Given how fiery UCLA Bruins coach Mick Cronin can be, he wasn’t too displeased about UCLA’s draw in the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins will head to Philadelphia to compete in the East Region with a first-round game against UCF.
If UCLA advances past the first round, the Bruins could face No. 2 seed Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies in the second round. The East Region doesn’t let up there either. Duke, Kansas and St. John’s are potential Elite Eight matchups for UCLA.
Perhaps Cronin was in a good mood after hearing how Donovan Dent is recovering from his injury that kept him out of the second half of the Big Ten Conference semifinal against Purdue.
“The key for us is getting Tyler (Bilodeau) healthy. Donnie looks great. Tyler probably needs another day or two,” Cronin said Monday. “There’s a whole lot of holistic medicine going on here in LA. Recommendations for different shots and all this stuff, pretty interesting.
Don’t mistake Cronin’s calmness as contentment. UCLA’s coach is well aware that the team’s season will be solely defied by how it fares during March. After a good showing in the conference tournament and positive injury news, there’s reasons to feel optimistic.
“Everything we do here is about this week. Everything,,” Cronin said of the NCAA tournament. “It’s been that way since I took the job and it’s the way it should be for anyone who wears the four letters and coaches here.”
It’s go time for UCLA. The Bruins can put a mediocre regular season behind them with a memorable tournament run over the next couple weeks.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA gets some good news about the health status of its stars
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
