Darnell Burton

On a sad note, one of our news reporters learned today that former UC basketball player Darnell Burton was sentenced in Lexington on Jan. 11 to seven years in prison for first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, five years for trafficking in a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school, and 12 months for use/possession of drug paraphernalia. The sentences are to run concurrently for a total of five years in prison. Burton, who played at UC from 1993-1997, ranks 10th on UC's career scoring list with 1,227 points. He holds the school record for 3-pointers made in a career (306) and 3-pointers attempted (777).

Symbolic win?

I just got back from Morgantown. I was thinking on the drive home that perhaps UC's win over Bob Huggins and West Virginia will finally serve as a symbolic turning of the page when it comes to the Bearcat basketball program and its fans. It's clear now that there is Life After Huggs at UC and that Mick Cronin has the program moving in the right direction. I'd like to think that most fans have already come to grips with the fact that the Huggins era is over, but for those who haven't, what better symbol could there be than a victory over Huggins for Cronin's team? That's not to say it still won't be a big deal when Huggins comes to Fifth Third Arena next year. It's understandable that Huggins' return to UC would create a stir, but maybe now it will be more of a feel-good nostalgia thing than anger over what happened in 2005.

Big East/SEC challenge

UC announced today that it will play Mississippi State next year in the Big East/SEC Challenge at U.S. Bank Arena on Dec. 18. The other game at U.S. Bank will feature the return of former UC interim head coach Andy Kennedy, whose Ole Miss team will play Louisville. On Dec. 16 in Nashville, Vanderbilt will play South Florida and Marquette will play Tennessee. The teams are chosen by ESPN in consultation with the leagues based on geography and competitive criteria.

UC 55, WV 37 - 4:50

Fans are beginning to leave in droves. WV has three field goals this half.

UC 50, WV 34 - 7:25 second half

Larry Davis' trey gave UC a 50-29 lead with 9:58 left. West Virginia has come back to score five straight points. Huggins has turned up the defensive pressure and the Mountaineers are making it difficult for UC to run its offense. Vaughn has 16 points. Nichols has 17 for WV.

UC 43, WV 29 - 11:42 second half

UC had its lead up to 17 after a John Williamson layup with 13:58 to go. A Darris Nichols trey with 12:39 left was WV's first field goal of the second half. Adam H. now has four fouls. So does WV Alex Ruoff, the Mountaineers' leading scorer.

UC 41, WV 26 - 15:24 first half

UC now has its biggest lead of the game. WV has yet to make a field goal in the second half. Adam H. has picked up his third foul. UC doing a good job of running its offense and looking for good shots. WV has not been able to rely on its bread-and-butter 3-point shooting.

UC 34, WV 23 - halftime

Vaughn has 13 points for UC. Surprisingly this place isn't full and those who are here aren't using their Mick Cronin masks, although the student section did break into a "Howdy-Doody" chant when Cronin was called for his technical foul. UC is playing outstanding defense except for a plethora of silly fouls.

UC 29, WV 21 - 2:32 first half

Blogger has not been working. Sorry for the inconvenience. Cronin was called for a technical foul with 5:18 left. WV is staying in the game with its free throw shooting. Twice UC has fouled a WV player while he was attemping a 3-point shot. It cost UC six points.

UC 25, WV 16- 5:18 first half

For some reason, Blogger has been unavailable for the last 10 or 15 minutes. MIck Cronion has just been called for a technical foul. Alvin Mitchell is being helped off the court after he was hurt going for an offensive rebound. The WV student section is chanting "Howdy-Doody" at Mick. Surprisingly there are a lot of empty seats here. And the fans aren't using those Mick Cronin masks.

UC 15, WV 5 - 12:36 first half

Huggins just called timeout after a Larry Davis transition layup. UC is on a 9-0 run. WV is 1-for-10 from the field. Cronin has gone to a zone. Looks like a 1-2-2.

UC 6, WV 5 - 15:59 first half

Not much happening yet. WV is not hurting UC from the perimeter. The Mountaineers have made only one of five field goal attemps. UC has already knocked down two treys - one from John Williamson, one from Gentry.

New lineup

Marvin Gentry is starting in place of Rashad Bishop. It's his first start since the Dec. 29 Miami game.

The Huggins entrance

Huggs just walked onto the court wearing a gold suit with gold boots. The meeting at mid-court with Mick was friendly. Huggs and UC assistant Chris Goggin, who used to work for Huggs, then hugged each other. Let the game begin.

Mick Cronin masks

I was just out in the concourse. They're passing out Mick Cronin masks to the fans.

The rivalry within the rivalry

Andre Tate, UC’s director of student-athlete development, has his own personal rivalry brewing in this game. WV assistant Erik Martin was Tate’s assistant coach for two years at Cincinnati State.

“That’s my guy,” Tate said. “We want to beat each moreso than it’s a Coach Huggins thing. I definitely want to go one up on Erik.”

Tate played on Huggins’ first UC team in 1989-90. He still remembers his first practice under Huggins.

“He was a drill sergeant,” Tate said. “I thought I was getting ready for boot camp. When he first got the job we heard that he’s a Bobby Knight, fiery, crazy, get up in your fact. That practice was very intense. He got after it. But I liked a coach like that. He had a big impact on me. He showed me how to be a man, how to be a leader. Some of my coaching philosophies as far as defense I took from him when I was a head coach. He’s like a father figure to me."

Like old times

Haven't spotted Huggins yet, but I just finished spending some time talking with WVU assistants Erik Martin and Larry Harrison. I covered Erik on UC's 1992 Final Four team and the 1993 Elite Eight team and always found him to be pleasant. He also played as hard and did as much with his talent as any UC player during the Huggins era. Larry, of course, was a UC assistant on the 1992 Final Four team. It was good to see both of them. Erik told me that Huggins hasn't mentioned anything to his players about this being a special game, but he said he knows that it is. How could it not be?

Darnell Wilks

If there has been one freshman who has been left out of the mix this season as the other five have all tested their skills it’s Darnell Wilks, who's probably the best pure athlete on the team.

“Darnell’s biggest transition is learning how to be a perimeter player,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “He’s not strong enough right now to play on the interior in the Big East.
“He’s a guy that I wish I could give more playing time, but we’re playing more guys probably than anybody in the Big East right now so he’s kind of caught in a numbers crunch. But I haven’t changed my optimism about his potential.”

Wilks originally committed to UC as part of the 2008 class, so he would have been a freshman next year as part of the class that includes Yancy Gates and Cashmere Wright.
But when he completed the academic work that made him eligible this year, he and Cronin decided to let him take the spot that originally belonged to Jason Henry when Henry didn’t qualify academically.

Wilks understands that he could have been playing every game this season on the high school level instead of sitting on UC’s bench, but he believes he’s learning more about the game this way.

“The way I look at it, what else could I have learned from high school?” he said. “I’m all right with it. I just come out and try to do as well in practice as I can.”

Cronin said the UC coaching staff considered redshirting Wilks this season and there’s a chance they could decide to go that route next year, depending on how much he improves during the off-season.

“Darnell is a guy I always felt needed time to develop,” Cronin said. “He was a guy that had great athleticism but he was going to have to transition into a perimeter player. The key with him is to make sure he continues to work on his skill level.”

Waiting for the NCAA

As UC waits for a ruling on whether quarterback Ben Mauk will be granted another year of eligibility, Brian Kelly said the NCAA has asked for more information.

“We have had two additional requests from the NCAA for further information regarding his most recent surgery (in December),” Kelly said. “I’m not reading into it other than the fact that the NCAA is really doing a thorough job in evaluating Ben’s situation.”

Brian Kelly contract approved

The Board of Trustees today approved - and Kelly signed - his new contract. Here's how it breaks down: $300,000 base salary; $400,000 radio-TV duties; $300,000 public relations/speaking engagements; $100,000 guaranteed camp money; $100,000 shoe and apparel contract; golf club membership and use of car.

Incentives include $50,000 for Top 25 finish; $10,000 for every win over a Top 25 team; $100,000 for appearance in BCS bowl; $40,000 for appearance in any other bowl game; $50,000 for winning Big East regular-season title; $20,000 for being named Big East coach of the year; $50,000 for national coach of the year; $5,000 for seven wins; $3,000 more when reachign eight, nine, 10, 11 or 12.

There are also academic incentives: $5,000 if team GPA exceeds 2.75; $10,000 if it exceeds 3.0; $10,000 if graduation rate is 75 percent; $10,000 for each year team exceeds the APR minimum standard set by the NCAA.

Attendance incentives: $12,500 for over 15,000 average attendance; $25,000 for 15,000-20,000; $32,500 for 20,000-27,500; $50,000 for 27,501-32,000.

The contract runs through Dec. 31, 2012.

Buyout clause: $2 million if he leaves before Jan. 15, 2009; $1 million if he leaves before Jan. 15, 2010; $750,000 if he leaves before Jan. 15, 2011; $500,000 if he leaves before Jan. 15, 2012; $250,000 if he leaves on or after Jan. 15, 2012.

In addition, the university agrees to "use its best efforts" to build or acquire two practice fields on campus by Sept. 1, 2009 and an indoor facility, which shall be understood to include a bubble over Nippert Stadium or some other campus facility by Dec. 1, 2009. If either deadline is missed the buyout figure is reduced by half until the later of Jan. 15, 2010 or the date on which the practice fields and the indoor facility become available.

Mick Cronin on Huggins

Mick just did a conference call with the West Virginia media. Here are a few of the tidbits from it:

On his relationship with Huggins: "I've never had anything but love for Coach Huggins. I don’t know if he was always happy with me."

On what he learned from Huggins: "I learned how to be very bubbly and smily with the media from coach Huggins. And I’ve tried to carry that into my head coaching career. Seriously, I learned so much from Coach Huggins there isn't enough time to tell you about it. All I can tell you is I wouldn’t be here without him. To sum it up, he taught me how to win."

On who was the better player:
"We got in an argument one summer. We both took a bad player and played two-on-two against each other. They won, 10-9, and I still haven’t forgotten about it. But if we played today you’d better have an ambulence parked close to the court."

