EAST LANSING, Mich. — Mick Cronin did not go quietly on the way to his team’s latest feeble loss.
With his players showing little fight, the UCLA basketball coach became increasingly combative as the Bruins’ season continued to crumble around him.
Some might say he went after the rare Bruin who was still competing.
Croninejected his own playerSteven Jamerson II after he committed a hard foul from behind on a breakaway dunk attempt late in the game, sending the backup center to the locker room.
“I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant-2,” Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo cracked late Tuesday night. “First time I saw a coach do that.”
That was just a prelude to another bizarre scene involving Cronin after an82–59 loss to the No. 15 Spartansthat followed a 30-point humiliation against Michigan three days earlier.
The coach engaged in a testy exchange with a reporter who asked about Michigan State students chanting UCLA center Xavier Booker’s name during the former Spartan player’s return to the Breslin Center.
“I could give a rat’s ass about the other team’s student section,” Cronin said. “I would rather like to give you a kudos for the worst question I’ve ever been asked.”
After the foul, UCLA HC Mick Cronin ejects his own player, Steven Jamerson III.pic.twitter.com/KOFMCDRYjg
Cronin went on to ask the reporter if he thought the coach really cared about the other team’s students, prompting the reporter to respond that he didn’t in a high-pitched voice that did not seem antagonistic.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
