COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Three days after ripping his team following a home loss to Michigan, UCLA coach Mick Cronin turned his disdain toward the officials.
Cronin was ejected with 5:11 remaining in a 79-61 loss at Maryland on Friday night, and he did not hold back afterward, voicing his displeasure with the officiating and Big Ten scheduling. He was far gentler on his own players than he was earlier in the week, when he called them “soft” and “delusional” after a 19-point defeat by Michigan. This time he felt they were in an unfair situation.
“In defense of my guys, I didn’t think we were given any chance to win in the second half,” Cronin said. “I let [official] Jeff Anderson know, I hit the showers.”
Cronin’s outburst came with UCLA down nine after Maryland came up with a rebound. He was given two quick technicals and sent on his way.
“I don’t remember the last time I had a technical,” he said. “I had enough. I’m sending a message. I’m tired of it. I know we’re the outsider and all that — us, SC and Oregon — but that was ridiculous.
“And take nothing away from Maryland, a really good team at home, but you got to defend my players. If you can just mug guys and chop their arms off, throw them out of the way, it’s hard to run any offense.”
The technical fouls led to a six-point possession for Maryland, and the game became a rout.
“We needed some stronger officials on the game in my opinion, but we needed to be stronger with the ball,” Cronin said. “In defense of my players, we didn’t have a lot of time. We had one day to prepare.”
This is UCLA’s first season in the Big Ten, along with USC, Oregon and Washington. Difficult travel was a given when those teams joined, and the Bruins are dealing with it now.
They played at Nebraska on Jan. 4, returned home for one game with Michigan then headed out for a trip to Maryland and Rutgers.
“We had to travel on a five-hour-and-50-minute flight. They got home Sunday. They had two extra days,” Cronin said. “Now Rutgers is sitting at home, and they got an extra day. I haven’t mapped all this out, but I sure hope it swings our way at some point.”
After returning from Rutgers, UCLA will play seven straight games on the West Coast from Jan. 17 to Feb. 8 — five home games plus trips to Washington and USC.
“I get it. It’s probably virtually impossible to make the schedule, but I just know it hasn’t been good for us,” Cronin said. “Michigan was in L.A. three days before we were.”
This has been a particularly tough week to be away, given the wildfires that have caused so much chaos in the Los Angeles area. Cronin said after he was ejected that he quickly went to check an app that gives alerts.
“My house is getting real close to being evacuated,” he said. “When I got thrown out, I just immediately went to my phone.”
