This post was updated Feb. 20 at 12:05 a.m.

Mick Cronin will have to wait for another night. 

With the Bruins leading Tuesday’s affair by 17 points, the coach needed them to hold on for just 25 more minutes before he could enter the 500-win club. 

They couldn’t. 

“We didn’t play well,” Cronin said. “We’re poorly coached – that’s why we don’t play well.”

Minnesota forward Dawson Garcia’s dagger from deep made it a one-point game for the first time all night with 2:05 left on the clock. 

Then guard Lu’Cye Patterson’s layup gave the Golden Gophers just their second lead Tuesday with eight seconds remaining. 

And with Cronin’s team unable to respond, UCLA men’s basketball (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten) fell 64-61 to Minnesota (14-12, 6-9) at Pauley Pavilion. After committing just six turnovers between their last two contests in Westwood, the Bruins turned it over nine times Tuesday and missed 10 second-half free throws for a 9-for-19 effort while also being outrebounded 29-28.

“They’re a negative rebounding team, and they outrebound us, so hugely disappointing effort,” Cronin said. “That’s really all I’ve got to say.”

Three of the Bruins’ nine turnovers were committed in just the first five minutes of the second half as Minnesota outscored UCLA 10-2 over that span to get within three. 

Cronin added that his players were more focused on trying to make buckets than playing defense. 

“I’m trying to build a team that has a chance in the NCAA Tournament, and it’s just really disappointing that I’ve got guys worrying about the wrong things,” Cronin said. “I failed miserably, so it’s all my fault.”

UCLA’s top-two leading scorers, junior forward Tyler Bilodeau and sophomore guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr., combined for four missed baskets from the charity stripe over the final 1:25 of the contest – a death sentence in a game that ended with the Bruins down three.

“It’s unacceptable,” Bilodeau said. “But nothing we can do about it now. We just got to focus on the next one.”

Dailey finished the night shooting 3-for-10 after starting it 0-for-6, while junior guard Dylan Andrews’ struggles continued, shooting 1-for-6 against Minnesota after a 1-for-7 performance at Indiana on Friday.

After gathering just five points in the first half, Garcia finished the night with a season-best 32 as the Gophers outscored the Bruins 41-27 over the final 20 minutes. 

“Just stopped following the scouting report of him,” said senior guard Kobe Johnson. “We followed it pretty well in the first half, but the second half, we kind of just let him get comfortable and let him really do whatever he wanted.”

The Bruins maintained a 10-point lead with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half. Minnesota was shooting 4-for-14 against UCLA’s defense and 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Bruins were propped up by Johnson’s seven early points off 3-for-3 shooting. 

When the Gophers called their first timeout of the affair with 5:31 on the clock, their deficit had ballooned to 29-12 after a 9-0 Bruin run. And at the time, sophomore guard Sebastian Mack and Johnson topped the Bruin leaderboard with seven points apiece as the former had five during UCLA’s scoring spree.

Despite a 6-0 run toward the end of the half, the Gophers entered the breakdown 34-23 and had committed four shot-clock violations. Minnesota was outrebounded 15-10 after the first 20 minutes while Bilodeau led the Bruins with nine points off 4-for-5 shooting – scoring his team’s last seven points before entering the locker room. 

But it seemed like Cronin knew it would all soon fall apart. 

“I told them they weren’t going away,” Cronin said. “That was my (halftime) message.”