Another Bob Huggins story

This shows how one-dimensional coaches can be, how totally absorbed they are in what they do. And no one was more absorbed than Bob Huggins, which is why he won so much.

Back in the early 90s, we were at O’Hare on a Sunday morning. I saw that Huggins had purchased a big, thick Chicago Tribune to read in the airport. He pulled out the sports section and started poring over the college basketball scores, setting the rest of the paper aside.

“Bob," I said, "aren’t you going to read the rest of that paper? There’s a great big, wide world out there, you know.”

“I’m sure there is,” he said.

Then he took the rest of the Tribune and dropped it into an empty metal wastebasket. I still remember the loud thud the paper made as it hit bottom.

A Bob Huggins story

In nearly 16 years of covering Bob Huggins, I’ve assembled quite a collection of Huggs stories. This is one of my favorites because it shows how good he was at times at creating his own reality, of believing what he wanted to believe – especially about the media:

We were in Milwaukee. UC had beaten Marquette and there were a few of us, along with Huggins, in the bar at the Hyatt Hotel after the game. I asked Bob who his least favorite writer was in Cincinnati and he named Tim Sullivan, who was then the sports columnist at The Enquirer. He then recounted how when Huggins recruited Art Long, Sully had written a critical column in which he said he wouldn’t want his daughter going to the same school that Art Long attended. “Now,” Huggins said, “his daughter goes to UC!”

I told him that that wasn’t true, that Sully did not have a daughter at UC. But Huggs was insistent. “Yes, he does,” he said. “His daughter goes there now.” To which I replied, “Bob, Sully’s daughter is 11 years old.”

“Oh,” Huggs said quietly. “I thought she did.”

During Huggs’ last year at UC, he once told me that if I ever decide to write a book about him, I shouldn’t leave my house. He was kidding. At least I think he was.

Seton Hall 60, UC 57 - 2:33 second half

Trialing by one, UC's Vaughn just missed a three to beat the shot clock, but it was no good. Seton Hall then scored on a baseline jumper by Brian Laing. Vaughn has come alive a little bit offensively, but still has only 13 points.

Warning

Cronin has just been warned by the official to tone down his complaining on the sideline. No technical yet, but he seems to be headed that way. UC has been called for 11 fouls this half.

Seton Hall 46, UC 39 - 11:39 second half

UC has already committed eight fouls in the second half, but Seton Hall has kept the Bearcats close by missing five of seven free throws this half. Speaking of free throws, UC has some pretty bad-looking shooters at the line. Vaughn went to the bench a few minutes ago and was seriously berated by Mick Cronin for missing a defensive switch.

Williamson out

Williamson just picked up two fouls a the 17:37 mark and has gone to the bench with four fouls. The second was on a Seton Hall inbounds play, similar to the one called on Rashad Bishop in the UConn game. Mick Cronin went ballistic.

Willamson update

He's back to start the second half.

Seton Hall 36, UC 30 - halftime

UC scored nine points in the first four minutes, 21 in the last 16. Say what you want about officiating, but this UC team just doesn't attack the basket enough to get to the free throw line. The Bearcats have attempted only three free throws in the first half. UC is terribly out of sync offensively agaisnt a team that ranks last in the league in scoring defense.

Seton Hall 31, UC 30 - 3:34 first half

UC has no answer for Jamar Nutter, who has 16 points and has made four 3-pointers. Seton Hall's press is causing UC all kinds of problems. Still not sure about Williamson. He has not returned to the game.

UC 24, Seton Hall 21 - 7:57 first half

Four straight turnovers for UC. Williamson has just walked back onto the court and has joined the UC huddle during the TV timeout. He seems to be OK.

Williamson down

John Williamson is on the floor being attended to by Dr. Stephens and David Fluker after colliding with Jeremy Hazell in the lane. Williamson, who was called for a bloakcing foul, has been taken back to the locker room. I can't tell what the injury, but when he first went down, he appeared to be holding his wrist or his arm.

UC 22, Seton Hall 14 - 12:08 first half

Here come the 3s. Seton Hall has made four of them in the last four minutes. But UC is making them too. Alvin Mitchell, a 12 percent 3-point shooter coming in, has knocked down two and Jamual Warren, a 25 percent 3-point shooter, has made one.

UC 6, Seton Hall 0 - 17:18

The Bearcats are off to a fast start, making three of their first five shots. Seton Hall has committed two turnovers and missed its first four shots. The Pirates have yet to attempt a three, which is their bread-and-butter.

Vintage Huggs

Of course you all saw the Huggins meltdown at the end of West Virginia's game last night, with Huggs taking off after the officials when they failed to make a goal-tending call at the end of the game. Long-time UC fans had to be reminded of the UC-DePaul game in 1992 when he went after official Phil Bova at the end of the game as Bova was walking off the court at Shoemaker Center. You'll recall that Huggins was suspended for that little antic and was not allowed to coach the next Great Midwest Conference game vs. Marquette. What will the Big East do about this one? Is is possible that Huggs could be suspended for Wednesday's game vs. UC? Probably not. But you have to think that some sort of reprimand will be in order.

The Prudential Center

This is a beautiful building. Reminds me of Milwaukee's Bradley Center, which is one of my favorite arenas to work in. This place, which is also the home of the NHL New Jersey Devils, seats about 18,500 for hockey. but Seton Hall so far has opted to curtain off the upper deck, which reduces capacity to about 9,800, which is what they drew for the Louisville game. Presumably, if they start winning consistently and draw bigger crowds, they will lift the curtain and increase the capacity. As we were walking in, a Seton Hall official was telling us how much more they like the arrangement they have with this building, which is located in downtown Newark, than the one they had with the Meadowlands, which, without a doubt, is my least favorite sports venue in America.

Jamual Warren

Too many times I think college athletes - especially basketball players - take for granted the opportunity they have to play college athletics and receive a free education. So it's refreshing to come across a player like Jamual Warren, who really seems grateful for the chance he's had at UC. I remember when Jamual signed with UC he told me that he needed a fresh start, so it was a nice fit for him to go to a program that was also starting over. That's exactly how it has worked out for him and for the program. In a few years when these seniors are gone, UC fans should look back in appreciation for what they did for this program during a very tough time and the players should look back in appreciation for the opportunity they were given. That's how it's supposed to work.

While talking to Mick Cronin about Warren the other day, he said something that I thought was revealing about how he runs his program. This quote didn't make it into the paper, but here it is:

"(Warren) is a tough guy and he's got a strong personality, but he can't win against me. Now and then he comes back and tries to get a W against me but I have to let him know it's never going to happen."

Singing Vaughn's praises

UConn coach Jim Calhoun is becoming quite the PR man for UC basketball. First he declared Mick Cronin the frontrunner for Big East coach of the year and then on Thursday during the coaches' teleconference, when I asked him to reflect further on Deonta Vaughn's 34-point performance from the night before, he was very effusive in his praise.

"Last night he was worth the price of admission alone," Calhoun said. "He’s a pretty special player. He’s in the top five or six players in this league without question, no doubt. Cincinnati is very fortunate to have him."

Vaughn is currently second in the league in scoring in conference games only, averaging 21.3 points to Luke Harangody's 22.0. In all games, he rankes sixth with a 17.6 average. Seton Hall's Brian Laing, whom UC will see Sunday, is tied with Harangody for the lead in scoring at 18.9, but he's averaging only 15.5 in conference games.

Rashad Bishop on The Foul

Bishop: "I was guarding him and I was holding my arm out and he broke for the ball and he kind of grabbed my arm to his body and made it look like I was holding him. The game plan was to just let him inbound it and slow him up but I looked over at the sideline and saw Coach telling me to go up, so I just went up with him. He did a veteran play. He just caught me."

Ripping the refs

I noticed a post on the blog today wondering why I wasn't more critical of the officials during the game last night. You won't see that from me. Sure, some officials are better than others, but they do the best they can in a very difficult job. I asked Mick Cronin about the fouls that were called last night and he chose not to comment. If he wants to rip the refs or one of the players wants to, I'll report what they say, but I will never blame the officials for costing UC a game because then I'm crossing over into being a fan. Were there some bad calls last night? Sure. There are bad calls in every game and not just for one side. UC lost that game because it couldn't take care of the ball against UConn's press and because it missed three of four free throws in the final minute. Maybe Deonta Vaughn got fouled on that last play. Maybe he didn't. But there's no guarantee he would have made that shot even he was able to get it off.

Mick Cronin, Big East Coach of the Year?

Jim Calhoun's comments about Mick Cronin deserving to be coach of the year so far this season were right on the money. No coach in the league has brought his team further along that Cronin has this season. I also loved Mick's response when I asked him about it in the post-game press conference. "Right now, I think I'm ready to fire myself," he said. If anyone has a right to lash out at his critics, it's Cronion, who took his share of heat last year and early this year from fans who didn't understand how bad the situation was that he inherited and then didn't understand how he was going about trying to fix it.

UConn 84, UC 83 - final

A.J. Price made two free throws for UConn with 8.9 seconds left. UC got the ball to Vaughn, but his shot was blocked by Dyson. Marcus Sikes' 3-pointer from the right corner was no good at the final horn.

UC 74, UConn 62 - 5:51 second half

Vaughn just hit two more treys plus two free throws off a Jim Calhoun technical foul. He now has 31 points.

UC 64, UConn 60 - 7:24 second half

UC is no longer settling for 3-pointers. The Bearcats are taking the ball to the basket and have already gone to the free throw line 10 times in the second half. They've made seven.

UC 60, UConn 56 - 10:34 second half

UC on 7-0 run after trailing 56-53. Vaughn just hit back-to-back treys and now has 21 points.

UConn 49, UC 46 - 15:44 second half

UC shot its first free throws of the game when John Williamson was fouled at the 19:24 mark. They're now 5-6 compared with 20-21 for UConn. Thabeet has 20 points, two short of his career high.

