It was the sort of postgame rant that Mick Cronin usually saves for a bad loss at a time when he’s trying to swing a season back in the right direction.

This one came after a victory in the season’s first game.

That’s how few positive takeaways there were for UCLA on Monday night on its home court.

Having beaten two quality opponents in exhibition games, the 12th-ranked Bruins struggled mightily in a game that counted against a team from the Big Sky Conference.

Most of the problems came on the defensive end.

“There’s so many mistakes,” Cronin said after his team held on for an 80-74 victory over Eastern Washington at Pauley Pavilion, “I’d like to fire myself for our defense.”

UCLA kept getting beat around the basket, giving up 38 points in the paint. The Eagles met so little resistance that they shot 53.7%.

“I mean, if you think you’re going to give up 53.7% in your own gym in a buy game and have a good year,” Cronin said, “you have no chance.”

Eastern Washington’s upset hopes lingered until point guard Donovan Dent, making his UCLA debut after transferring from New Mexico, pulled down a rebound and scored on a fast break to extend the lead back to double digits with 30 seconds left.

Cronin said he sensed this sort of showing coming given the way his team reacted to its exhibition victories. The Bruins scored the first 17 points while beating San Diego State on the road and held a 43-point lead on the way to a blowout of UC Irvine.

Eastern Washington guard Straton Rogers (12) shoots a layup as UCLA guard Jamar Brown (4) and forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) defend during the first half Monday at Pauley Pavilion.

(Ethan Swope / Associated Press)

This was very different.

“When you have the wrong attitude in life, it shows up,” Cronin said. “But I blame myself because I knew this was coming tonight and I couldn’t stop it, so I failed miserably.”

What did Cronin do to try to stop it?

“Film, speeches, went off in shootaround today about intensity and [how] pros show up every day,” Cronin said, “you know, Nick Saban 101 — the process is more important than the opponent — but I lost them.”

Dent said the team had good energy in practice and the pregame shootaround before things changed, the Bruins expecting a repeat of their exhibition results.

“I mean, we kind of came out with the mindset like we’re gonna come in and just blow them out,” Dent said. “I think that’s kind of what caused this game.”

It wasn’t a total loss.

Dent unveiled an impressive array of moves, including a no-look pass leading to a Xavier Booker dunk and an ability to change speeds that left defenders baffled. Dent finished with 21 points and nine assists and forward Tyler Bilodeau scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half on a night the Bruins played without forward Eric Dailey Jr., who continues to round into form from a knee injury.

But few will remember any of that given what happened on the other end of the court.

What were the biggest issues defensively?

“A lack of adherence to the scouting report, terrible pick-and-roll defense, help when we shouldn’t, rotate off the best shooter to a non-shooter, post defense embarrassingly terrible — and those are all coaching, defense is coaching,” Cronin said. “Everybody says, ‘How are you going to get this guy to play defense?’ Well, the reason I’m in my 23rd year and I’m the coach at UCLA, I’ve been able to do it.”

Cronin praised guard Jamar Brown for making eight deflections — steals, blocks, tipped passes or loose balls collected – on a night the Bruins only collected 28 as a team, well below the threshold of 40 that their coach wants in any game.

Otherwise, there wasn’t much to praise. Cronin said he had a plan if this continued.

“Listen, we’ll just bench guys. We’re going to play defense or you don’t play,” Cronin said. “It might have to take somebody blowing an assignment one minute into the game and then they don’t play the rest of the game.”

Making UCLA’s effort all the more embarrassing was who it didn’t have to defend.

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The Eagles played without guard Andrew Cook, a preseason All-Big Sky selection from Huntington Beach who averaged 16.1 points last season but is expected to be sidelined for the entire season after recently breaking an ankle in practice.

Even while navigating Pauley Pavilion on a scooter, Cook was able to get some shots up pregame, rolling his way out underneath the basket and making a pump-fake before converting a layup.

Given the way things went, he might have been able to score on UCLA’s defense.

What happens next for a team with Final Four aspirations that looked more like one unworthy of making the NCAA tournament? While Cronin said he would have to see if Monday humbled his players, he could predict how the next few days would go.

“I can tell you what it will do, it’ll make sure that our practices are interesting,” Cronin said, alluding to demanding sessions. “That’s what I can promise. ‘Cause it’s on me, at the end of the day. I’m not being funny or anything, you know, trying to be cute about that. It’s my job to make sure we defend. It’s my job to make sure we follow the scouting report. And it’s my job to get them to do it.”