The UCLA Bruins couldn’t hold on to a double-digit lead to beat the UNC Tar Heels. Mick Cronin’s team led by as many as 18 points and wound up losing by two.
It was a hard-fought game at Madison Square Garden. Star forward Tyler Bilodeau got himself into foul trouble in the second half, so he had to watch from the bench for most of it.
Bilodeau picked up his fourth foul on a controversial block-charge call that seemingly could’ve gone either way. He wound up sitting for almost seven minutes.
Mick Cronin didn’t like the officiating
Needless to say, that rubbed the coach the wrong way. And while he didn’t necessarily want to talk about the officials, he acknowledged that it wound up changing the course of the game:
“Tyler played great. I’m not going to comment on officiating. Him going out changed the game,” Cronin said. “If they hadn’t given him the charge, we would be having a different press conference. We kept him out until under five, especially with the way the game was being called. “
“The only adjustment that mattered in the second half was Tyler Bilodeau’s fourth foul. Their lineup was not tough. The problem was that Bilodeau wasn’t in. We played four guards for the whole second half. They’ve got seven McDonald’s All-Americans and a great coach,” he added.
The Bruins, perhaps the best defensive team in the entire nation, is now sitting on a 10-2 record, and they’ll host the Gonzaga Bulldogs for yet another high-flying matchup on Sunday.