UC 41, UConn 38 - halftime

UC has yet to shoot a free throw. UConn is 15-16 from the line. Mick Cronin was called for a technical foul with 1:39 to go. Vaughn has 13 points. Thabeet leads UConn with 13. UC is 7-19 from 3-point range. UConn has 12 turnovers and is shooting 55 percent from the field.

UC 34, UConn 27 - 3:39 first half

UC used a 16-2 run to go up 31-21 with 5:48 to go. UConn came back with six straight points of its own. UC didn't commit its first turnover until the 4:44 mark and now has two compared with 10 for UConn, including three straight vs. UC's press. Vaughn has 13 points and has made three of four 3 pointers. Thabeet has 10 for UConn.

UC 24, UConn 21 - 7:18 first half

UC is on a 10-2 run. The Bearcats have fallen in love with the 3-point shot. They've already heaved up 13 of them, making four. Vaughn has 10 points. UConn's A.J. Price has picked up his second foul.

UConn 19, UC 16

UC fell behind again, this time by six, but came back behind Deonta Vaughn 3-pointer and a Vaughn transition layup. UConn is still killing the Bearcats on the boards, 9-3 and is shooting 54.5 percent from the field.

UConn 13, UC 9 - 15:03 first half

UConn jumped out to a 5-0 lead. UC came back to tie at 7-7. Hasheem Thabeet has six points for UConn. Adam Hrycaniuk has six for UC. The Bearcats are being outrebounded 5-0 in the early going. UConn has made four of its six shots.

Will Ohio State play UC now?

This came tumbling out of my mouth this morning during an interview on Alan Cutler's radio show, so I thought I'd put it out here for your consideration. I was asked about the possibility of UC playing Kentucky in the NIT this year, which would be great. Alan then asked why UC doesn't play UK on a regular basis. But what I'd rather see is another UC-Ohio State game. Last year, Ohio State pounded the undermanned Bearcats in Indianapolis. Bob Goin, who was the UC AD when that game was set up, understood that's probably what would happen, but he hoped that one game might be the start of a series of games between the two schools. Unfortunately, Thad Matta quickly shot down that idea when he was asked about it in Indy. It seemed to me then and still does now that OSU was more than willing to play UC when its program was in a shambles. Now it seems only fair for Matta to agree to play UC next year or the year after that when Mick Cronin has had a chance to rebuild it. I don' t expect them to play every year, but it doesn't seem too much to ask for them to play every few years, or at least more than once every 45 years.

And then there were four...

UConn is one of four Big East schools that UC has not beaten in basketball since joining the league in 2005. The others are Georgetown, Notre Dame and St. John's. The Bearcats are 0-1 vs. UConn, 0-2 vs. Notre Dame and St. John's, and 0-3 vs. Georgetown.

I'm looking forward to seeing UConn's shot-blocking center Hasheem Thabeet tonight. I remember when Mick Cronin recruited him, and to hear Mick tell it now, he came very close to getting him. In fact, when he was talking to the UConn writers yesterday, he said that he and Thabeet remained friendly even after Thabeet chose the Huskies, that Thabeet actually apologized to him when he informed him of his decision. UC fans remember what a potent weapon the blocked shot was for the Bearcats for so many years with Keynon Martin, Donald Little, Jason Maxiell and Eric Hicks. With 40 blocked shots this season, UC is 18 behind last year's total of 58. The Bearcats rank last in the league in that category, even with the addition of 7-foot center Anthony McClain, who leads the team with 17. Rashad Bishop is second with seven.

Mick Cronin on receiving Top 25 votes

I just asked Mick point blank if he thinks UC deserves to be ranked in the Top 25 with a 9-9 record. Here's his answer:

"I think we played the hardest non-league schedule in the country early, for a big-name team, with the amount of road games that we played. I think our record reflects that. It’s just nice to be recognized. I don’t really pay attention. I’m biased toward the high majors even though I spent three years at Murray State. I had two great teams there but we couldn’t have stood up in a conference like this. We could beat a team on a given night but I see teams ranked – and I’m not going to name names – but I see teams ranked, and it’s nice for them, but having been at that level, if you throw those kind of teams from the lower conferences that do get ranked, it’s my belief that if you throw them in the Big East, they’d struggle mightily."

About those Top 25 votes

I'm sure UC fans were thrilled to see those five Top 25 votes the Bearcats received in the AP poll this week, but let's be honest, a 9-9 team, no matter how much it has improved in the past few weeks, doesn't deserve to be ranked. I know, they've beaten two Top 25 teams in the past week and a half, but they still struggle to win on the road and well, they're 9-9.

That's not to downplay what they've accomplished or what they might accomplish the rest of the season, but it's too early to be talking about them as a Top 25 team. By the way, those five votes came from a writer from the Journal-Gazette of Ft. Wayne, Ind. named Stacy Clardie. She voted UC 21st. No one else gave UC a single vote.

For the record, UC was last ranked the week of Jan. 9, 2006, when they were 25th. They had just won at Marquette and were playing UConn tough on the road when Armein Kirkland went down with his knee injury. They lost that game and four of their next five, and haven't been ranked since.

Football news

UC today received an oral commitment from Strongsville (Ohio) High School wide receiver D.J. Woods, who picked the Bearcats over Michigan.

“They said I could make an impact right away,” Woods said. “That’s what I want to do.”

Woods originally committed to Nebraska but changed his mind after head coach Bill Callahan was fired. He then committed to West Virginia, but reconsidered after Rich Rodriguez left for Michigan.

Rodriguez continued to recruit Woods for Michigan, which Woods visited this past weekend, but he chose UC instead.

“I wanted to be a Bearcat more than a Wolverine,” Woods said.

Woods, 6-feet, 166 pounds, is rated the 57th best wide receiver in the country by Rivals.com. He reportedly runs a 4.36 40.

He caught 38 passes last season for 748 yards and five touchdowns and averaged 19.7 yards per catch, even though he played in only five games.

His season was cut short when he had surgery to remove a blood clot near his spine. He said he has made a full recovery from the surgery.

Offensive tackle Khalil El-Amin has been reinstated to UC football team after felonious assault charges were dismissed last week.

“He went through the process,” UC coach Brian Kelly said. “I said we would not make a decision until everything had been adjudicated. His case was dismissed from the courts. Given all the information, I reinstated him Friday. He’s back in full standing with the program.”

The power of TV

During some casual viewing of college basketball over the weekend I noticed the national commentators talking occasionally about what UC has done so far in the Big East. That can only be good news for UC and Mick Cronin when it comes to recruiting. Cronin is a hard-working recruiter, but remember he's competing against national coaching luminaries like Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim and Bob Huggins, to name a few. Compared to coaches like that, the name 'Mick Cronin' does not yet make a big impact on recruits when it comes time to close the deal. That's why it helps UC every time the Bearcats - and Cronin - are mentioned on national TV.

Credit the seniors

It was tempting during the five-game losing streak in December to advocate pushing the returning seniors into the background and letting the freshmen get more experience for next season, thereby writing off the rest of this year. In fact, it was so tempting, I think that's precisely what I said on the radio one day, if not in print. But give Mick Cronin credit for understanding that the seniors’ one year of Big East experience was a valuable asset not to be dismissed. Now that experience is paying off.

It’s true that the Bearcats are better this season because they have more depth and talent, but also because they are better equipped mentally to deal with adversity late in games. And the seniors are showing leadership during practice, correcting the young players when they make a mistake.

“Before you can say anything, they’ve already said something to the freshmen,” Cronin said. “It’s been happening the last two or three weeks.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has noticed the difference in maturity, too.
“They’re a good team," Dixon said. "They’re 4-2 (in the Big East) and they’re getting better. You can see the seniors doing a great job. Warren and Williamson are doing some very good things for them. Say what you want about them, most of those guys have been in the program two years. They played a lot of minutes last year and they’re reaping the benefits this year.”

UC 62, Pitt 59- final score

Rashad Bishop blocked a Keith Benjamin 3-pointer in the closing seconds. Benjamin got the ball back and fired it up again, but was well short as the final horn sounded.

UC 54, Pitt 48 - 3:50 second half

Pitt has cut into a 13-point deficit, taking advantage of UC turnovers and making four of five free throws. Young now has 20 points for Pitt.

UC 51, Pitt 40 - 7:00 second half

UC is on an 11-0 run. Adam H. has 12 points and seven rebounds. Rashad Bishop has 10 points and six rebounds. Vaughn is back in the game and has six points. UC is outrebounding Pitt, 28-23 and shooting 45 percent from the floor.

UC 40, Pitt 38 - 11:03 second half

Benjamin is back in the game for Pitt, with his hand wrapped. Vaughn still has only four points and Blair has only four for Pitt. It's a cleanly played game. UC has six turnovers. Pitt has five. Sam Young is the only real offensive threat for Pitt. He has 12 points. Pitt is 2-for-12 from 3-point range. Adam H. has eight points and five rebounds for UC.

UC 31, Pitt 30 - 15:48 second half

Blair picked up his third foul and went back to the bench with 18:50 left. Vaughn made his first shot of the second half, but then picked up his third foul with just over 16 minutes left. He, too, is on the bench. John Williamson left the game at the 16:43 mark after getting poked in the left eye as he went up to attempt a layup. No foul was called and the ball was stolen by Pitt.

Pitt 28, UC 27 - Halftime

With UC trailing by four, Rashad Bishop fired in a 3-point shot just before the end of the first half. Adam H. has six points and four rebounds for UC. Jamual Warren has five rebounds and four assists. Deonta Vaughn has only two points. He has attempted only one shot.

Pitt 24, UC 22 - 2:36 first half

Pitt went on a 12-2 run to take a 22-20 lead, taking advantage of four straight UC turnovers. Pitt's Keith Benjamin went to the locker room at the 6:07 mark, apparently with a cut finger based on the way UC trainer David Fluker was going around the court wiping up blood spots. UC is down to 38.1 percent shooting and has tossed up some pretty wild shots in the last few minutes. Pitt is beating UC down the floor to score in transition.

