fall, the sport is gonna be like this. We had been 13-of-54 from the sphere and also you’re not gonna win many video games like that. I like how the fellows got here again and saved preventing within the second half. We misplaced the second half by six factors. That’s why I wished to play these large groups, to prepare for our convention, and see how basketball is performed. They don’t care who cares and so they know the way to play as a staff.