Mick Cronin: UCLA 'would've beaten Gonzaga' in Sweet 16 if not for Kenneth Nwuba injury

Drew Timme torched UCLA in 2023 NCAA Tournament and Cronin is still talking about it

Mick Cronin can't let it go.

Seven months after Cronin's UCLA team lost to Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, Cronin is still making excuses. While breaking down the Bruins' 2023-24 roster during an interview at the Pac-12 Media Day, Cronin mentioned an injury to Kenneth Nwuba, a 6-foot-9 center who started against the Zags. 

"We got Kenny Nwuba back in his sixth year, and he's a pretty solid player," Cronin said. "I would tell you if he didn't get hurt at the beginning of the second half, we would've beaten Gonzaga." 

Nwuba, who played a career-high 31 minutes in the Sweet 16, aggravated a strained nerve in his left leg when he attempted to take a charge on Anton Watson early in the second half. It was an injury Cronin said had been bothering Nwuba during the course of the season. 

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The Bruins, the No. 2 ranked team in the country last season in adjusted defensive efficiency, had no answer for Timme who went 16-of-24 from the field and scored 36 points. UCLA was without starting center Adem Bona, who was out with a shoulder injury, leaving bigs Mac Etienne and Kenneth Nwuba to defend Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer by themselves. The Bruins' rarely double-teamed Timme.

"I don't really know what UCLA was doing to be honest," Timme said after the game. "They were letting me get to whatever I wanted. They weren't really giving me much resistance so I mean I thought that was a little weird to be honest."

Even if Nwuba was healthy, it's hard to say anyone was stopping Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer. Many of Timme's buckets came at Nwuba's expense, as he went 9-for-15 on shot attempts with Nwuba in coverage. Alternatively, Timme wasn't concerned defensively against Nwuba, who finished with two points on two shot attempts.

Meanwhile, everything that the Bruins had done to best Gonzaga in the first half — force turnovers, knock down open jumpers and push the pace — vanished in the second half. The Bruins were held scoreless for nearly 11 minutes while the Bulldogs erased a double-digit deficit down the stretch. UCLA countered with a 15-4 run, setting up a go-ahead 3-pointer from Julian Strawther in the closing seconds.

After the game, Cronin criticized the officiating. When he was asked about his gameplan for stopping Timme, he said: "Do our best."

When Cronin was asked about UCLA's scoring drought in the second half:"Wide open shots, and multiple times we got fouled, no call ... and Jaime (Jaquez) got murdered on about four layups." 

The final foul count in the game? UCLA 15, Gonzaga 15

The final free throw tally? UCLA 16, Gonzaga 17

JULIAN STRAWTHER FROM THE LOGO‼️

Gonzaga comes back in the final seconds against UCLA to advance to the Elite Eight.

🎥 @MarchMadnessMBB | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/rorTaSNTtd

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 24, 2023

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