BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – UCLA escaped Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with a 72-68 win over Indiana Saturday night.

The Bruins led by 10 points at halftime and controlled most of the game, but the Hoosiers made a strong comeback, only to falter in the final seconds. Myles Rice and Mackenzie Mgbako both had looks that could have tied or won the game with less than 12 seconds to play, but the shots didn’t fall.

Luke Goode led Indiana with 16 points, followed by Mgbako and Malik Reneau with 14 apiece. Tyler Bilodeau scored 12 to lead a balanced effort by the Bruins, as nine players scored at least five points.

Indiana announced last week that coach Mike Woodson will step down after the season, which has led to speculation on who could be the Hoosiers’ next coach. UCLA coach Mick Cronin has been mentioned by various outlets as a potential candidate.

Over the last 15 seasons at UCLA and Cincinnati, Cronin has 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, three Sweet 16s and a Final Four run. He also has three conference titles and 11 top-five conference finishes in the last 11 seasons. In 22 seasons as a head coach, he has a 499-230 overall record.

Here’s what Cronin said Friday about Indiana’s open head coaching position.

On if he’s given thought or if he would entertain to the Indiana job…

Cronin: “I just think it’s tough to do that stuff during the season. But actually, you know, the whole thing’s gotten so crazy because we had a couple coaches that did it. Tony [Bennett] and coach [Jim] Larranaga. They did it. Leonard [Hamilton]. The coach I replaced, it happened to him during the season. I don’t like to see that. As far as me, I would never comment on a coaching situation. It would be wildly inappropriate because I’m the son of a coach, and the way I look at it is that Mike Woodson’s the coach at Indiana. Now, that man’s coaching his basketball team, and he was a national champion. I happen to know him. I know Kenya Hunter on his staff extremely well for many years and have tremendous respect for their kids and their team. To me, nobody should say anything that distracts anything with them with that. So I just think it would be wildly inappropriate, mostly for what I said, my respect for coach Woodson. He’s over there coaching his team. That’s all that anybody needs to – I understand you guys gotta do your job and ask. That’s my stance on that stuff.”

On being a name on Indiana coaching hot boards…

Cronin: “You know what, here’s how I look at that stuff. I might be on your hot boards. They might want my ass fired on our hot boards. That’s how I look at that. So hey, man, I stay off the hot boards. I’m just telling you, man, that’s just the way it is. You can go from one board to the other real quick. Hired then fired, you know what I’m saying.”

On the appeal of the Indiana job in 2025…

Cronin: “There’s obviously blue blood jobs, and people write these articles now, like what’s – because we haven’t won the title since ‘95. So it’s never gonna change. The Yankees are always going to be the Yankees. UCLA basketball, Indiana basketball is always gonna be – that’s just the way it is. So I don’t think, even though, what’s it been since coach, since Steve [Alford] won it? 87, yeah, so it’s still the Hoosiers, man.”

On whether Indiana’s history still carries weight in regard to the attractiveness of the program…

Cronin: “Here’s what I would tell you about programs, okay. I think programs, they’ve changed because of the new rules. I used to always say you gotta have support commensurate with expectations, okay. Now, I can’t answer those questions, only for UCLA. You gotta have support commensurate with expectations. To be a great program, you gotta have great tradition, and you gotta have great fans and the backbone support of all the guys and your tradition that played. For me, I got guys like Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and Mike Warren and Jamaal Wilkes, guys that are just tremendous, supportive guys at every game. That’s important as well. Now you gotta tack on the NIL and whatever the new rule is with revenue share. So you gotta throw those two in. But I just think back to the big-time tradition, support, and your fanbase, your former players. So you would know the answer to what’s in tact here. I know my mentality. I walk out here and I see coach Knight just like I walk out of my job and see coach Wooden. That’s just what I see. I said to your guys, people at the scorer’s table before the tipoff, I said, man, I don’t know, coach Knight might be rolling over in his grave looking at those uniforms. adidas must have talked them into that. When I was at Cincinnati, we were with adidas. They had us wearing some crazy neon stuff one time too, so that’s what I was thinking about when I saw those uniforms.”

On what he’d say to UCLA fans who might worried about him leaving UCLA…

Cronin: “I would say some people might be happy, because some people probably are on boards wanting me fired. I mean, this is just the way, you gotta understand, that stuff in this business – and I’m being dead serious – your popularity rating when you’re a coach, you have to check your ego. They booed John Calipari at Kentucky, okay. Do you know what he did there? They say, well, he’s the opposing coach. They wouldn’t have booed Bob Knight if he walked in here, I can promise you that. I can promise you that. So that’s just the way it is, man. So I’m well aware that I might be on a board for a job, but my board, somebody might want me to lose my job. And I know I’m laughing, but I’m being serious, man. We get our ass beat Tuesday, I think we play, go ahead, check our boards.”