Accustomed to heartbreak, can UCLA’s Mick Cronin get his Gonzaga breakthrough?

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UCLA Mick Cronin shows his frustration during a game against Prairie View A&M on Dec. 17. Can Cronin guide the No. 22 Bruins to a win over No. 14 Gonzaga on Saturday? (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

When Mick Cronin rewatched what might have been the most excruciating loss of his career, doing so only because he needed to scout the same opponent for a rematch the following season, the final sequence was pleasing.

UCLA’s Johnny Juzang extended his right arm to snag a rebound and rose toward the basket for a putback that tied the score against Gonzaga with 3.3 seconds remaining in the overtime of their 2021 Final Four classic.

Around that moment, Cronin pressed pause.

That meant Jalen Suggs never took the inbounds pass, never frantically dribbled just a few steps past halfcourt and never launched the shot that bounced off the backboard and through the net, breaking the heart of every Bruin.

“That shot?” Cronin told The Times this month. “No, I’ve never seen it.”

Read more: Dylan Andrews must reassert himself: Five takeaways from UCLA’s excruciating loss

Two years later, in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16, the Bulldogs gave the UCLA coach another reason to selectively watch the replay. Only a few moments after Amari Bailey’s three-pointer gave the Bruin a late lead, Gonzaga’s Julian Strawther got it back with another game-winning heave on the edge of the March Madness logo at center court.

What are the chances the same opponent crushes your soul twice in essentially the same way?

“Yeah, I know,” Cronin said when reminded. “I mean, it is what it is. Hopefully, the ball bounces your way sometimes.”

Saturday would be a good place to start against the team that has tormented Cronin the most. He’s 0-4 against Gonzaga with the Bruins — and suffered another bitter overtime defeat against coach Mark Few’s team in 2009 while coaching Cincinnati — heading into a nationally broadcast clash between No. 22 UCLA (10-2) and the No. 14 Bulldogs (9-3) at the Intuit…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/accustomed-heartbreak-uclas-mick-cronin-120011565.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2024-12-27 12:00:00

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