UCLA fell to Arizona 61-59 in the Pac-12 Championship game, but the Bruins’ bad news didn’t stop after the final buzzer sounded. UCLA’s head coach Mick Cronin’s father Hep allegedly got into a verbal altercation with an Arizona fan after the game.
The altercation was documented by UCLA’s radio broadcast, who reacted to the events right before their eyes.
“We’ve got a problem here. There’s an Arizona fan who’s infiltrated right where Hep Cronin is, and UCLA fans are trying to be kind to tell him to go away but this Arizona fan has come right into the face of Mick Cronin’s dad,” radio announcer Josh Lewin said.
The altercation played out right behind Lewin which he described as absolutely ridiculous and called for security to intervene. Apparently, a reporter let Cronin know about his father’s situation after the game at the press conference. And when Cronin got word he asked, “Somebody got in my dad’s face?” before rushing out.
Who Started It?
Following the game, a report from a fan witness revealed that Hep Cronin may have started the altercation. According to Winter Andrews, Hep Cronin got physical with a 17-year-old fan, striking them in the face and neck unprovoked. Additionally, the 17-year-old’s father was thrown out of the game while attempting to reach his son and Cronin.
“Immediately following the UCLA game, Hep Cronin … physically assaulted our friend’s son, a 17 year old, hitting the minor in the face and neck. Unprovoked,” Winters wrote. “The minor was crossing the front row with his mother, where they had tickets, to join the father at the other end of the row to leave the game. Hep was sitting in this row. Hep told the boy and his mother that ‘they weren’t allowed by.’ The kid and his mother crossed anyway to reach the kid’s dad, at which point Hep started the shoving the kid, and then struck him in the face and neck.”
Any repercussions of Saturday’s altercations have yet to be reported, but they will definitely be interesting to monitor. Especially considering both Arizona and UCLA begin NCAA Tournament play this Thursday as March Madness kicks off.
