Mick Cronin blames himself after UCLAs troubling

SAN FRANCISCO — It was the kind of displaying that left Mick Cronin with lots to criticize, and he didn’t maintain back.

In a considerably subdued monologue after a loss that will most likely knock his group out of the national rankings, the UCLA basketball coach lamented his group’s perspective, lack of toughness, lack of ability to make free throws and scarcity of savvy despite being stuffed with veterans.

His harshest verbal jab? Cronin saved that for himself.

“Look, I’m not happy with our performance,” Cronin said after the No. 18 Bruins’ 80-72 setback against California on Tuesday evening at the Chase Center, “but I’ll take the blame. You guys can read the stat sheet, you saw the game, you make your own assessments, [but] when it comes to the game, how we play is my responsibility.”

Nearly a month into the season, it could be time to fear about these Bruins.

Some uneven play over the first few weeks may very well be shrugged off as a group stuffed with new gamers discovering its footing.

But there was no cheap clarification for what occurred against an previous Pac-12 rival in a matchup that ought to have stirred some depth before a full of life crowd. Instead, UCLA appeared prefer it had little curiosity in being right here.

“Their attitude was better,” Cronin said of the Golden Bears, who notched their first victory over a nationally ranked group in coach Mark Madsen’s two-plus seasons. “They came to get a big win, our guys thought it was going to be a walk in the park — that’s just my opinion.”

Things bottomed out for UCLA (5-2) with about two minutes to go when level guard Donovan Dent went down with an obvious decrease leg injury and limped off the court.

Any lingering comeback hopes formally ended when Cal’s Dai Dai Ames unleashed a crossover transfer that he adopted with a three-pointer to give the Golden Bears (6-1) an eight-point lead with 1:24 remaining.

And so a recreation that began with UCLA scoring the first eight factors ended with a whimper, Cal making 11 of 22 three-pointers and utilizing a number of gigantic runs to swing momentum in its favor. Golden Bears ahead Chris Bell was particularly unstoppable, making 5 of seven three-pointers on the best way to 22 factors while often discovering himself large open.

“Our team attitude was terrible — it’s been a problem for a month,” Cronin said. “It affects performance. You get in a ring against somebody that wants to fight, you give them confidence early, you’re in for a fight.”

Most regarding for UCLA are the continued struggles of Dent. The switch from New Mexico who arrived with great fanfare has hardly appeared like a top-level participant through the season’s first month.

“He’s got to play better if we’re going to have a chance,” Cronin said. “Somehow, I gotta help him do that.”

Dent’s displaying Tuesday represented a new low. He never appeared comfy while making just one of eight photographs on the best way to a season-low three factors. His season-long capturing woes are significantly acute from the three-point line (10%) and free-throw line (56.7%) and his passing has been reckless at instances.

Dent flung one move toward the nook, where there wasn’t a teammate, and made a bounce move that was headed toward the backcourt before Trent Perry saved it from changing into another turnover. Dent completed the sport with almost as many turnovers (six) as assists (seven).

But he was hardly the only perpetrator on a group that led by six factors early in the second half before folding.

“When things don’t go well, we get soft and panic real quick,” Cronin said. “So although we’re an older team, we lack a toughness right now.”

As additional evidence of his level, Cronin said his group’s 20 deflections — steals, blocked photographs, tipped passes and free balls collected — might need represented a five-year low. There was also the matter of the Bruins making only 13 of 23 free throws and guards Jamar Brown and Trent Perry each committing a foul popping out of a late timeout when Cronin had expressly told his gamers not to foul.

“A guy without the ball — not driving at the rim, a cutter,” Cronin said of the Cal participant that was hacked. “That’s a lack of discipline and you deserve to lose.”

Making a case for a bigger position, significantly until Dent returns to kind, Perry led the Bruins with 19 factors off the bench and ahead Eric Dailey Jr. added 17 factors and seven rebounds, though there was no solace to be discovered in the stat sheet.

“We weren’t happy, obviously,” Dailey said of the scene in the locker room after the sport. “A lot of faces that we ain’t seen before, so we’ll figure it out.”

UCLA ahead Tyler Bilodeau, the group’s main scorer, missed his second consecutive recreation with a knee sprain that might keep him out another week or so. But he appeared to be shifting nicely while getting in some pregame dribbling work with assistant coach David Singleton.

Maybe he’ll come back soon, bolstering a group in need of vital help.

“We’re going to toughen up or it’s going to be a long year,” Cronin said. “You can’t have a glass jaw, you know, that’s scary right now for us. Like, that’s got me nervous.”