During a lopsided 82-59 loss to No. 15 Michigan State on February 17, 2026, at the Breslin Center, UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin made headlines by kicking his own center Steven Jamerson II out of the game. With 4:26 left in the game and UCLA down 77–50, Jamerson hit Carson Cooper of the Spartans from behind while he was trying to dunk, which was a flagrant foul. This led to a fight and technical fouls for both players. Cronin pulled Jamerson’s jersey and sent him to the locker room before any official decision was made, stressing discipline even though they were down by 25 points.
Cronin defended the move by saying that “true toughness” comes from playing hard, not making risky fouls on players who aren’t ready for them. He said that Jamerson’s action was a bad choice, even though he is a good person. Before the incident, Jamerson, a former Michigan State student who was averaging 2 points and rebounds this season, had only played 8 minutes and scored 2 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. Tom Izzo, the coach of Michigan State, praised Cronin for being responsible and joked that it was like getting a flagrant 2.
This was UCLA’s second straight loss by more than 20 points. They lost by 30 points to top-ranked Michigan, which was the first time they had lost by that much since 1944-45. The Bruins (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) had won five of their last six games before the weekend, but things are getting worse for them. Michigan State (21-5) ended a three-loss-in-five streak, which kept them in third place in the Big Ten.
