It’s a term that can be so negative for an athlete or a team. Now imagine being called “soft” by your own coach.
That was the adjective an exasperated Mick Cronin used to describe his No. 22 UCLA men’s basketball team after its 94-75 trouncing by No. 24 Michigan on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
Now the Bruins, armed with three days to reflect and regroup, take to the road to shake that label with a pair of Big Ten games against Maryland and Rutgers.
Cronin didn’t mince words in slicing and dicing his team, which in a span of seven days has gone from the pinnacle of upsetting No. 14 Gonzaga on Dec. 28 at Intuit Dome to having dropped two Big Ten games in a row.
“The toughest guy in the room can’t be me every day,” he said after the Michigan defeat. “Obviously, they shot the ball well. But we’re soft. We’re too soft to play hard enough.”
UCLA (11-4, 2-2) was Arctic from beyond the arc in a 66-58 loss at Nebraska last Saturday, shooting just 14.3% on its 3-pointers (4 of 28).
Then came the Michigan debacle, in which the Bruins managed to eclipse their prior outing by connecting on just 2 of 20 (10%) from deep. Their defense wasn’t much better, having no answer for 7-footer Vladislav Goldin, who had a game-high 36 points on 13-of-18 shooting, or the Wolverines’ long-range shooters, who sank 15 of 28 3-pointers (53.6%).
Friday should show plenty on how the Bruins react to their coach. Maryland has also lost two in a row – 75-69 at Washington and 83-79 at then-No. 9 Oregon. The Terrapins (11-4, 1-3) have their own big man to test UCLA, as 6-foot-10 Derick Queen leads the team with 16.0 points per game and a second-best 8.0 rebounds per game.
UCLA will need to bear down and return to its defensive roots. Its 61.1 points allowed per game still ranks 10th in the country, while Maryland scores a 14th-best 85.5 points per game.
Three days later, UCLA will take on Rutgers (8-7, 1-3), also on a two-game skid after losses at Indiana (84-74) and against Wisconsin (75-63).
The Scarlet Knights are led by a pair of superb freshmen. Dylan Harper is averaging a team-best 21.1 points per game on 52% shooting to go with averages of 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists, but the 6-foot-6 guard has been battling flu after he missed the Indiana game and was limited against Wisconsin. The 6-foot-10 Ace Bailey, who poured in 39 points against Indiana, is averaging 19.1 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds.
UCLA at Maryland
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Where: XFINITY Center, College Park, Md.
TV/radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/AM 570
UCLA at Rutgers
When: 3:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Jersey Mike’s Arena, Piscataway, N.J.
TV/radio: FS1/AM 570