UCLA MEN'S BASKETBALL AT UTAH: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
UCLA AT UTAH
When: Today, 6 p.m.
Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center,
Salt Lake City
TV/radio: ESPN2 / 570 AM
Records: UCLA is 6-9overall, 1-3 Pac-12, Utah is 11-4, 2-2
UCLA's latest result: Coach Mick Cronin apologized for not talking to reporters after UCLA's 66-57loss to Cal at Pauley Pavilion last weekend. Cronin, who sent assistant coach Rod Palmer to speak in his place, later explained why he felt the need to continue talking to the team long after the final buzzer. “They need me right now,” Cronin said before Tuesday's practice. “They needed to see and I apologize. I know you guys work hard and you know I try to always accommodate you and go out of my way when I can, but at that time, they needed to see that I was concerned about anything else but the situation. “They know I'm trying to help them. The concern the other night was although we haven't lost a game by double figures all year, but I thought the other night was the first time we got outhustled, which is not acceptable. I take it personally. I take my job personally. It's not healthy for me. It's bad for the people that love me, but it's just the reality and when I don't, I need to hang it up.” Against the Golden Bears, the Bruins were led by freshman guard Sebastian Mack with 20points. Sophomore forward Adem Bona had 14points and four steals. Sophomore guard Dylan Andrews added 10points. However, UCLA could not overcome a 32-23halftime deficit after the team's slow start on offense in the first half. Kenneth Nwuba, the team's only senior and a member of UCLA's 2021Final Four team, believes he knows what it is going to take to beat Utah. “We have to put our heads down and go play basketball and take it to the next level,” Nwuba said. “Play better defense and play better offense. When we go with defense and play good defense, offense is going to come.”
Utah's latest result: The Utes are coming off a 92-73loss at Arizona on Jan. 6. Senior guard Gabe Madsen had a team-high 18 points, but Utah was outrebounded 42-24 and allowed Arizona to shoot 60.3% (38 for 63) from the field, including 55.6% (10 for 18) from 3-point range.
Matchup to watch: Seven-foot-3 freshman center Aday Mara against Utah's 7-foot senior center Branden Carlson and 7-1 junior center Lawson Lovering. Mara is expected to receive more than the four minutes of playing time he did in UCLA's loss to Cal. Mara's size is what initially stands out. However, Mara's potential scoring ability is more important for a team that has not scored more than 60 points in any of its past three games. “The challenge for us has been can we play (Aday) and Adem (Bona) together, because Adem is our best player,” Cronin said. “Things Aday knows he's gonna get better at is get stronger, become a better defender, but even with that when he gets his chance, this team desperately needs offensive production.”
UCLA trends to watch: The Bruins, who have seven freshmen and eight newcomers, have not lost a game by double digits this season and have allowed the fewest points per game (62.2) in the Pac-12through 15contests. “I'm commending their effort,” Cronin said. “How many teams this young defend?” With the defense working but the offense lacking recently, Cronin says his team needs effort and execution to win Pac-12 games. “(Execution). That's the issue,” Cronin shared. “It's hard to become a good offensive team without somebody you can rely on that makes the game easy for his teammates, so even if Jaime Jaquez had a rough night, it was usually because the other team was paying a lot of attention to him, so therefore his teammates were open. “When you watch a team play, I would contend that a great passer can make the game a lot easier for others, so that's something we're trying to work really hard on. We're spending a lot of time on showing our guys, our guards especially. I would love to shoot more 3's if we would pass it out to the open shooter, but our guards struggle with that so it's an area of coaching. We don't have a guy that's natural at that. We just don't and that's my fault, but we don't.” Cronin also referred to “a big gap” in the school's lack of NIL opportunities for players as something that has hindered his team's level of experience. “Tyger (Campbell) wasn't going to stay for the NIL money here, so there was really no way around it,” Cronin said. “At some point, those guys were all going to be gone and it is what it is and you know how the portal is and what it's really about. It's not about guys saying they connected with the coach,” Cronin continued with a smile and a sly chuckle.