Mick Cronin claims UCLA got a 'tough whistle' in win vs. Arizona State

UCLA improved to 8-3 on the season Wednesday night thanks to a 90-77 victory over former Pac-12 foe Arizona State inside Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins bounced back nicely from their 82-72 loss to No. 8 Gonzaga on Saturday night ahead of their in-state clash against Cal Poly Friday night.

Mick Cronin‘s team got off to a dominant start, outscoring the Sun Devils 45-33 in the first half. It then outscored ASU by just one point in the second half, but it was enough to hold on for the 13-point victory. Star transfer guard Donovan Dent has faced a boatload of criticism for his play so far this season, but he was phenomenal in the win. Dent scored 20 points on 9/17 shooting, his first time crossing the 20-point mark since UCLA‘s season opener against Eastern Washington.

Immediately following the game, however, Cronin complained about the officiating. The Cincinnati native, who is currently in the midst of his seventh season at UCLA, has garnered a bit of a reputation for complaining about officiating.

“What a great defensive first half,” Cronin said to kick off his presser. “We held them to 33% and 13%. We had 20 deflections, but they’ve got some guys who can score and are super fast. But, we got a tough whistle, in my opinion. Really tough whistle. But, obviously, I’m biased towards my side. They shot 17 free throws in the second half and they were trailing. Anyway, we’ve got to get better defensively.”

Mick Cronin is no stranger to calling out officiating

Cronin went viral back in January following UCLA‘s 79-61 loss to Derik Queen and Maryland in College Park. Following an 18-point loss, Cronin suggested that they needed better officials on the court.

“Take nothing away from Maryland, a really good team at home, but you got to defend my players,” Cronin said at the time. “If you can just mug guys and chop their arms off, throw them out of the way, it’s hard to run any offense. We needed some stronger officials on the game in my opinion, but we needed to be stronger with the ball. In defense of my players, we didn’t have a lot of time. We had one day to prepare.”

The veteran head coach has been successful throughout his seven-year tenure with the program, leading them to a 145-67 record and four NCAA Tournament appearances. Cronin’s beef with officials, however, is starting to linger with him and his reputation, and this could make things harder for him and his team, instead of actually making a positive change with improved refereeing.