LOS ANGELES — A little more than three minutes into the second half of a top-10 showdown with Arizona on Tuesday night, UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. got a bit casual and lost the basketball near midcourt. He then was outhustled into the backcourt for the ball, resulting in a turnover.
Bruins coach Mick Cronin does not do casual. He immediately turned to his bench and waved Jules Bernard to the scorer’s table to replace Jaquez.
Truth be told, Jaquez really doesn’t do casual, either. This was an uncharacteristic play from a three-year starter whose effort level usually tilts toward the extreme. But with Cronin, usually playing hard is not acceptable when always playing hard is the standard.