UC 20, Pitt 15 - 7:59 first half

Pitt's DeJuan Blair picked up his second foul and went to the bench with 11:18 to go. While Anthony McClain was shooting his first of two free throws, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was called for a technical foul. Vaughn made both free throws for UC, giving the Bearcats an 18-10 lead. Warren has four rebounds and three assists for UC.

UC 15, Pitt 10 - 11:52 first half

If UC has one advantage in this game, it's depth. Pitt has only eight scholarship players. Mick Cronin has already used nine players for UC. The Bearcats are shooting 54.5 percent from the field and have yet to commit a turnover. Deonta Vaughn hasn't taken a shot. Jamual Warren has two assists, one on a nice alley oop pass that resulted in an Alvin Mitchell layup.

UC 6, Pitt 4 - 15:54 first half

Both teams started out cold from the floor, missing their first four shots. John Williamson has four of UC's six points on a follow shot and a layup.

Kudos to Harbaugh, Cole

Congratulations to John Harbaugh, the new head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Harbaugh was the recruiting coordinator at UC back in the Tim Murphy era and a big hand in helping to restore the program to respectability after it had been decimated by NCAA probation. He also was a part of Rick Minter's staff for several years. John is one of the nicest people I've ever met in sports. It's great to see him get this opportunity.

Also, congratulations to Trent Cole, who's been added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster. Trent was a beast on UC's defensive line a few years ago, another in a long line of standout defensive ends that UC has produced in recent years. He's another good guy who deserves the recognition he's getting.

UC football at PBS

As you UC ponders what to do about building a new basketball arena and expanding and renovating Nippert Stadium, I heard this idea the other day from a UC fan. His idea was to forget about renovating Nippert. Instead, he would tear down Nippert and focus all of the fundraising efforts on building a new basketball arena on that site, leaving Fifth Third Arena as a possible venue for an indoor practice facility. That would mean moving all of UC's football games to Paul Brown Stadium.

Is this a good idea? I remember when UC tried to make Riverfront Stadium its home field for football years ago. It didn't work. The crowds were small and the atmosphere was terrible. The question is, now that UC is in the Big East and experiencing some success, has the program progressed far enough that it could regularly attract 40,000 to 50,000 fans to PBS? If it could, would it still make sense to play all of UC's games there or would something be lost by not playing on campus?

Both Pitt and South Florida play their home games in NFL stadiums, so it certainly wouldn't be an unusual development in the Big East.

Could it work here?

Nick Aldridge's first practice

Nick Aldridge, the transfer from Western Carolina, practiced with UC for the first time Thursday and the first thing Mick Cronin noticed about him is that he's out of shape after having not played for a month or so. But he also noticed that the kid can score.

"Nick has things you can't teach," Cronin said. "About five times yesterday I thought he's going to get that blocked and he made it every time. He definitely brings things to the table from the offensive end. The biggest area for Nick where he's going to have to improve will be his defense because he's not a great athlete. Defending people at this level, it's a major league difference.

"We've got to continue to work on his perimeter shot. He's got to get some arc on his ball. I want him to be a guy who can stretch the defense and make the 3-point shot with some consistency. There's not doubt he's going to be able to contribute. He can score. That’s one thing you can't teach certain gjys. Adam Hrycaniuk struggles with his feel for the game around the basket. Nick Aldridge excels in that area. He has that feel for the game that you can't teach."

Aldridge said he felt sore and a little rusty and noticed that practice was a little faster-paced than what he was accustomed to at Western Carolina.

"At the same time, it's still basketball," he said. "You still have to know how to play the game. I feel like a lot of the things I could do at Western I can do here."

By the way, Jamual Warren, who didn't practice yesterday because he was experiencing flu-like symptoms, was at practice today and at this point is expected to play tomorrow.

nancy zimpher comments

One of our news reporters, Cliff Peale, conducted an interview with Nancy Zimpher this morning. They touched on many issues, just a few of which were related to athletics. Here's some of what she had to say about athletics:

UC met its quota of 9,000 or so fans for the bowl game and ended up making a profit on the game.

On the bubble and practice fields that are included in Brian Kelly’s new contract, she said any project would have to go through the university's normal budget process and the athletic department would have to raise its own money, which is what Mike Thomas has said all along.

She acknowledged that the costs of big-time sports, including coach's contracts and practice fields, are kind of surprising to her.

"I think our business planning could have been more front-loaded,” she said. “This is sort of a referendum on what it takes to be competitive in the Big East. I don't think we aspire to be the biggest program in the Big East. But it hits the pocketbook when you talk about comparable facilities. It hits the pocketbook when you talk about comparable coaches' salaries.”

For Vaughn, should I shoot or should I pass?

Deonta Vaughn must get confused at times about what he's supposed to do. Mick Cronin wants him to shoot more, but he doesn't want him to force anything, like Cronin felt he did at times against Notre Dame the other night. The bottom line is that Vaughn has been and will continue to be the focus of every opponent's defense. He's still trying to figure out whether to look for his shot or feed his teammates, none of whom is as proficient as he is at putting the ball in the basket.

"My challenging him to be aggressive doesn't mean just shoot," Cronin said. "He's got to force peole to take him away and in doing so they’re leaving somebody else open."

And when that happens, someone else has to make a shot.

The good thing about Vaughn is that even though he's only a sophomore, he has embraced the leadership role that has been forced upon him and is willing to accept the blame when things don't go well, even if he doesn't always deserve it.

Ron Allen sighting

Saw Ron Allen walking through the halls at Fifth Third Arena on crutches today. Ron said he sprained his ankle last Wednesday while playing for Sioux Falls in the NBA Development League. Said he'd be out for about three weeks, but since Sioux Falls released him after he got hurt he'll likely have to find a new team to pick him up. He was averaging 2.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 15 games.

Pre-practice notes

Jamual Warren was not at practice today. Mick Cronin sent him home with flu-like symptoms int he hope that he would rest up and be at full strength for Saturday's game against Pitt.

After watching tape of the ND game, Cronin said he found a lot to build on.

"My wife thinks I lost my mind because I got up at three," he said. "I was so excited from watching the Notre Dame film. I thought everything that we did wrong was correctible. I saw Kenny Belton rebounding, Larry Davis make some shots, guys making plays, players developing their confidence. It was just that our defense broke down and I thought our shot selection was poor. After looking at the tape, we shot too many 3-point shots. But I told the guys from looking at what we were able to accomplish in the first half of that game you have to see what we’re capable of."

Cronin on Bishop

This from Mick Cronin on this morning's Big East coaches conference call on why Rashad Bishop has been the most consistent of UC's freshmen and why he has managed to crack the starting lineup.

"The reason he has played so much for us is he doesn’t force things and doesn’t make mistakes. You don’t have to worry about him trying to make great plays, breaking your offense and taking crazy shots. He won’t try to do things he doesn’t feel he’s ready to do.

"Rashad has probably been our most consistent freshman. He has a great feel for the game. As his perimeter shooting improves as he becomes more aggressive and learns to use his body and athleticism more consistently he’s only going to get better. I’d like to see him improve his ballhandling where he attacks the basket more on the dribble. As he gets older, with his size and strength, he’s a guy that could really do some damage breaking people down off the dribble. But he has to improve his ballhandling to do that."

Spirited Competition

Congratulations to Brittany Baumann, a sophomore cheerleader at UC, who is the winner of Athlon Sports 2007 Sideline Spirit Contest. She received more than 200,000 votes. Baumann and the UC cheerleading squad won $1,000 in cash plus 2 JVC Camcorders, a 42-inch LCD JVC TV and a JVC Portable Kaboom Box. In addition, Baumann won her own photo shoot and will be featured in the 2008 Athlon Sports College Football annuals.

What if UC had Mike Williams?

I don't get to hear the TV broadcasts of UC's games, so I don't know if the pre-season injury to Mike Williams gets mentioned very often. Typically, though, it seems as if injuries that occur once the season has started get more notice, and by extension the coach of that team gets a little more sympathy, as is the case with Pitt and the injuries to Levance Fields and Mike Cook.

I have never seen Mike Williams play except for one game in the Deveroes Summer League last summer, so I don't know the answer to this question, but I wonder how many more wins UC would have now if Williams were playing. Would he have been able to slow Harangody in the second half last night? Would he have scored inside during the first half when UC had a chance to take a big lead? Is it possible that UC would have won that game?

I know how highly Mick Cronin regards Williams and what he would have meant to this team, but it's also true that whenever a player has to sit out, whether because of injury or because he's sitting out his transfer year, his coach will talk about how that player is just dominating in practice. Mick talked that way last year about Williams and about Adam H. I remember Andy Kennedy and Frank Martin raving about Abdul Herrera the year he was ineligible.

But sometimes it's true. When Anthony Buford sat out a year after transferring from Akron, I saw first-hand how well he played in practice. And he carried that over the following year when he was able to play, helping UC get to the Final Four.

I don't know if Williams is in that class. I suppose we'll find out next winter.

ND aftermath

A few thoughts while driving down U.S. 31 on the way back from South Bend:
- There's no shame in losing at Notre Dame the way the Irish play at home, but when UC got up by eight points early in the second half it looked as if it might actually be on the way to ending that 30-game homecourt winning streak. But remember, no one has won there since the end of the 2005-06 season. What's important now is for the Bearcats to regroup for their next two road games vs. Pitt and UConn before heading back out on the road to Seton Hall and then the Huggins game at West Virginia.
- Still, Mick Cronin had the feeling, justified I think, that if UC had taken advantage of ND's offensive woes in the first half it would have been better positioned to withstand Harangody's onslaught in the second half.
"It was going to take a monumental effort for us to win here," Cronin said. "We were going to have to play a great game. I thought defensively in the first half we played a great game but we didn’t offensively. We should have been up 15 or 20 at half if we had shot the ball halfway decent. We’re shooting 2-footers in the paint and then we’re shooting wide open 3-point shots."
Adam H. continues to struggle to put the ball in the basket. He was 1-for-7 from the field and as Mick said, most, if not all, of those shots were within a few feet of the basket. He has to do better.
- Kenny Belton did a good job during his 13-minute stint. One of the interesting things about covering this team is watching the development of the freshmen, each of whom is progressing at his own pace. One day Alvin Mitchell seems to get it. The next day it's Kenny Belton or Anthony McClain. At some point, you have to think most of them will figure things out and become productive at the same time. That might not happen until next season, but when it does UC will be on its way.

