PHILADELPHIA — Sweat, spittle and even a tooth flew Friday night in UConn’s and UCLA’s NCAA Tournament openers, setting up a second-round battle of blue bloods.
Two no-nonsense head coaches in Dan Hurley and Mick Cronin are preparing their teams for another tough battle Sunday night when No. 2 seed UConn and No. 7 seed UCLA play for a Sweet 16 berth out of the East Region.
The programs are on opposite ends of the blue-blood spectrum: UCLA has a record 11 national championships, but only one (1995) since the end of the John Wooden era. UConn is the newest member of the club with six national titles since 1999 under three head coaches, including Hurley in 2023 and ’24.
Their only meeting on the court came in the Elite Eight in 1995, when the Bruins prevailed 102-96 on their way to the title.
Don’t expect Sunday’s meeting to see either team touch triple digits, not with the way the defenses have been playing. Per BartTorvik.com, UConn ranks 15th in adjusted defensive efficiency since Feb. 21, while UCLA’s defense has risen steadily over the course of the winter.
The Bruins finished with nine blocks and 13 steals while holding 10th-seeded UCF to 37.5% shooting on 2-pointers in Friday’s grimy 75-71 win.
“We pushed a lot of buttons schematically,” Cronin said Saturday. “But generally, our care factor has been much better. Defense and rebounding are more effort than anything else.”
Skyy Clark showed how much he cared when he lost part of a tooth from an opponent’s inadvertent elbow late in the UCF game. Clark stayed in the game before going for some after-hours dental work.
“(The dentist) shot me up with anesthesia. He had to take the nerve out, take the root out, shave my tooth down to a nub, put in a new one, and it was like new,” said an appreciative Clark.
UConn’s 82-71 win over No. 15 Furman, which didn’t tip till 10:30 p.m. local time, was all about Tarris Reed Jr., who owned the paint as he went for 31 points (12-of-15 shooting) and 27 rebounds, both career bests by a mile.
Reed will have a much different task against UCLA. Leading scorer and usual starting center Tyler Bilodeau, whose strength is in his 46.4% 3-point shooting, was held out against UCF as he recovers from a right knee sprain sustained in the Big Ten tournament. Xavier Booker, a more traditional center at 6-foot-11, had 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
“They have a very good and tall, elite frontcourt,” Reed said. “We have to set the tone from the jump knowing the stretch shooting, they have fives that can really step out and shoot it. I mean, me, (Eric Reibe) and (Alex Karaban) have been comfortable guarding guys who can step out and shoot.”
Hurley and Cronin are both demonstrative on the sideline and have drawn their share of criticism from onlookers.
Both dismissed the idea that they should be anything different.
“When I look at Mick and coaches like Mick, they’re all the coaches I have either modeled myself after or admired, the ones who can balance holding their players to the highest standard where the players have that respectful fear of their coach, and they love playing for their coach, you know?” Hurley said. “I think it takes a special coach to pull that off.”
Or, as Cronin put it, “You want to win big? But you think Coach Hurley is not supposed to be intense, but you want to win? Come on, man. We’re not coaching little league, buddy, everybody doesn’t get an at-bat.”
