Even Mick Cronin had to smile after UCLA’s 84-75 win over No. 5 Arizona to kick off the 2026-2027 season. UCLA outlasted a very talented Arizona team, immediately proving that the No. 22 Bruins can play with the top teams in the country.
It’s a long season but on Monday, Mick Cronin was right. Last year wasn’t easy for UCLA and over the offseason Cronin prioritized what he valued in players and against Arizona, the team played Cronin’s brand of basketball. It was an intensely physical game but the Bruins didn’t budge holding off an Arizona team that had Ivan Kharchenkov score 38 points in the game.
UCLA had stars of their own, mainly Trent Perry, who scored 21 much-needed points in the win. Cronin spoke postgame about his team’s performance.
“Our
defense got us separation and our rebounding. Our rebounding has exponentially improved and we took care of the ball. It got us enough of a lead and Trent’s one of the best closers in the country,” Cronin said, hitting on several different points. “He’s like Mariano Rivera at the foul line.”
UCLA got great showings from their two freshmen. Nikola Kusturica’s frame makes him an impact defender from day one as his offensive game grows (nine points, 3-11 from the field) and Joe Philon III’s hops adds an element for UCLA. Philon made a big block, knocked down a big three and made all three of his shots in his college debut.
“Right now in Jo’s career, he’s a high-level rebounder, athlete and defender,” Cronin said.
The win was impressive for the Bruins, with a lot of big moments for several UCLA players while facing an elite opponent. UCLA fought tooth-and-nail for the win and there’s value in having a game like that so early in the season.
“It would have been nice to win by 10-15 but now that it happened, and Book (Xavier Booker) hit that three without hesitating, that was a big moment for him,” Cronin said. “That was the best part of it to me. We get a lot out of it, we got some film on our press offense.”
The Bruins will have time to tune-up their inbounding against the press before their home opener at Pauley Pavilion against North Florida on Friday.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Mick Cronin pleased with his team's showing in the opening night win