ND 91, UC 74 - final

Harangody finished with 25, 24 in the second half. Vaughn managed only 10. UC was outscored, 64-40, in the second half.

ND 65, UC 51 - 7:12 second half

UC cut a 54-44 deficit to six, but then ND scored nine straight points to go up by 15. Harangody now has 18 points, 17 in the second half. McAlarney has 16 points and is 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

ND 54, UC 44 - 11:41 second half

ND is on a 24-6 run. Harangody has scored 13 points in the second half.

UC 42, ND 39 - 15:35 second half

Harangody is beginning to warm up. After UC took a 38-30 lead on a Rashad Bishop tip, Harangody scored nine straight points, including a conventional 3-point play that gave him his first field goal with 18:04 left after six errant attempts. Both of UC's big men are in foul trouble trying to guard him. Adam H. has three fouls, Anthony McClain four. Vaughn is now 1-for-6 for UC.

UC 34, ND 27 -Halftime

UC's halftime lead is its largest of the game. The Bearcats have never trailed by more than one and have been in control of the game from the outset. ND has made only six field goals in 25 attempts. UC has gotten a huge lift from freshmen Kenny Belton, who has six points and four rebounds off the bench.

UC 25, ND 23 - 3:41 first half

Harangody just went to the bench with his second foul. He has scored only point and is 0-for-5 from the field. Vaughn finally got on the board with a 3-pointer over Ryan Ayers with 5:52 to go. ND is 6-for-20 from the field. UC has shot just one free throw.

UC 18, ND 17 7:58 first half

Vaughn has yet to score for UC. Harangody has one point for the Irish. As Cronin promised,
Kenny Belton is getting some early playing time. He made his presence felt right away by scoring on a follow shot. Adam H. continues to struggle to score inside.

UC 12, ND 10 - 11:39 first half

UC had a 10-5 lead after Rashad Bishop's 4-point play with 13:19 left. ND finally made its first field goal after seven misses with 13:40 to go on a Kyle McAlarney runner. McClain is on the bench with two fouls. UC has missed at least three shots around the basket, but the Bearcats are doing a good job on the offensive boards. UC is 5-17 from the field, ND 3-11.

UC 4, ND 2 - 15:51 first half

ND has missed its first five shots from the field and has committed four turnovers in the first four minutes. UC is doing a good job of getting the ball inside to Adam H., but so far he has been able to convert only one basket. He was replaced by Anthony McClain at the 16:30 mark.

adidas deal for football

The University of Cincinnati announced Tuesday that it has entered into a 4-year agreement with adidas to supply apparel and footwear to the UC football team beginning with the 2008 season.

With the football team now under contract with adidas, all 18 of UC’s sports will be affiliated with adidas as part of an $11.5 compensation deal, $3.4 million of which goes to the football program, or roughly $825,000 per year.

UC’s previous football deal with Nike, which expired in 2007, was worth $90,000 a year, according to senior associate athletic director Mike Waddell.

Football coach Brian Kelly will receive $100,000 per year as part of the deal. Basketball coach Mick Cronin gets $110,000.

The football agreement is the culmination of a process of partnering with adidas that began in 2006-07 with 15 sports, including men’s and women’s basketball.

Men’s and women’s soccer signed with adidas for 2007-08 and now football in 2008-09.

The new deal runs through the 2011-12 school year.

With adidas now furnishing apparel to the football program the Bearcats will have newly designed uniforms for next season that will be unveiled at the annual spring game on April 26 at Nippert Stadium.

Waddell said the school also negotiated with New Balance, Under Armour and Nike before reaching the agreement with adidas.

Mauk appeal filed

UC today filed the appeal to the NCAA in an attempt to gain another year of eligibility for quarterback Ben Mauk. You all know the story. Mauk suffered devastating injuries to his arm and shoulder in the 2006 season opener while playing as a junior for Wake Forest. He enrolled in graduate school at UC after graduating from Wake and took advantage of an NCAA rule, since rescinded, that allowed him to play for the Bearcats in 2007 without sitting out a transfer year. Now UC is petitioning to get back the year he missed at Wake after the injury. UC compliance director Maggie McKinley estimates that the school should have an answer in about three weeks.

Vaughn honored

UC guard Deonta Vaughn was named Big East player of the week today. He scored 29 vs. Syracuse and 25 vs. Villanova and ranks second in the league in scoring in conference games only, averaging 22.8 points per game. Vaughn is only the second UC player ever to win the award, joining Eric Hicks, who won it the week of Jan. 9, 2006.

A chance for Belton

Look for freshman forward Kenny Belton to get more playing time tomorrow night at Notre Dame.

Kenny Belton’s a guy that’s been playing well in practice for us," Mick Cronin said. "I've got to find some minutes for him. This oculd be a perfect game for Kenny because he's a physical player. We’re going to need our upfront guys to hold their own in this game. This is a game we can't win if we get dominated on the glass in South Bend."

Belton has played only 44 minutes in eight games this season.

Football news

This from our prep writer Tom Groeschen: Colerain High School defensive tackle Brandon Mills has orally committed to UC. Mills, 5-10, 260, was a first-team AP all-state selection. He registered 60 tackles last season with 12.5 sacks and 27 tackles for loss.

Also, UC football SID Kelby Siler reports that UC cornerback Mike Mickens, who had filed the paperwork for the NFL draft, has decided to return to UC for his senior year. Mickens was projected as third-round pick.

On posting comments

I've seen several criticisms of how quickly (or not quickly) comments get posted here. The fact is that it's the paper's policy to moderate the comments before posting them for obvious reasons. There are three, sometimes four, of us who who check this for comments that need to be posted. I post them when I see them, but if I spent all my time checking for comments there would be no time to write stories for the paper, to post my own entries to this blog or to live the rest of my life.

Alvin Mitchell

I talked with Alvin Mitchell after the game Saturday night for a Monday story and was impressed by the way he has handled his struggles during his freshman year.

“It’s real tough to come in and not play as good as you expect yourself to play,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes you kind of get down on yourself, but every day Coach looked me in my eyes and told me that it’s a struggle to get better at this level, so don’t get frustrated. He told me to keep my head up and don’t get frustrated that I’m not playing as well as I was looking forward to. I started questioning myself a lot. I just looked to my mom and I looked to my coaches. They basically gave me the answers to everything. They keep me level-headed and they keep me going in the right direction.”

3-1 in the Big East

When the UC football team got ranked this year, won 10 games and started to sell out Nippert Stadium, I witnessed something I wasn't sure I would ever see from the Bearcats. It was - and still is - quite a remarkable development. But I think that what the basketball team is doing is even more remarkable. After watching UC lose at UAB, I wondered in print if this team would win another game. I wasn't trying to be facetious. I looked at the schedule and really didn't see any games I thought the Bearcats would be favored to win. I basically wrote that in my story the next day. The next time I talked to Mick Cronin he went out of his way to tell me - without being a jerk about it or complaining about what I had written - that the world wasn't coming to an end. He has the benefit of seeing his players in practice every day - reporters are not allowed that luxury - so he knew that the young guys were getting better. He was right, of course, although I doubt if even Mick believed his team would beat Louisville, Syracuse and Villanova. Can they keep this going? Certainly, after what I've witnessed during the past two weeks, I'm not going to say they can't. It will be fun to watch the rest of the season unfold, don't you think?

UC 69, Nova 66 - final

Rashad Bishop made a 3-pointer with 20.9 seconds left to give UC a 68-66 lead. Nova's Corey Fisher was fouled, but missed the front end of the bonus. Williamson rebounded for UC. He was fouled. He made one of two free throws. Reynolds' 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good.

UC 62, Nova 59 - 3:41 second half

Vaughn has 23 points, Reynolds 27 and Reynolds is at the free throw line for two shots. Attendance is 10,373, largest of the year.

UC 53, Nova 50 - 7:56 second half

A Mitchell steal just set up Vaughn for a transition layup to give UC a 53-50 lead. The Bearcats are now shooting 44.7 percent from the field to 46.5 percent for Nova. Reynolds has 24 points. Vaughn has 21. After pulling down 10 rebounds in the first half, Williamson has yet to grab one in the second. The Bearcats continue to struggle at the line (14-24).

UC 45, Nova 43 - 11:51 second half

UC took a 45-41 lead on a Marcus Sikes reverse layup off a nice feed from Adam H. But Reynolds came right back with a basket in the lane and now is at the line after getting fouled by Warren, who just picked up his third. Nova's Dante Cunningham is on the bench with his fourth foul. He has scored just one point. He averages 11. Rashad Bishop, who was in the starting lineup, did not start the second half and has yet to play since intermission. Mitchell started in his place and now has a career-high 9 points.

UC 41, Nova 40 - 17:09 second half

This has turned into quite a little scoring duel between Vaughn, who has 19 points, and Reynolds, who has 20. If UC is going to win this game, Warren is going to have to find a way to slow Reynolds, who seems to be Nova's only offensive threat. Williamson now has a double-double, his second of the year, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Nova just secured its first offensive rebound of the game at the 18:02 mark of the second half.

Nova 33, UC 31 - halftime

UC has missed its last five free throw attempts and is just 7-14 from the line. Vaughn has 13 points, Reynolds 15. Williamson is a monster on the boards with 10 rebounds and eight points. Nova is shooting 50 percent to 41.7 percent for UC, but the Bearcats have 4 treys to 2 for Nova.

Nova 29, UC 25 - 3:42 first half

Reynolds now has 15 points for Nova. Vaughn hasn't scored since the 10:15 mark. Williamson has 9 rebounds for UC and is at the free throw line to attempt to complete a 3-point play. UC is ourtrebounding Nova, 20-11, but is shooting only 36.4 percent from the floor. Nova is pounding the ball inside for layups. The Wildcats are 2-9 from long range and have committed only one turnover.

