UCLA's Cronin tells critics of his, Hurley's sideline antics to 'get a life'

UCLA's Mick Cronin defended himself and UConn head coach Dan Hurley from criticism of their sideline behavior, speaking out ahead of the Bruins' Round of 32 matchup against the Huskies.

"It's ridiculous. Everybody needs to get a life, bro," Cronin told reporters Saturday, according to The Field of 68's Vince Wolfram.

"You wanna win big, but you think Coach Hurley isn't supposed to be intense? But you wanna win? Come on, man. We're not coaching Little League, buddy. Everybody doesn't get an at-bat. Come on, man. They're paying us a lot of money to win games."

Cronin and Hurley have both received national attention for in-game incidents on the sidelines this season. Cronin went viral in mid-February for ejecting his own player, Steven Jameson, after a hard foul on a chase-down block attempt.

Hurley was ejected from a game in early March for making contact with an official after UConn was just seconds away from losing to Marquette.

Cronin is in his seventh season as UCLA's head coach following a 13-year run at Cincinnati. He's looking to get back to the Final Four for the first time since accomplishing the feat in his second year with the Bruins. UCLA will face off against a Huskies team that took down No. 15 Furman 82-71 in its opening-round game. UConn won on the back of forward Tarris Reed, who had a monster 31-point, 27-rebound performance.

"Tarris Reed is good. I was going to say I'm glad Hasheem Thabeet is not walking out there," Cronin said, according to On3's Daniel Hager.

"A lot of years in the same league (American). A lot of games with UConn (when Cronin was at Cincinnati). A lot of respect for them. I would have liked a chance to play them in the Elite Eight full strength in '23 when we had two NBA picks go down in March."

Hurley and Cronin will square off in the Round of 32 at 8:45 p.m. ET on Sunday.