The Bruins were double-digit favorites. Minnesota was playing the second leg of what has proved to be a very difficult Los Angeles road trip that started, similarly, with a comeback win over USC.

Cronin’s dad, Harold “Hep” Cronin, himself an accomplished former high school basketball coach, looked to be enjoying himself early as cameras found him. It was 29-12 UCLA with about five minutes left in the first half, and nobody in their right mind would have expected what happened over the final 25 minutes.

By the end, Hep Cronin looked like he would rather be getting emergency root canal surgery than watching UCLA miss free throws while his son became increasingly agitated.

This was like a good football team losing a homecoming game to a strategically scheduled underdog.

Mick Cronin can’t appear on any Gophers fan’s list of enemies, given that this is UCLA’s first year in the Big Ten.