UCLA coach Mick Cronin enjoyed a few days of quiet preparation this week.
On Thursday night in Chicago, the noise will return.
No. 6 seed UCLA (21-10) will tip off against No. 14 seed Rutgers (14-18) in the third round of the Big Ten Conference tournament. Rutgers advanced with a 72-67 victory over 11th-seeded Minnesota on Wednesday night, and UCLA will make its conference tournament debut after starting the week with a double bye.
“It’s just nice to have a few days where you don’t have a game for these guys,” Cronin said. “(It’s) just a stress-free environment.”
Cronin led his team through practices without knowing which opponent he would face in the Bruins’ first tournament game. He said he was better equipped for that situation than he would have been as a younger coach.
“You spend so much time preparing for opponents, and I’ve gotten better at this as I’ve gotten older, that you forget about worrying about improving your own team,” said Cronin, 54. “So I spend less time with the opponents later in my career, and it helps you worry about your own team. It’s nice to not even think about the other team.”
Rutgers hopes to give UCLA cause for concern.
The Scarlet Knights relied on a strong second half to knock off Minnesota in their first conference tourney matchup. Tariq Francis scored a game-high 29 points to lead Rutgers, and Emmanuel Ogbole provided a dominant effort in the paint with 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell praised his team’s effort on Wednesday night.
“Our defense was really good,” he said. “We’ve been struggling with that all year. We showed some grit today. … “Proud of our guys. We’re getting better. We’ve been fighting all year. This is a tough league.”
The Scarlet Knights have won three of their past four games.
“Our young guys are getting better,” Pikiell said. “They stayed the course.”
UCLA rolled to a 98-66 home win over Rutgers on Feb. 3 in the teams’ only meeting of the regular season. Xavier Booker scored a game-high 24 points for the Bruins, Tyler Bilodeau added 19, and Donovan Dent had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.
Kaden Powers led the Scarlet Knights in that outing with 18 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Francis (12 points) and Lino Mark (10) were in double figures in scoring off the bench.