Nova 22, UC 21 - 7:25 first half

UC trailed, 18-12, but came back behind five points from Vaughn to take a 21-20 lead. Jamual Warren has gone to the bench with his second foul, a disturbing development for UC, which needs Warren to handle the ball against Nova's full-court pressure and to guard Reynolds, who has 12 points. Vaughn has 10 for UC. Mitchell has five, already matching his career high. UC has outrebounded Nova, 16-7, with John Williamson pulling down six.

Nova 16, UC 12 - 11:59 first half

Alvin Mitchell made the first 3-pointer of his UC career after 15 misses withi 14:08 to go to give UC a 12-10 lead, but Nova is on a 6-0 run that has given it a 16-12 lead, with Antonio Pena on the line to attempt one free throw. A double technical was called moments earlier on UC's John Williamson and Nova's Dwayne Anderson. UC is 4-11 from the field, Nova 7-14, with four layups.

UC 7, Villanova 7 - 15:50 first half

UC got off to a great start, taking a 7-2 lead behind five points by Deonta Vaughn, but Villanova has come back to score five straight, with Scottie Reynolds about to go the line to attempt to complete a 3-point play that would give Villanova the lead.

Vaughn vs. Logan

The first time I heard someone compare Deonta Vaughn to Steve Logan last year, I thought it was a ridiculous comparison. So did Vaughn, who smiled and shrugged off the comparison after saying that he had heard that many times before. Obviously, Vaughn isn’t in the same class with Logan, who, after all, was a first-team All-American in 2002 and ranks second on UC’s career scoring list with 1,985 points. For one thing, Vaughn is just a sophomore who hasn’t learned to get his shot whenever he wants it the way Logan did. Vaughn’s biggest problem has been that he hasn’t been aggressive enough in looking to score, but I sense that has started to change in recent games. And the more talent he has surrounding him during the next two years, the more scoring opportunities he’ll have. It’s interesting to note that Vaughn has already scored 686 points in his UC career. At the end of his sophomore year, Logan had scored 618 points. He averaged 17.6 as a junior and became a dominant player as a senior, averaging 22 points and scoring 770. Only Oscar Robertson scored more in one season in a UC uniform. Is Vaughn potentially good enough to have a season like the one Logan had as a senior? Is it ludicrous even to talk about Vaughn in the same conversation with Logan?

Tough schedule

Mick Cronin talks frequently about how difficult UC's non-league schedule was this year. How tough was it? UC's non-league opponents have a combined record of 102-73. Their six non-league losses were to teams with a combined record of 76-28. That includes Belmont (9-7), Bowling Green (6-7), North Carolina State (11-3), Xavier (13-3), Illinois State (12-3), Memphis (14-0) and UAB (11-5). The NC State, Xavier, Illinois State, and UAB games were all on the road. UC's strength of schedule, according to CollegeRPI.com, is 28.

Football update

UC wide receiver Marcus Barnett, who broke his leg (fibula) during the PapaJohn’s.com Bowl on Dec. 22, remains on crutches after undergoing surgery on Dec. 24 to insert a steel plate. According to Brian Kelly, the injury will keep him sidelined for three months, which means he'll miss spring practice.

Quarterback Ben Mauk also underwent surgery to clean out scar tissue from his first surgery in the fall of 2006. “It’s taken away some of the impingement that he had,” Kelly said. “He can feel the difference already.”

Kelly said that UC could submit the appeal to get another year of elgibility for Mauk as early as Monday.

Kelly, who signed a letter of agreement on Dec. 17 that extends his contract through the 2012 season hasn’t signed the actual contract yet. His contract is on the agenda for the Jan. 29 Board of Trustees meeting. Presumably he’ll sign it then.

Payback time

Mick Cronin rather gently chided me the other night in the post-game press conference when I mentioned that his team had already won as many Big East games this year as it did all last season, as if somehow it was a crime to mentoin that 2-14 season. But the fact is that the players themselves use what happened last year as motivation for this one. They think about it every time they walk onto the court to play a Big East team.

"Now it's payback," John Williamson said. "That's what we say about all the Big East games we play. It's payback time now. We're not the same team we were last year. We've got experience now."

Cronin acknowledged in talking with the media yesterday that last year was an experience his seniors will not soon forget. Nor should they.

"It was really rough for the kids to have to go through the experience they went through last year," he said. "It definitely hardened them. What doesn’t break you definitely makes you stronger and it's made them stronger players, stronger people. It's probably brought us all close together as a group. The new guys don’t quite understand it as much but they definitely feel it and sense it. We didn't feel like we were on equal ground no matter how hard we played. Because of our lack of size, we were up against it."

Aldridge wanted to transfer last year

If it were up to Nick Aldridge he would have transferred to UC from Western Carolina at the end of last season, which would have made him eligible to play for the Bearcats at the start of the 2008-09 season rather than having to wait until the end of fall quarter.

"I wanted to leave and they weren’t going to let me do that after the freshman year that I had,” Aldridge told me today. “Things kind of settled down so I went back to Western and then I ultimately ended up leaving anyway."

Aldridge said he never actually asked for his release last year. "I just figured I wasn't going to get it. I didn't want to press the issue and hurt my chances to play there."

2008 football opener on Thursday, Aug. 28

UC announced today that it will open its 2008 football season on a Thursday night for third time in the last four years on Aug. 28 against Eastern Kentucky. UC last played EKU in 2006, posting a 31-0 win in the season opener.

The booing of Adam Hyrcaniuk

Mick Cronin was visibly upset Wednesday night when fans booed the sight of Adam Hrycaniuk entering the game with two-and-half minutes left and the Bearcats clinging to a six-point lead.

And he was still bothered by it this afternoon.
"I was very upset about it,"Cronin said. "Boo me. Don' t boo him."

Why did he put Hrycaniuk back in the game at such a crucial juncture when Anthony McClain was playing so well? It seemed obvious at the time, but some people didn't get it. Hrycaniuk is a 80 percent free throw shooter, McClain 46 percent. Cronin knew that Syracuse was pressing and would foul whoever received the inbounds pass. He was proven right when the ball went to Hrycaniuk and he was promptly fouled. Hrycaniuk then went to the line and made both free throws.

"I should get booed if I don't put him in the game," Cronin said.

Moments later, with McClain back in the game, he, too, made two free throws, but you can't fault Cronin for going with the percentages when he did.

UC in Big East Tournament?

Having reached the midway point in the regular season, I had planned to pose the question today of whether UC would be able to win enough games to surpass last year's win total of 11. But now that the Bearcats are 2-1 in the Big East, with three wins in their last four games, that line of questioning seems rather insulting. Instead, perhaps it's better to ask if this team will be one of 12 that qualify for the Big East Tournament in March. And if it is, what does that tell you about the progress that Mick Cronin has made in his second year as head coach?

UC 74, Syracuse 66 - final score

Syracuse cut UC's 61-45 lead to six with 2:28 to go, but UC held on by making its free throws down the stretch. UC has already won as many Big East games as it did all last season.

UC 53, Syracuse 39 - 7:44 second half

Vaughn has scored his first points of the second half on a runner followed by a 12-foot jump shot with 10:06 left that gave UC a 51-35 lead.

UC 46, Syracuse 35 - 11:53 second half

Vaughn has missed his first two shots in the second half. Syracuse cut the UC lead to seven with 13:59 to go on a Paul Harris layup, but Gentry scored the next five points to push the UC lead back to 11.

UC 41, Syracuse 32 - 14:46 second half

Vaughn has shot Syracuse out of its 2-3 zone. The Orange are now playing man-to-man. Vaughn has missed his first two shots of the second half but two baskets by John Williamson and an Anthony McClain layup have allowed the Bearcats to maintain a 9-point lead. Adam Hrycaniuk is on the bench with three fouls.

UC 35, Syracuse 23 - halftime

Vaughn has scored 20 points in the first half as UC has opened its lead to 12 points. Jamual Warren has five assists. Since the Orange held a 14-5 lead with 12:35 left in the half, the Bearcats have outscored them, 30-9. UC is outrebounding Syracues, 23-12.

UC 32, Syracuse 23 - 1:52 first half

UC used an 11-0 run take a 21-18 lead, holding Syracuse scoreless for more than five minutes before a Jonny Flynn layup got the Orange back on the board with 4:55 to go. Flynn was called for a technical foul as soon as the ball went through the basket. We don't know why, unless Flynn said something to the official. Vaughn has scored 12 points in the last four minutes and now has 17. He's 3-for-6 from 3-point range.

Syracuse 18, UC 14 - 7:54 first half

Marvin Gentry scored five points and John Williamson added two free throws and the Bearcats have pulled to within four points, as the Orange has suddenly gone cold. Alvin Mitchell just attemped his 15th 3-pointer of the season. He has yet to make one.

Syracuse 14, UC 7 - 11:35 first half

UC is playing right into the hands of the Syracuse zone defense. The Bearcats have already fired up 9 3-pointers and have made just the one. They're 3-for-13 from the field overall. Mick Cronin had just inserted Larry Davis into the game in an apparent attempt to find someone who can make a long-range shot against the zone.

Syracuse 8, UC 5 - 14:26 first half

UC is not off to a good shooting night against the Orange's 2-3 zone. The Bearcats have made only two of their first nine shots. One was a 3-pointer by Deonta Vaughn, the other a dunk by John Williamsson. They have also committed three turnovers. Nick Aldridge, the transfer from Western Carolina, is sitting on the UC bench in street clothes.

The Big O's big night

Tonight is the 50th anniversary of the night Oscar Robertson scored 56 points in UC's 118-54 win over Seton Hall in what the New York Times called "the greatest one-man show in Madison Square Garden history." The Big O, who's sitting a few feet away at courtside as he awaits the start of the UC-Syracuse game, made 22 of 32 shots that night,with 15 rebounds and six assists for UC.

