One victory does not wipe away the feeling of defeat.

And coach Mick Cronin made that clear after defeating Sacramento State by 31 Tuesday night – just four days after falling to then-No. 5 Arizona in a late-game collapse.

“What I tell the team is – like we got beat the other night – that I have no problem losing on the scoreboard. I have a problem when I don’t think we played hard enough or smart at the end of games. That I have a problem with,” Cronin said. “So as Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon, ‘We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die my way.’”

On Friday, No. 19 UCLA men’s basketball (4-1) has another opportunity to put its first loss of the season in the past when it faces Presbyterian (3-4) at Pauley Pavilion. The showdown is the Bruins’ final home game before heading up north to San Francisco to face California at the Chase Center on Nov. 25. UCLA has played Presbyterian just once before, winning 80-65 in Los Angeles during the 2018-19 season.

Against the Hornets, Cronin’s starting five featured four players who did not start against the Wildcats in the Bruins’ first-ranked matchup of the season and first defeat.

Cronin said doghouses and messages do not exist within his coaching philosophy and that he played the best five – something illustrated in the practices leading up to Tuesday’s bout.

Despite three of the Bruins’ top five scorers not starting against Sacramento State – including seniors guard Donovan Dent and forward Tyler Bilodeau and junior forward/center Xavier Booker – the usual starting five disappointed Cronin coming out of halftime.

“The guys that started the game set the tone. That’s what they did in practice yesterday when they won by 20. They set the tone today,” Cronin said. “I gave the other guys a chance because they need to practice coming out of the locker room with more energy, and they didn’t get the job done.”

It has yet to be announced what the starting lineup will look like against Presbyterian, but whatever five guys start the game Friday night will have to deal with forward Jonah Pierce and guard Carl Parrish – the team’s only two players who average double-digit points per game.

Pierce – who stands at 6-foot-10 – makes his money in the paint, averaging 15 points and 9.9 rebounds per game on a 57.5 field goal percentage. Pierce rarely strays beyond the paint, failing to record a single 3-point shot attempt seven games into the season.

His presence around the rim will most likely garner the attention of Booker or redshirt senior forward/center Steven Jamerson II, who impressed Cronin and his teammates before leaving the game with an ankle injury.

“Steven too, until he got hurt. He was bringing energy on the boards. For those guys to be ready, it doesn’t matter about who are the starters or who’s on the bench,” junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. said. “It’s about being ready at the end of the day and being ready to play basketball regardless of if you start or come off the bench.”

Joining Pierce in the paint is 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward Jaylen Peterson, who averages 8.6 rebounds a game and will most likely draw the coverage of Dailey, Bilodeau or Booker.

Booker – who stands at 6-foot-11 and made the move to the center position this season – is still adjusting to the switch, with his main focus being on helping the team’s defense and rebounding.

“Just defending, staying in front of guys and just rebounding. That’s the main thing. Coach gets on me about rebounding and just hitting the guy and blocking them out,” Booker said after Tuesday night’s game. “I felt like just standing solid on defense, helping your teammate out whenever he gets beat.”

For the guys who started Tuesday night who don’t normally get the nod, the experience was all about confidence and contributing to the same areas Cronin preaches to Booker.

“Just go out there and give it my all and be confident. I felt like I kind of let my team in our last game against Arizona because I wasn’t too aggressive,” sophomore guard Trent Perry said. “I could have done better defensively – getting more rebounds and things like that. I wanted to pick myself up and the team to just come out there with a lot of intensity on defense.”

And for Perry, this mindset will likely bleed into Friday night’s contest.