UCLA forward William Kyle III handles the ball as Maryland forward Julian Reese defends during the first half on Friday night in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA guard Kobe Johnson (0) prepares to shoot a 3-point basket as Maryland forward Tafara Gapare (6) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Selton Miguel (9) handles the ball as UCLA guard Trent Perry (1) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau looks to shoot over Maryland forward Tafara Gapare, front left, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland forward Julian Reese (10) looks to shoot against UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau, left, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA guard Trent Perry (1) prepares to shoot a 3-point basket as Maryland forward Julian Reese, left, defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland forward Tafara Gapare (6) prepares to shoot a 3-point basket against UCLA guard Trent Perry, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland forward Tafara Gapare (6) gestures after making a 3-point basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau, bottom, drives to the basket against Maryland center Derik Queen, top, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) looks to shoot during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Maryland, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland forward Julian Reese, left, is fouled by UCLA guard Skyy Clark, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA guard Trent Perry (1) drives to the basket against Maryland forward Tafara Gapare (6) during the first half off an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie brings the ball up court during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Selton Miguel (9) drives to the basket and shoots the ball against UCLA guard Trent Perry during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA guard Dylan Andrews (2) shoots the ball against Maryland guard Donald Carey (0) during an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (0) shoots a three point basket as UCLA guard Sebastian Mack defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Donald Carey (0) prepares to shoot a 3-point basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Selton Miguel (9) shoots the ball and is fouled by UCLA guard Lazar Stefanovic (10) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA guard Trent Perry (1) has his shot blocked by Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (0) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard DeShawn Harris-Smith (5) shoots a three point basket against UCLA guard Lazar Stefanovic during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland forward Julian Reese (10) shoots over UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau, back left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland forward Julian Reese, front right, and UCLA guard Kobe Johnson, second from left, compete for the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin walks off the court after being ejected during the second half of a loss to Maryland on Friday night in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie (0) shoots a three point basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, center right, celebrates after his 3-point basket with guard DeShawn Harris-Smith, center left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland forward Julian Reese (10) blocks UCLA guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Selton Miguel (9) shoots a three point basket as UCLA guard Kobe Johnson (0) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Maryland guard Selton Miguel (9) celebrates his made basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
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UCLA forward William Kyle III handles the ball as Maryland forward Julian Reese defends during the first half on Friday night in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Three days after calling his players “soft” and “delusional,” UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin was ejected during the second half of their loss to Maryland on Friday night.
Cronin was ejected with 5 minutes, 11 seconds left after receiving a pair of technical fouls with his team trailing by nine points.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored a career-high 27 points and Maryland topped No. 22 UCLA, 79-61, the Bruins’ third consecutive loss.
After Julian Reese came up with a rebound for the Terrapins (12-4, 2-3), Cronin received two quick technical fouls and was tossed, shaking hands with Maryland coach Kevin Willard on the way out.
“They’re trying, they’re trying. We just turned the ball over. You’ve got no chance if you turn the ball over the way that we did tonight,” Cronin said. “In defense of my guys, I did not think we were given any chance to win in the second half. I let (official) Jeff Anderson know and I hit the showers.”
Gillespie made all four of the resulting free throws, and Reese completed the six-point possession with a layup to make it 66-51.
In the final 4:01, Gillespie and Selton Miguel drained 3-pointers as the Terrapins turned it into a runaway.
Maryland led 40-36 at halftime and then began the second half with Rodney Rice’s 3-pointer and Reese’s layup. There was plenty of time left, but a nine-point lead proved to be safe given the way Maryland was defending.
UCLA’s Dylan Andrews hit a pull-up jumper then a turnaround baseline jumper to pull the Bruins within 53-47 with 12:36 left, but a flurry of turnovers followed and an irate Cronin was quickly tossed after voicing his displeasure with the referees.
“I told him that you’ve got to give us a chance,” Cronin said of a conversation he had with one of the officials earlier in the second half. “You are not giving us a chance to win. You’ve got to give us a chance to win.”
Cronin said this was the first time he intentionally got himself ejected from a game.
“It was an accident [the last time it occurred], so this is the only time where I tried to get thrown out,” he said. “I had had enough. I’m tired of it. I know that we’re the outsider – us, SC and Oregon, but that was ridiculous. And that doesn’t take anything away from Maryland. They’re a very good team at home. But you know, I’ve got to defend my players. If you can just mug guys, chop their arms off and throw them out of the way, it is hard to run any offense.”
Tyler Bilodeau scored 18 points and Trent Perry added 10 off the bench, the only Bruins to score in double figures on a night when the team shot 41.5% to Maryland’s 54%.
The Bruins did some good work on the offensive boards, but they had a season-worst 21 turnovers.
“We just can’t be that team. We are normally the team getting others to turn the ball over,” sophomore Eric Dailey Jr. said. “That was not us tonight. We have no excuses for how we turned the ball over tonight, and we’ve just got to be better.”
Cronin agreed.
“We were sloppy to start the game. We needed some stronger officials on the game in my opinion, but we needed to be stronger with the ball,” Cronin said.
In the first half, UCLA bolted to an early lead before Maryland staged an 11-point burst that included two baskets from Gillespie and a three-point play from Derik Queen as the Terrapins grabbed a 20-13 lead.
A 9-2 Maryland spree, which Gillespie started with a triple and finished with a traditional three-point play, gave the Terrapins their biggest lead of the half at 38-28.
In the final 2:01 of the half, 3-pointers by Perry and Lazar Stefanovic helped UCLA slice the deficit to 40-36 at the break. But the Bruins got no closer in the second half.
Reese had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Maryland, which was the more physical team.
“We started off pretty well and we were able to match the physicality a little bit, but we just never got over that hump,” senior Kobe Johnson said. “We kind of let them push us around and we were not making anything difficult for them. We kind of just let them be comfortable. We have to change that on defense.”
Cronin believes the Bruins’ defensive struggles are mental.
“We have regressed. I kind of addressed that the other night,” Cronin said. “It’s a mindset, it’s a mindset with all teams and all players. It’s a mindset. You have to be – to be a great defensive team, you have got to be totally committed to it. It’s not easy, especially on the road.”
As for where the Bruins go from here, Cronin said it’s about digging in.
“At UCLA, you’ve just got to keep trying to get better,” he said. “And in this league, you remember my old Big East days, I have been in these bloodbath leagues before. You have got to get through it and get to the NCAA Tournament. Everything else, like where you finish in it, that doesn’t matter. That’s how you just got to keep fighting through it. You’re going to have runs like this. It’s inevitable, unless you have a great team.”
Dailey supported his coach’s assessment.
“Keep fighting. This is tough. This is the Big Ten,” he said. “I played in the Big 12 last year and that was a tough conference and they didn’t call fouls. And in this conference, they’re not calling fouls either. So we have got to be the tough, aggressive team, and we have to play scrappier.”
UP NEXT
UCLA stays east and plays at Rutgers on Monday at 3:30 p.m. PT.
