Bruins' Cronin Talks Season-Opening Win

The No. 22 UCLA Bruins started the season on a positive note with a convincing win in their season opener. Coach Mick Cronin spoke on his experienced team with talent spread across the entire roster.

Mar 13, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins coach Mick Cronin reacts against the Oregon State Beavers in the second half at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The No. 22 UCLA Bruins dominated in their season opener at home on Monday night with an 85-50 win over Rider University in Westwood. Coach Mick Cronin spoke to the media postgame to discuss his team's performance.

The Bruins added six transfers this past offseason and four of them saw immense playing time in their first game in a Bruins uniform.

Oregon State Tyler Bilodeau led the team with 18 points, Oklahoma State transfer Eric Dailey Jr. had 9 points and eight rebounds, former USC Trojan Kobe Johnson had 12 points and eight rebounds and Louisville transfer Skyy Clark was the team's assist leader with seven.

Cronin mentioned the gradual pace his team will be on early in the season to mesh together and become a united group. With the new rules of college basketball, it is much easier for players to jump schools from year to year and the established chemistry is now a higher priority.

"We're still growing, there's a lot of growing, but again, I think every coach is probably saying this right," Cronin said. "We start four transfers and we're probably par for the course for 80% of the country. So you gotta grow together, get in comfort zones together."

The Bruins shot 52.3% from the field on 64 shots and 34.5% from three-point range. The numerous amount of players on this team who can score at will and consistently make buckets is somewhat overwhelming. Cronin recognized that aspect of his team and understands that they have a great distribution of talent.

"Look, Skyy Clark is probably our best shooter every day," Cronin said. "He got in foul trouble tonight so he really never got going. We got a lot of guys that can shoot the ball on this team so we don't need to turn the ball over, we should not turn the ball over because we don't need anybody to try to do too much on this team. Because if you get some execution, some ball movement, you got guys that can shoot the ball in the basket, go by their man and make a play. So, there's just no need to take a hard shot."

Clark finished the game with just three points but the seven assists stand out as a stat that he will continue to put up big numbers on as the season progresses. He is one of the several quarterbacks on this team and will have the ball in his hands more than anyone else.

Cronin acknowledged his team's maturity and the elevation of talent compared to last season. There is a litter of Bruins that have several years of collegiate experience which is going to pay massive dividends when it becomes crunch time late in games and late in the season.

He mentioned one of his former players, who was a first-round draft back two seasons ago that spent four full seasons as a Bruin before playing for the Miami Heat.

"You just got more skilled players and older," Cronin said. "I mean, there's guys that are lottery picks, all I do is watch basketball, that aren't getting in NBA games, they don't get in, it's hard. You want guys to be great college players when they're 18, I mean, Jaime [Jaime Jaquez Jr.] was just another dude as a freshman. He was OK as a sophomore, Player of the Year as a senior. It takes time, guys get better as they go. But, I know this is a different time where everybody wants a guy to be great right away, so it's just not reality."

The Bruins will battle a much tougher opponent on Friday night in Nevada as they will battle New Mexico at a neutral site. It will be a good early-season test to see where this team stands and how consistent their ball scorers are going to be in a much bigger game.

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