Nakamura to Hawaii

Senior free safety Haruki Nakamura has been added to the roster for the Jan. 12 Hula Bowl. He's the fourth UC player to receive an invitation, joining offensive tackle Digger Bujnoch and defensive ends Angelo Craig and Anthony Hoke.

More thoughts on attendance

For all the criticism that The Shoe receives as being a bad place to watch a game, the fact is that when the place is full the atmosphere can be pretty loud and imposing, even fun. Having said that, it's understandable that fans don't want to pay good money to watch their team lose night after night. I think Marcus Sikes said it best in in the paper today when he said it's up to the team to give the fans something to cheer about. Sadly, the crowds that show up for UC games these days remind me of the crowds that UC used to draw back in the waning days of the Tony Yates era at the Gardens. But as soon as UC started to win, the fans came back. I'm sure the same thing will happen again, assuming that Mick Cronin turns this thing around. And just for the record, Mick wasn't whining about attendance. I asked him if he thought UC still had a homecourt advantage and he responded to my question.

Impact freshmen

None of UC's six freshmen have made the impact that Syracuse's Donte Greene (19.1 ppg) and Jonny Flynn (14.5) have made. But assuming that several of UC's current freshmen develop into quality players in a year or two, is it possible that the Bearcats are better off having this class grow up together so they can make some noise in the NCAA Tournament as juniors or seniors instead of being so good that they leave for the NBA after one year?

Looking for more students

Mick Cronin is hoping for more student support at Fifth Third Arena now that school is back in session and UC in fully engaged in its Big East schedule.

"We haven’t had a lot of student support," Cronin said. "When we were playing home games it was November and we weren’t playing name teams. When we played Memphis we were out of school and we had been out for two weeks. So now that we’re back in school and we’re playing Syracuse on a weeknight, I’m hopeful that with the Louisville win and with us at 1-1 in the conference it’s a big week for us.”

Wednesday's game against Syracuse is UC's first at Fifth Third Arena since the Dec. 19 loss to Memphis.

ben mauk update

It probably will be a few more weeks before UC receives a decision on Ben Mauk's eligibility. UC officials are still in the process of gathering information and have yet to submit the appeal to the NCAA on behalf of Mauk as he seeks to regain the year he lost when he was injured in Wake Forest's 2006 season opener against Syracuse. Brian Kelly said at the bowl game in late December that UC hoped to have a decision from the NCAA by the end of January.

UC's final AP poll ranking - No. 17

UC jumped up three spots from No. 20 to No.17 in the final Associated Press football poll, which was released this morning. The Bearcats rose from No. 22 to No. 20 in the final coaches poll. It's the first time a UC football team has ever been ranked in an AP poll at the end of season. UC was one of only two Big East teams to make the final poll. The other was West Virginia, which finished sixth, just behind No. 5 Ohio State.

Aldridge's eligibility

To clear up any confusion, Aldridge will have next year after fall quarter, plus one more year of eligibiity after that, according to Mick. I believe in a previous post I said he had two-plus years remaining. That was incorrect.

Home court advantage?

UC plays four of its next five games at home, which should be good news, but the question arises: How much of a homecourt advantage do the Bearcats still have at home?

It used to be that a game at Fifth Third Arena was practically an automatic win. But last year UC was 9-8 at Fifth Third and so far this year the Bearcats are 4-3. That's a 13-11 record in the past two seasons.

The atmosphere at Fifth Third is nowhere close to where it once was and the crowds are much smaller. UC is averaging 7,391 in seven games in the 13,176-seat building this season, which is a little more than half the capacity. And those who have been to games this season might agree that the actual crowds often seem smaller than the announced attendance figure.

UC hasn't played at Fifth Third since the Dec. 19 loss to Memphis and except for the Tigers, who were ranked No. 2 nationally when they arrived in town, the home schedule hasn't had any teams that would serve as big attractions. Maybe things will change now that the Big East teams are beginning to show up.

Aldridge on board

Western Carolina transfer Nick Aldridge, UC's newest player, was not at practice today, but is enrolled in school, which means that Mick Cronin is now allowed to talk about him.

"He can score the ball," Cronin said. "He's a big, strong guy. I don’t have to tell him how to score. He can put points on the board. He’s rough and tough around the rim. He likes to use his body and mix it up. He could be a nice addition for us. He understands here it's going to be more of a team concept than when he was at Western Carolina and he was a big scorer, but we're not going to discourage anybody from scoring."

Cronin said that Aldridge, a 6-7 forward who has two years of eligibility remaining, probably will not practice with the team until next week.

"I'll probably have him get in shape first," he said. "He's got to get his legs back, get some running in. I don't want to throw him out there before he's ready because I don't want him to get hurt."

MIke Thomas on Nippert and Fifth Third Arena

By Bill Koch
bkoch@enquirer.com
An architectural study that estimates it would cost up to $240 million to build a new basketball arena and expand Nippert Stadium is not an indication that the University of Cincinnati is about to move on those projects, UC athletic director Mike Thomas said Sunday.
“That study was begun before my arrival and was completed after I arrived,” Thomas said Sunday. “Varsity Village hasn’t been paid off yet. We have incurred a great deal of debt that we need to pay off. We’ve got to bring some financial stability to the daily operation of our department. These are projects that are probably not going to come to fruition anytime soon.”
The Georgetown News-Graphic released details of the study, which was done by Trahan Architects of Baton Rouge, La., in a story published Sunday. According to the paper, the master plan was obtained from a source on the condition of anonymity.
The study estimates that it would cost $159 million for new, 16,001-seat basketball arena with 40 suites to replace Fifth Third Arena, which opened in 1989 and seats 13,176. It would cost $81.9 million to renovate and expand Nippert Stadium from its current seating capacity of 35,000 to 40,001 with 29 suites.
The Nippert expansion would include removal of the Reed-Shank Pavilion, which would be replaced by an expanded upper deck.
But Thomas said the study is only one idea on how to proceed if and when the school decided to move on those projects, which probably won’t be anytime soon.
“I have great respect for the people that did it,” Thomas said, “but much like when you go to see someone in the medical profession, you’re looking for a second opinion. The point is it’s a long way off.”
Thomas also said the study did not take into consideration the possibility of renovating Fifth Third Arena, an option that he said would have to be explored before deciding to build a new facility.
“Right now, we’re not in a position financially to build a new basketball arena or expand our football facility,” Thomas said. “The situation that we have in our department is that we don’t do any facilities projects regardless of the magnitude unless we have the money in hand.
“We’ve got to have some sanity to our day-to-day budget and pay off our Varsity Village debt before we worry about these other things down the road.”

St.John's 70, UC 58 - final

Vaughn led UC with 24. John Williamson had 12. UC never got closer than 10 points in the last 6:36.

St. John's 56, UC 42 - 4:50 second half

The officials called a technical foul on the UC bench with 5:54 to go but it didn't appear to be against Cronin, as the ref pointed to the other end of the bench.

St. John's 52, UC 42 - 6:11 second half

St. John's is beating UC handily on the boards. UC's offense consists of Vaughn and not much else. Warren has just picked up his fourth foul.

St. John's 46, UC 34 - 11:13 second half

UC has scored only one point in the last five minutes-plus since Vaughn's 3-pointer pulled it within six points.

St. John's 42, UC 33 - 15:22 second half.

UC shot its first two free throws of the game thanks to a technical foul on St. John's. The Bearcats cut the lead to 39-33 on Vaughn's 3 -pointer with 16:51 to go but Mason's desperation 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down spread the lead back to 9. Warren picked up his third foul with 17:47 to go, but stayed in the game.

St.John's 33, UC 22 - halftime

UC was outscored 14-2 over the final 3:51 of the first half thanks to a flurry of 3-pointers from the Red Storm, who made three of them in the final 3:27, plus a tradtional 3-point play. Justin Burrell has 11 points to lead St. John's. Marcus Sikes has six for UC.

St.John's 22, UC 20 - 3:01 first half

St. John's has begun to warm up from long range. The Red Storm just connected on its first two 3-pointers of the game after a John Williamson dunk had given UC an 18-14 lead. Both teams continue to have trouble taking care of the ball, with nine turnovers apiece. And neither team has made a free throw, with UC still looking for its first attempt from the line. UC center Anthony McClain has picked up his second foul.

UC 16, St. John's 12 - 7:42 first half

Deonta Vaughn's 3-pointer gave UC its biggest lead of the game, 13-8. St. John's came back to get within one before Marcus Sikes' second 3-pointer of the night put UC back up by four. St. John's is 0-4 from the free throw line. UC has yet to shoot a free throw. Jamual Warren is on the bench with two fouls. St. John's Anthony Mason hasn't scored yet. He's 0-for-4. This is clearly a game that UC can win, especially if it keeps making 3-pointer. The Bearcats are 4-7 from long range.

UC 10, St. John's 8 - 11:51 first half

UC trailed early after making only one of its first six shots, but pulled ahead behind a couple of 3-pointers from Marcus Sikes and Marvin Gentry. Adam Hrycaniuk is active inside early in the game. He already has four points. Neither of these teams is a great shooting team. It appears that it's going to be one of those grind-it-out Big East games. UC is getting out-rebounded, 9-4, but St. John's has already committed six turnovers.

Happy birthday, Coach

It's not often you get to sit by the guy the arena is named after, but that's the case here tonight, with former St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca sitting right behind me. What's more, it's the Coach's 83rd birthday.

Carnesecca Arena

In Conference USA, when the UC basketball team showed up in town, it was always a big deal. Teams that didn't draw very well saw a spike in their attendance as fans showed up to boo the big, bad Bearcats. Maybe it will be that way someday in the Big East, too. But it certainly isn't that way now.

UC is one of four Big East schools that do not get to play in Madison Square Garden when it comes to New York to take on St. John's. Instead, tonight's game is at Carnesecca Arena on campus. The other three schools who will play St. John's here are DePaul, Providence and Seton Hall. Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette and West Virginia all play in The Garden.

