UCLA Basketball: Mick Cronin Chastises Bruins For Getting Comfortable In Win Streak

Did the Bruins get too comfortable in their win streak?

After a critical 70-69 loss to Utah, UCLA basketball was given a wake up call. The Bruins had been coasting on a six-game winning streak that had the team looking like all their problems were solved.

However, that has proven to be far from the case. Head coach Mick Cronin spoke on the Bruins getting too comfortable during their win streak after the loss.

“I mean, if you are haven’t matured by now, we have played 20-something games. It is what it is," Cronin said. "It’s not like we have never lost before this year. My opinion of it would be, that as wins pile up, teams start to forget why they are winning. People start to tell them that they’re good, and I can’t put them in a bubble, no coach can."

via UCLA communications.

Even before the loss against Utah, the Bruins were playing far from perfect. Their shooting has not been at its best over the past few games, scoring less than 65 points against Cal and Colorado. They've allowed teams, like Colorado, to stay in games rather than putting them away.

"I’ve seen slipping in our defense," Cronin said. "I saw it against Colorado we had a 14-point lead, and we were giving up backdoor layups. So it is not a shock to me. And in our winning streak, we gave up 48 percent from the field, we were forcing a lot of turnovers, and getting a lot of offensive rebounds, which has made up for that. But that is way too high of a number, way too high. We are no juggernaut. The guys are competing, I’m proud of that. But we are about winning at UCLA, so we have to play a lot smarter, there were too many bad fouls.”

via UCLA communications.

Ideally, for the Bruins, this loss will give them a chance to reset and wake up now that they are no longer piling up win after win. 

The Bruins will get the chance to rebound when they take on USC this Saturday.