Mick Cronin’s UCLA Bruins lost their second game in a row, ninth overall, against the Michigan State Spartans. In the first half, the game was destined to turn out to be a blowout loss for Cronin’s team as they were down 23-43.
Late in the second half, the Spartans had a 77-50 lead over the visitors, and then something happened that raised a lot of eyebrows. Cronin, head coach for the UCLA Bruins, ejected one of his own players.
Spartans’ center Carson Cooper received a lob pass near half court and charged toward the bucket for a dunk. He had nearly completed the sequence when Steven Jamerson, Bruins forward, fouled him hard.
That led to a little tussle between the two before their teammates stopped them. However, Cronin was unhappy with what Jamerson did, and in the heat of the moment, he ejected the forward, instructing him to leave the court.
Even if he had kept Jamerson in the game, it wouldn’t have made a difference because the Bruins lost 59-82, but taking his own player out has rattled a lot of fans, who are now demanding that Cronin be fired.
“It is a beautiful day to fire Mick Cronin,” a fan wrote.
“Fire mick Cronin and go get the bob chesney of basketball in Travis Steele before another program can take him,” a fan wrote.
“UCLA’s Mick Cronin ejects his own player… follows it up with a combative postgame exchange with a reporter. At some point, ‘competitive fire’ just looks like an inability to lose with any composure,” CBS’s Lee K. Howard wrote.
“He made a play for the ball. That’s terrible coaching,” a fan wrote.
“Dude somehow finds any way to make anything about him,” a fan wrote.
Cronin’s decision didn’t make sense to anyone. Jamerson was later booked with a flagrant one foul. So, he wasn’t going to get kicked out as per the rules. Maybe Cronin was too frustrated with the looming blowout loss that he lost his composure.
Mick Cronin Was Disappointed
The Bruins have struggled this season, currently sitting in ninth place in the Big Ten with a 9-6 conference record and a 17-9 overall record. Their away games record is even worse with just three wins and five losses.
Amid a terrible run, the last thing Cronin wanted to see was his forward playing dirty.
“I was thoroughly disappointed,” Cronin said after the game. “The guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game’s a 25-point game. You don’t do that.”
While Cronin was disappointed, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was in a fun mood at the post-game press conference.
“I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant two,” he said, referring to Cronin ejecting his player. “First time I saw a coach do it, but that sounds like Mick, so he’ll get that straightened out.”
He said that he felt bad for Cronin because his team is better than what the final scorecard represents.
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