UCLAβs Kenneth Nwuba (14), Sebastian Mack (12), Lazar Stefanovic, rear, head coach Mick Cronin, second from front right, and Dylan Andrews (2) wait for a call from the referees during the second half of UCLAβs 77-71 loss at Arizona in Tucson on Jan. 20.
Because UCLA coach Mick Cronin lost his top five scorers from last seasonβs Pac-12 regular-season champions, then pulled in a top-five rated recruiting class, the Bruins were expected to struggle initially this season before growing increasingly competitive.
That sort of thought may have led them to be picked third in the Pac-12βs official preseason poll.
But leading up to Arizonaβs final conference visit to Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, UCLA is stuck at .500 after losing four straight β¦ and itβs now March.
βWhat Iβve learned in life, and especially in my job, is that we all want our kids to grow up faster than they do,β Cronin said Tuesday in Los Angeles. βItβs just where itβs at.β
The Bruins start two freshmen and two sophomores while they rank 318th out of 362 Division I teams in Kenpomβs βDivision I experienceβ metric, a measure of the average number of seasons played by a teamβs roster, weighted by minutes played. Arizona ranks 81st in the same metric despite playing two sophomores and two freshmen regularly.
Still, when the Los Angeles Times asked Cronin on Tuesday where the responsibility was for the Bruinsβ mediocre play, he pointed to himself.
βOne hundred percent,β Cronin said. βWho else would it be?β
Not the players?
βTheyβre doing the best they can do,β Cronin said. βThis is reality. We got stuck in a rebuilding year. We tried to overcome it with our recruiting. Itβs the way it is.β
Cronin has been playing only seven players regularly in Pac-12 games, relying heavily on sophomore point guard Dylan Andrews (36.0 minutes a game)and junior wing Lazar Stefanovic (34.9), while also playing freshman guard Sebastian Mack an average of 24.3 minutes. Only one of UCLAβs four well-regarded international freshmen, Turkish forward Berke Buyuktuncel, is averaging more than eight minutes in conference play.
Mack is averaging 11.3 points but shooting just 40.1%, with nearly as many turnovers (27) as assists (30) in Pac-12 games, but Cronin said heβs suffered from overuse and recently from a toe injury that has impacted his explosiveness.
βHeβs had to play more minutes than he was ready for,β Cronin said. βItβs not anything against him. In coaching, you know youβre in trouble when youβre asking players to do stuff that theyβre not ready to do, that you havenβt trained them to do, that they donβt have the experience to do. They donβt have the tool set to get that kind of job done.β
With all that in mind, the Bruins still have a few things that could make Thursdayβs game interesting. That is, they play at the Pac-12βs slowest tempo, and took a 19-point first-half lead against Arizona on Jan. 20 in Tucson. While UA came back to win that game 77-71, UCLA ripped off six straight wins afterward.
Having scouted the Bruins all season, Arizona associate head coach Jack Murphy says heβs noticed a difference.
βI think their young guys are getting more and more confident,β Murphy said.
Moreover, a freshman Cronin said has proven unusually equipped to handle the transition to the physical college game, forward Brandon Williams, is expected to be fully available after playing only six minutes at McKale Center because of respiratory issues.
Cronin said his absence was a factor in UAβs rebounding edge of 36-29 as well as the foul trouble that limited Buyuktuncel to 19 minutes before he fouled out.
βThere was a lot of concern you knew nothing about going on in that game because (Williams) couldnβt breathe,β Cronin told L.A. reporters Tuesday. βWe had to play four guards, and our guards arenβt big enough.
βThey just rebound the hell out of the ball. (Oumar) Ballo is huge, (Keshad) Johnsonβs a fifth-year power forward, they have a great freshman guard rebounder in (KJ) Lewis, a great athletic wing, attacking rebounding guard. And obviously (Pelle) Larsson does everything.β
Love named to West top five
Arizona guard Caleb Love has been named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award, honoring college basketballβs top shooting guard.
A player Cronin said would be the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Love leads the Wildcats in scoring and is fourth in the conference with an average of 19.4 points a game. During Pac-12 games, Love ranks second with an average of 21.2.
Love has also improved his shooting efficiency over last season at North Carolina, from 29.9% to 36.2% from 3-point range and from 37.8% to 43.5% overall. He tied the Matthew Knight Arena scoring record with 36 points on Jan. 27 at Eugene and has scored 20 or more points in 14 games despite Arizonaβs balanced offense.
Loveβs former teammate at UNC, RJ Davis, is also a Jerry West Award finalist. Others include Kansasβ Kevin McCullar, Kentuckyβs Antonio Reeves and Michigan Stateβs Tyson Walker.
Five players were trimmed from Jerry Westβs top 10 list released on Jan. 30: FAUβs Johnell Davis, USCβs Boogie Ellis, Baylorβs JaβKobe Walter, Creightonβs Trey Alexander and Houstonβs LJ Cryer.
The Jerry West Award is one of five positional awards given out by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Arizonaβs Johnson was named a top 10 finalist for its Karl Malone (power forward) Award, and that list is likely to be trimmed on Thursday.
UAβs Oumar Ballo was not named to the top 10 list for the Abdul-Jabbar (center) Award on Feb. 2, but has posted a double-double in every game since Feb. 1, a string of nine straight.