UCLA fell to North Carolina 76-74 on Saturday, blowing a 16-point lead at Madison Square Garden. Coach Mick Cronin zeroed in on exactly where things went wrong after the loss.
Simply put, UCLA wasn’t good enough at the point guard position.
“Hard to win when two things — when your point guard play is -14 and you turn it over late in the game,” Cronin said. “And he’s -14. And you miss eight free throws in the second half. Two of those front ends of the bonus from your other point guard. Hard to win. Hard to win.”
Backup point guard Skyy Clark finished 0-of-2 from the free-throw line, missing the front end of two one-and-ones in the contest. That was costly.
He would ultimately foul out from the contest, which was unfortunate for UCLA because he was taking care of the basketball. He finished the game with four assists and no turnovers.
Meanwhile, starting point guard Dylan Andrews struggled a bit down the stretch. He turned it over three times and finished -14 in the contest.