COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The lobbying started in earnest during a timeout with a little more than eight minutes left in the game, Mick Cronin voicing his displeasure with official Jeffrey Anderson about all the grabbing and holding that his players were forced to endure.
A few minutes later, Anderson had the final say.
The official ejected Cronin after more complaints with 5 minutes 14 seconds left, the UCLA coach sent to the locker room after two rapid-fire technical fouls.
It wasn’t the final indignity for his team. Far from it.
UCLA couldn’t get out of its own way inside the Xfinity Center, the No. 22 Bruins stumbling to a 79-61 loss to Maryland that represented a season-worst third consecutive defeat.
Three days after Cronin called his players “soft” and “delusional” in their estimation of their abilities, a lack of toughness was only part of the problem. Holding on to the ball or throwing a pass without it being stolen were far bigger challenges.
UCLA committed 21 turnovers, tying its worst showing of the season, while getting outmuscled by another Big Ten team. If this was a crossroads, then the Bruins (11-5 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) certainly took the wrong turn.
“We’re normally the team getting people to turn the ball over,” forward Eric Dailey Jr. said. “That wasn’t us tonight; we have no excuses for how we turned the ball over.”
With his team already down by nine points and unraveling in the final minutes of a game it had little chance of winning, Cronin said his ejection was intentional.
“I wanted out — I’d had enough, to send a message, [that] I’m tired of it,” said Cronin, who was calm and composed when he met with reporters. “I know we’re the outsider and all that, but that was ridiculous. And that’s not taking anything away from [Maryland] — a really good team at home. [But] I have to defend my players and if you can just mug guys and chop their arms off, throw them out of the way, it’s hard to run any offense.”
What had Cronin told Anderson during their discussion during the timeout a few minutes earlier?
“You’ve got to give us a chance to win,” Cronin said of his message.
Cronin said he would not log a complaint about the officiating, calling such a move “a big waste of time.” Besides, he’s got more pressing concerns with the wildfires continuing to rage across Southern California.
“For us, it is literally an unbelievably horrible situation, OK?” Cronin said. “We lost the other night [against Michigan] and I went home and packed and bags are still by the door at my house and valuables and things like that. That is my only concern.”
Cronin said he continued to monitor the situation back home in real time.
“The fire is coming over Mulholland [Drive] to Encino,” he said, alluding to his home. “When I got thrown out, I immediately went to my phone, OK? It’s an app called Watch Duty that gives you alerts and it’s saving lives.
“I was texting Christine at my house, who’s my de facto wife and longtime girlfriend, to make sure everybody’s OK and ready to go. I’ve got people in that locker room that people evacuated yesterday that are here in our travel party. I mean, this is as bad as it can be.”
It was only a little more than two years ago that UCLA came here and bludgeoned the Terrapins, leading by as many as 30 points in the first half of a runaway victory. That sort of showing felt like a distant memory Friday.
Forward Tyler Bilodeau scored 18 points and guard Trent Perry added 10 off the bench, the only Bruins to reach double figures on a night the team shot 41.5% to Maryland’s 54%. Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the Terrapins (12-4, 2-3) with 27 points.
Perry’s play included some coming-of-age moments for a freshman who played with increased confidence the longer he was in the game.
Among his highlights were a backdoor reverse layup off a pass from Skyy Clark, a steal of a cross-court pass and an offensive rebound that he followed with a driving layup. Perry’s scoring output more than tripled the three points he had collected in the previous four Big Ten games combined.
But UCLA’s other guards continued to struggle. Point guard Dylan Andrews logged three turnovers along with one assist, Clark added only three points while taking only two shots and Kobe Johnson had a relatively quiet seven points to go with his four assists and six rebounds.
The Bruins also continue to regress defensively, having given up 40 or more points in four of their last five halves, with the outlier being Maryland’s 39 points in the second half.
“We kind of just let them push us around and we weren’t making anything difficult for them,” Johnson said. “We kind of just let them be comfortable and we’ve got to change that on defense.”
Cronin said he thought Dailey’s new mask was bothering him. In the two games since he’s switched from a transparent mask to a black one, Dailey has made six of 18 shots, including three of nine on the way to eight points against the Terrapins.
“I’m still getting used to it a little bit,” Dailey said of his new mask. “I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to protect my health and it fits my face a little tighter [than the previous version], but I’ve just got to get through it and that’s no excuse — I can shoot the ball way better than what I’m doing, so the mask is no problem.”
With his guard play in shambles, his defense sagging and another road game coming up against Rutgers, Cronin said the onus was on him to solve his team’s issues.
“Nobody feels sorry for you,” Cronin said. “Got to find a way to get a win Monday.”
