Mick Cronin has taken UCLA to a Final Four. He’s restocked the roster with talented players who complement the ones he inherited. He’s restored prestige to the Bruins’ brand.
One thing Cronin had not done before Saturday: beat Stanford.
He ticked that off his to-do list thanks to the sort of suffocating defense and sustained intensity that suggested his team is rounding into NCAA tournament form six weeks before Selection Sunday.
Playing its third game in five days, the seventh-ranked Bruins retained their pep during a 66-43 victory over the Cardinal at Pauley Pavilion in which they were particularly energetic on defense.
Using a full-court press in addition to active hands and effective double teams, the Bruins (16-2 overall, 8-1 Pac-12) forced 14 of Stanford’s 22 turnovers by halftime. UCLA finished the game with 11 steals and five blocks while also forcing shot-clock and inbounds violations.
There was some misfortune to dampen the fun. Already short-handed with leading scorer Johnny Juzang (COVID-19 protocols) and top defender Jaylen Clark (concussion protocol) out, the Bruins lost junior guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. to an apparent right ankle injury in the first half.
Jaquez briefly checked back into the game, missing a three-pointer, before making a second trip to a trainer’s table. He did not play again, pulling a T-shirt over his jersey and watching the second half from behind the baseline.
Guard Jules Bernard led the Bruins with 16 points and Jake Kyman added a season-high 15 in extended minutes off the bench, Kyman’s highlights including a three-pointer and pump fake that he followed by sidestepping a defender for a jumper.
With Stanford compounding its inability to hold onto the ball with terrible shooting, the outcome was essentially decided by halftime. The Cardinal (12-7, 5-4) made only five of 25 shots (20%) to that point while missing all nine of their three-pointers.
Guard Isa Silva scored eight points to lead the Cardinal, who finished the game making 27.1% of their shots and 15% of their three-pointers.
It would have been a blowout of epic proportions if the Bruins didn’t endure their own shooting struggles. They made 37.3% of their shots, including just four of 29 three-pointers (13.8%), but it wasn’t for lack of open looks amid some zippy ball movement.
Cronin had dropped his first two games against Stanford since arriving at UCLA, so it’s not like it was some sort of extended streak, but both losses were the kind that stick with you like chewing gum on the bottom of sneakers.
When Stanford stomped the Bruins during Cronin’s first season, the coach called out his players after the game, calling them soft and selfish in what became a spark for the team’s late-season surge. The Cardinal’s one-point victory over UCLA last season, on a last-second layup off in inbounds pass in overtime, was so maddening that Bernard slammed the ball to the court as soon as it was over.
Stanford entered the game Saturday badly needing to win to enhance its chances of making the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. It didn’t do itself any favors.
Sometimes struggling to get the ball past midcourt and not looking much better once it got into its half-court offense, the Cardinal didn’t reach double figures on the scoreboard until there was only 9:20 left in the first half. It wasn’t much of a triumph considering they trailed 23-10.
Stanford remained stuck on 10 points for nearly six minutes as UCLA slowly extended its cushion to 31-10. The Cardinal broke through only after UCLA forward Cody Riley fell down and lost the ball, Michael O’Connell converting the turnover into a layup in transition.
UCLA’s superior wing depth was needed with Jaquez becoming the latest player to go down. Juzang missed a second consecutive game, fans’ only glimpse of him coming with his smiling face on the cover of the game program.
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Clark was out for a third straight game, but there was a sign of progress. Clark returned to Pauley Pavilion for the first time since being sidelined, throwing bounce passes to teammates in warm-ups while wearing a protective white wrap around his neck.
With Clark and Jaquez cheering from the bench, the rest of the Bruins persevered once more. UCLA won so comfortably that reserve guard Russell Stong got to play almost three minutes at the game’s end, his team so comfortably ahead that he dribbled out the final seconds instead of hoisting a shot.
Cronin got the best of Stanford, leaving rival USC as the only Pac-12 team he has not conquered.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.