WATCH: Mick Cronin looks ahead to No. 5 Arizona
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin joked Thursday that he didn’t exactly get much of a tour around Intuit Dome in Inglewood last season.
The Bruins defeated Gonzaga in the first men’s college basketball contest at the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, 15th-ranked UCLA is preparing to keep its perfect mark in the building intact Friday against No. 5 Arizona.
“Well, the arena’s unbelievable,” Cronin said before practice. “I can’t comment on the amenities because all I did was come in through the tunnel and coach.
“It’s clearly maybe the best arena that was built for basketball in the world. So it’s only a few miles away, we might as well try to play there every year, so we’re trying to get another one there next year. And they’re very accommodating — their front office, their people are great to us.”
New-look Arizona team
Last season, the former Pac-12 rivals met on a neutral court in Phoenix and the Bruins had to grind out a 57-54 victory by keeping the Wildcats below 30 points in each half.
This season, Arizona is averaging 90.0 points per game and already owns a top-5 victory over Florida to open the season.
The Wildcats feature two of the top 10 players in the 2025 class in former five-star freshmen Brayden Burries and Koa Peat. The Bruins recruited both, though only Burries considered heading to Westwood in the later stages of the process.
Peat leads four double-figure scorers on the team at 19.3 points per game on 57.1% shooting.
“I’ve seen him for four years, so I’ve always loved his game,” Cronin said of Peat. “He’s a good kid and he’s got great hands. He can really handle the ball, he’s crafty, he’s got great feel, he’s a big-time player. But he has been. Like, literally, he could have come to college two years ago because physically he was ready, he was that size the first time I saw him.”
Meanwhile, center Motiejus Krivas missed last season’s meeting with an injury.
Watch the full press conference below:
