It wasn’t always easy to see early this season, but UCLA freshman guard Sebastian Mack likened head coach Mick Cronin to “a wizard” for his ability to foreshadow events that a roster heavy on first-year players couldn’t quite grasp.

No, not that Wizard of Westwood.

“The stuff he does say usually ends up happening,” Mack said prior to Tuesday’s practice and before the team left for its Bay Area road trip. “So, I try to listen to him, and now it’s, like, since we had a little bit of success off just paying attention and listening to what he’s saying and applying it. I feel like we all really, all of us as a unit, is just tuned in whatever he says now.”

The patience and trust have paid off of late for the Bruins (11-11, 6-5 Pac-12), who responded to a stretch of eight losses in nine games by winning five of their last six contests.

UCLA’s NCAA tournament hopes still likely hinge on securing the conference’s automatic bid at the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. Now, though, the Bruins have climbed from near the bottom of the league standings to a four-way tie with Utah, Colorado and Stanford for the fourth-best conference record.

UCLA, which is coming off an impressive win to knock Oregon into a tie for second place, will look to keep its resurgence going Wednesday against Stanford at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will air on Pac-12 Network.

Cronin said it’s less about him and more about the fulfillment of seeing a team featuring anywhere from six to eight players in their first or second season in the regular rotation.