Mick Cronin wasn’t going to let officials have the chance to eject center Steven Jamerson II on Tuesday night.
Instead, he did it himself.
The UCLA head coach threw his own player out of the Bruins’ blowout 82-59 loss at No. 15 Michigan State on Tuesday after he picked up a technical foul.
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With about four minutes to go at the Breslin Center, Jamerson came from behind and fouled Michigan State center Carson Cooper as he went up for a breakaway dunk. Jamerson hammered Cooper, and sent him down to the court awkwardly. Cooper jumped up immediately and squared up with Jamerson under the rim before the two were separated without issue.
After seeing the incident with his team down by almost 30 points at the time, Cronin called Jamerson over to the bench, grabbed him by his jersey and started walking him off the floor while pointing to the locker room. Jamerson didn’t protest much, and jogged to the tunnel.
“I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant 2, huh? That’s the first time I’ve saw a coach do that,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That sounded like Mick, he’ll get that straightened out.
Jamerson finished with two points and two rebounds in eight minutes. The senior has averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game this season in his first year with the Bruins. Before UCLA, Jamerson played for three seasons at San Diego after spending his first year of college as a student at Michigan State. He attempted to be a walk-on for the Spartans and a manager that season, but Izzo said on his pregame radio show that he didn’t have much of a recollection of Jamerson.
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Both Jamerson and Cooper were assessed technical fouls for the play, and Cooper split his free throws for the original foul on the dunk attempt. That put Michigan State up by 28.
Jeremy Fears led Michigan State with 16 points and 10 assists in the win. The Spartans led nearly the entire way, and entered halftime with a 20-point lead despite not scoring in the final two minutes of the period. Coen Carr added 16 points and Cooper finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. They shot 52% from the 3-point line, and outrebounded UCLA by 10.
After the game, Cronin was in a bad mood. He chastised a reporter for asking a question about the Michigan State student section and then asked if the reporter was raising his voice at him.
As for the ejection, Cronin said he was “thoroughly disappointed” in Jamerson.
“You know, true toughness is how you compete and how you go to work every day. Steve’s a good kid. He made a bad decision,” Cronin said, via ESPN. “But if you want to be a tough guy, you need to do it during the game, for a blockout, for a rebound.
“So, I was thoroughly disappointed; the guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game’s a 25-point game. You don’t do that.”
The win came amid a rough stretch for Michigan State. The Spartans have lost three of their last five, including at unranked Minnesota and a 21-point loss at Wisconsin. They now sit at 21-5 on the season and third in the Big Ten race.
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Tyler Bilodeau led UCLA with 22 points and six rebounds. Skyy Clark was the only other Bruins player to hit double figures with his 12 points off the bench. The loss dropped the Bruins to 17-9 this season as they try to hang on for an NCAA tournament bid. It marked their second straight blowout loss, too, after a 30-point loss at Michigan just days earlier.
Cronin is in his sixth season with the Bruins, who opened the season at No. 12 in the national rankings before falling out completely. He holds a 155-73 record with the Bruins, whom he led to a Final Four in his second campaign in Southern California.
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The Bruins will host No. 10 Illinois next on Saturday. Jamerson’s status for that contest at Pauley Pavilion, after Tuesday’s incident in East Lansing, is unknown.
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