The UCLA Bruins (19-8, 10-6) suffered arguably their worst of the season to this point after falling to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-12, 6-9) on Tuesday nig

Mick Cronin is one win away from his 500th career victory, and it doesn't sound like he's planning to achieve win No. 600 at Indiana or any other school.

With some inspired play in the opening minutes, Mick Cronin’s players heeded his warning about Minnesota’s being better than its crummy record. They played suffocating defense, forcing four shot-clock violations before halftime. They shut down the Golden Gophers’ top player, holding Dawson Garcia to five points by the game’s midpoint.

From the way he coached to what he said after the game, UCLA coach Mick Cronin’s pseudo-audition for the Indiana job went well.

Bruins have home games against Minnesota and Ohio State this week as they look to improve as postseason approaches.

The Bruins have games against Minnesota, Ohio State, Northwestern and USC with a blockbuster road game against No. 7 Purdue sandwiched in between. If UCLA can go 4-1 in those games, it should be able to secure that double bye and make a push for the conference tournament title.

Mick Cronin was careful not to throw any of his own players under the bus after UCLA's 64-61 loss to Minnesota, but the Bruins head coach is clearly frustrated. The loss was tough enough, but it was how the Bruins lost that made it difficult for Cronin to stomach.