Mick Cronin snapped on his players after their Tuesday loss to Michigan at Pauley Pavilion, calling them delusional and soft. 

And by the end of the Bruins’ contest Friday in College Park, Maryland, the sixth-year coach was absent from the sidelines. 

With Cronin ejected amid the blowout loss, No. 22 UCLA men’s basketball (11-5, 2-3 Big Ten) fell 79-61 to Maryland (12-4, 2-3) at the XFINITY Center. The Bruins have now lost three in a row and four of their last five – and dropped below .500 in conference play for the first time this season. 

“I tried to get thrown out. I wanted out,” Cronin said. “I’m sending a message. I’m tired of it.” 

Cronin said his gripe was with the officiating – that his team wasn’t being given a chance to win. However, it seemed his players were getting in their own way too. 

UCLA’s defense – once the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation – fell apart again Friday night, allowing a trio of Terrapin shooters to reach double-digit points after conceding 94 points to the Wolverines on Tuesday. However, no one was more lethal than Maryland guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who dropped a career-high 27 points on 7-for-13 shooting. 

“Defensively, we’ve regressed,” Cronin said. “It’s a mindset. … You have to be totally committed to it.” 

The Bruin offense sputtered, cashing in less than 70 points for the sixth time this season. Tyler Bilodeau led the team with 18 points, but the junior forward strung together just four in the second half. 

No statistic may have been more detrimental to the Bruins, however, than their 21 turnovers – the team’s highest total since issuing the same number in a loss to New Mexico on Nov. 8. 

“We’re normally the team getting people to turn the ball over,” said sophomore guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. “That wasn’t us tonight. We have no excuses. … We just have to be better.” 

Maryland shot 54% from the field and 36.8% from beyond the arc, while UCLA was held to 41.5% and 33.3%, respectively. 

The only somewhat encouraging sign for the Bruins appeared to be Dylan Andrews’ seven points. Despite coming off a breakout 2023-2024 campaign in which he led the Bruins in scoring, the junior guard has undeniably been in a funk. He combined for just seven points in his last four affairs, playing 100 minutes through the stretch. 

His seven points Friday marked his most in 24 days – and UCLA’s floor general will need to maintain an upward trajectory to spark something in his team’s flailing offense. 

Cronin was tossed from the affair with 5:12 left in the second half and the Bruins down by nine. Without its head honcho, UCLA only cratered further. It was outscored 19-10 before succumbing to a three-game skid.  

“I thought we were sloppy to start the game,” Cronin said. “The second half, the game got to a point where nothing was being called, and we weren’t tough enough. … I don’t think we were having much of a chance.” 

No one besides Bilodeau and freshman guard Trent Perry reached double-digit points, as Dailey and sophomore guard Sebastian Mack – who have been UCLA’s second- and third-leading scorers this season – combined for just 11 points. 

If the Bruins fall outside the nation’s top 25 when the Associated Press releases rankings Monday, it will be for the second time this season. Last time, they proceeded to rattle off nine straight wins – albeit against mostly mid-major opponents. But if Cronin and company want to repeat that sequence, it’ll have to come against solely Big Ten competition. 

“We got to move on to the next one,” said senior guard Kobe Johnson. “It’s exactly what this league is about. It’s a good league from top to bottom. … We just got to win this next one.”