This post was updated Jan. 20 at 9:13 p.m.
The bat signal illuminates when Gotham needs its savior.
And amid a four-game losing streak, coach Mick Cronin lit up the sky, desperate for someone – other than himself – to take the reins and lead the team.
Friday night against Iowa, UCLA men’s basketball found its hero – mask and all – in Eric Dailey Jr., who dropped a career-high 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting alongside two rebounds and four assists.
“Eric Dailey, by the way, was tremendous,” Cronin said. “He was playing like a superhero.”
The sophomore guard/forward, who suffered a facial injury against North Carolina on Dec. 21, returned to using a clear mask against Iowa after donning a black mask for three games – one that he said looked cool but was hard to see out of.
Dailey last wore the clear mask against Gonzaga on Dec. 28, delivering 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting in the contest.
“I told him change masks – I said, ‘Where the hell’s the other mask?’ ‘We’re on the road,’ he said. ‘I left it at home,'” Cronin said. “I said, ‘Who would make every shot and switch masks? Did Batman switch his mask?'”
Senior guard Kobe Johnson added that Dailey has emerged as one of the Bruins’ vocal leaders.
“I was encouraging guys to be confident in themselves, and it looked like it worked,” Dailey said. “I’m going to keep doing that.”
Tough love and responsibility
To say Cronin is hard on his players is an understatement.
After UCLA’s loss to Michigan on Jan. 7, Cronin said the team he put together was “soft” and “delusional.”
The coach doubled down Thursday, telling the media that his players haven’t been able to handle the physicality of Big Ten basketball.
But the Bruins finally gave Cronin something to cheer about with their 24-point pummeling of the Hawkeyes.
“Our first half was as good as we could play – really the first 30 minutes,” Cronin said. “Excellent win for us to show what we’re capable of.”
Along with scoring 94 points – the most by UCLA since posting 111 against Prairie View A&M on Dec. 17 – the Bruins collected 29 rebounds and dished out 26 assists, the latter of which tied a season high.
Eclipsing Iowa by 10, UCLA out-rebounded its opponent for just the fourth time in its last 11 games. The Bruins are 4-4 when their opponent secures the rebounding advantage compared to an 8-1 record when they dominate the category themselves.
Cronin also took the opportunity to address the narrative that he’s a coach who just blames his players.
“Anybody that thinks that I’m not accountable doesn’t know me or is just a clickbait person,” Cronin said. “Nobody is harder on themselves in coaching than me. … I’m literally ready to jump off a bridge blaming myself.”
Players have continued to stand by their head honcho and his approach.
“We’ve all been challenging each other on a daily basis since our losing streak,” said junior forward William Kyle III. “We know that’s not the expectation at UCLA. … We were playing unselfish, and that was a big part of today.”
Big Ten big travel
Questions on how the Bruins would adjust to domestic travel arose as soon as their move to the Big Ten was announced in 2022.
This year, UCLA is 3-5 outside of Westwood compared to a 9-1 record at Pauley Pavilion and have lost all three games they’ve played on the East Coast.
After losing to Maryland on Jan. 10, Cronin said he thought his team’s intense travel schedule had something to do with its lackluster performance.
On Friday, Cronin added that he didn’t find the struggles of teams coming from the East Coast to play out West comparable to those of his own squad.
“Wear and tear on them (East Coast teams)? Is that a joke?” the coach said. “Good luck West going East. … We have to go back four times. The Big Ten teams get to come to Los Angeles where it’s 70 degrees one time a year. … People vacation here.”
Barring a trip during the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins aren’t scheduled for another flight to the East Coast this season. However, they do have four more games – plus the Big Ten tournament – in the Midwest.
Before then, though, the Bruins will play five of their next six games in LA with the outlier being hosted in Seattle.
Comments are closed.