This is quite a place. It opened on Dec. 4, 1961. At the time it was the second largest indoor arena in the New York area behind The Garden. But today it looks like an overgrown high school gym. It seats 6,008 and is filled with rickety, old wooden bleachers. The good news is that the building supposedly is in the early stages of a five-year planned renovation.

Need further evidence of how little they care here about UC being on campus? The flip card for the media that lists the rosters of the two teams refers to the Queen City as 'Cincinatti' At least they spelled Bearcats right.

Brave New World

I've been doing this blog for only a few days but already I've had people make fun of the way I dress, vilify me for being negative and praise me for getting a scoop, as if they were shocked that I could pull something like that off. I've found it all very amusing. I think my favorite comment so far was from a reader (or is it a poster? or a blogger?) who pointed out that I've been covering UC sports since about when Oscar was playing there. That's not quite true, but it's close and some days it feels as I've been covering them before Oscar ever arrived on the scene. The fact is that I started during the Tony Yates coaching era, but I followed UC basketball long before that. I remember as a kid watching the 1963 national championship game against Loyola with my dad and two brothers. I remember how upset my dad was when UC blew that lead. Later, I got to know Ed Jucker fairly well and covered Yates as a coach and I've become friends with George Wilson. I don't remember seeing Oscar play at UC, but I saw him play plenty of times with the Royals and still marvel at what he was able to do.

I'm still figuring this out as I go along. I'm not a member of the computer generation and don't adjust to the changing technologies as seamlessly as my 20-year-old daughter does. But I'm trying. The other day one of our tech people told me he was going to send me a traffic report. I assumed that meant that I-75 was all tied up and I'd better find another way home. Just kidding. I'm not quite that clueless. Anyway, I just wanted to inject a personal note or two to the proceedings. Thanks for those who have embraced me. To those who haven't, perhaps I'll change your mind as time goes on.

Some thoughts on Aldridge

Some of you have wondered if Nick Aldridge, because he had problems with Larry Hunter at Western Carolina, might also be a problem for Mick Cronin. I don't think so. I talked to a reporter from the Ashland paper last night and he told me that he didn't think Aldridge's transgressions, whatever they were, were anything major. He said Hunter was very complimentary when talking about Aldridge last year. He was suspended before the Elon game this season for violating unspecified team rules and after that decided to leave the program.

This seems like a good pickup for UC. I know that Mick has passed on some players that he could have had because he thought they might be a problem, so if he's' taking Aldridge, he must be convinced that he won't be a problem. Remember, this guy was recruited by Bob Huggins, who didn't take a lot of players who couldn't play. He gives UC another offensive weapon, more depth and some badly needed experience - albeit at a mid-major program - for next year. What's more, he has nearly three years of eligibility remaining.

This has been a very good week for Mick and UC, beginning with the win over Louisville and then with the decision by Aldridge to transfer. If the Bearcats win at St. John's tomorrow - and that shapes up as a winnable game - they will be in the enviable position of starting their Big East season with two road wins and four of their next five games at home. Any team in the league would love to be in that position.

nick aldridge

It's a done deal. Nick Aldridge is transferring from Western Carolina to UC and is expected to be at practice next week when winter quarter begins.
"I'm coming to be a Bearcat," Aldridge said.
Why UC?
"As he showed in the Big East opener the other day against Louisville, I think Coach Cronin has got a lot of young guys buying into his system," Aldridge said. "I like they way they run and press and I think I'll fit into that pretty well. I think I'll be able to bring a little toughness to the team with there being a lot of young guys. I think Coach will look to me for a little more experience."
Aldridge, a 6-7 sophomore forward from South Webster High School in Portsmouth, will begin to sit out his transfer year immediately and is expected to be eligible at the end of fall quarter next year. He was averaging about 18 points for Western Carolina this season before he decided to transfer.
Aldridge, who originally committed to UC as part of Bob Huggins' 2006 recruiting class only to change his mind after Huggins and UC parted ways, will have to pay his own way for the remainder of this academic year, but will likely be on scholarship next year. He'll have two full seasons of eligibility remaining, plus what's left of next season after fall quarter ends.

Name that coach

I was struck by this quote I saw from a Big East coach today that sounded a lot like the stuff Mick Cronin has been saying all season long and that UC fans have grown tired of hearing: "It takes a long time to learn the game. You can't do it in a few games. It takes time. You just have to try to keep getting better." Those words were said last night by Jim Boeheim in his post-game press conference after Syracuse knocked off St. John's, UC's opponent on Saturday. By the way, if UC manages to beat St. John's, it would be the first time the Bearcats have won back-to-back road games (not counting neutral courts) in the same season since they beat TCU and Memphis on Feb. 26 and March 5 of 2005.

Nick Aldridge transferring to UC?

Nothing's final yet and no one at UC is commenting, but it appears that 6-7 Western Carolina sophomore forward Nick Aldridge might transfer to UC. You might recall that Aldridge originally committed to UC when Bob Huggins was still the head coach, but changed his mind after Huggins left. He enrolled instead at Western Carolina, where he averaged 18.3 points and 7.0 rebounds last season and scored 22 against UC earlier this season.

I just talked to Aldridge, who attended the UC-Miami game last week, and although he said he's still trying to decide between UC and Marshall, he did say that he planned to be in Cincinnati on Thursday. When I told him that sounds like you have already decided to go to UC, he replied, "You can take it however you want. I'm not going to say anything for sure (until Thursday)."

The day after

Mick Cronin has done his best not to let himself get carried away with one big win, even if it was over Louisville and his mentor, Rick Pitino. That's as it should be. Before practice today, he talked mainly about moving forward and staying hungry. But he had to be feeling a measure of vindication, too.
Cronin inherited a nearly impossible situation here and while no one should feel sorry for him because he knew what he was getting into, that hasn't made it any less difficult, especially after he lost Hernol Hall and Adam H. last year and Mike Williams this year.
As the losses mounted, especially early this year when things were supposed to be better, some fans began to wonder if he was the right man for this job, but he shrugged off the criticism, remained positive and kept coaching his players. He should be credited for that.
And so should his seniors, who took a beating all last year but for the most part kept plugging away, doing their best against overwhelming odds.
"It was neat to see their reaction after the Louisville game in the locker room," Cronin said today, "especially the returning guys, because last year was so hard on them. They felt like they were being disrespected by the way other teams treated us. We felt disrespected by a lot of things that went on last year from the way things happened in the Big East because we didn’t have a bench and we didn't have any size.
"I kept telling them when the help arrives you’ve got to be ready to play hard and play smart and we’ll get our payback. We’re not going to go 18-0 but we’ll get a chance at our payback. It was nice to see those guys really get a chance to enjoy a big win."

Mick Cronin after the game

Here are some quick hits from Mick Cronin after the game.
"It's not last year when the Bearcats were rolling in playing football players and five guys who were thrown together at the end of the season. Those days are over. Where we will finish in the Big East, I don't know, but we're competitive.
"The days of us having to come up with tricky game plans in the Big East because we’re playing a 6-6 guy in Marcus Sikes at center are over and then subbing in a tight end. He’s home with his parents enjoying the holidays where he should be instead of me asking him to stop David Padgett in the post like I was last year."

On finally having some concrete evidence of UC's rebuilding to show the fans:
"I understand the mentality of our fans. I truly do. They pay money for tickets. They love their team. They want you to win now. So it's nice to see that it's going to happen. Now are we going to run the table in the Big East? No, but we’re competitive.
"The one thing that I remind myself of constantly with everything that I've been through since I got here is that our fans have been through it even longer with all the uncertaintly around the program. It's been tough rebuilding for me. But for our fans it started before that. It started when coach Huggins left."

uc 58, louisville 57

Williams inbounded the ball to Sosa, who took a couple of dribbles and fired up an 18-foot jump shot that was far short. Williams rebounded the balland attempted to score at the buzzer, but his shot was no good. Easily the biggest win of Mick Cronin's UC career.

uc-louisville

Vaughn turns the ball over in the lane. Louisville advances to the frontcourt and calls timeout with 4.8 seconds to go, trailing by one.

uc-louisville

Two Vaughn free throws returned the lead to UC, 58-57, with 1:14 to go. Williams missed a jump shot with about 40 seconds left. Vaughn rebounded for UC, which just called timeout with 17.5 seconds left, leading by one, with 10 seconds on the shot clock.

uc-louisville

A Vaghn 3-pointer gave UC a 56-54 lead with 3:21 to go. Adam H. then fouled out. After Terrence Williams made one of two free throws for Louisville, McClain badly missed a shot on the baseline and Padgett made a runner for Louisville to make it 57-56 Louisville with 1:50 to go. Time out UC.

uc-louisville

Adam H. returned at the 6:21 mark but was yanked out of the game after he turned the ball over on an inbounds play. The two teams are matching each other basket for basket, but the Louisville press is beginning to take its toll. Marvin Gentry was just called for an offensive foul as he tried to advance the ball in the backcourt against the press. It's 53-53 with 3:42 to go.

uc-louisville

A Rashad Bishop layup and a Vaughn 3-pointer - just his fifth point of the game - pulled UC even again at 46-46. A Padgett tip was followed by another Bishop layup and it's 48-48 at the 7:21 TV timeout. Adam H. is still on the bench, holding an ice pack to his knee.

uc-louisville

Adam H. just limped off the floor with an injured right knee after committing his fourth foul. He's sitting on the UC bench receiving treatment but is in obvious pain. Meanwhile, Louisville has pulled ahead, 42-38, at the 11:53 mark. Suddenly, after working their offense so patiently - and successfully - in the first half, the Bearcats are rushing shots and missing them. They haven't scored for more than four minutes.

uc-louisville

Padgett is warming up. He scored the first seven points of the second half for Louisville before going to the bench for a breather. UC had increased its lead to 36-30, but Padgett converted a 3-point play on a follow shot and after Warren missed a transition layup, Edgar Sosa converted a 3-point play in transition to tie the score at 36-36. At the 15:20 TV timeout in the second half, the score is tied at 38-38.

uc-louisville, halftime

Hafltime stats: UC is shooting 50 percent to 39.3 percent for Louisville. The Bearcats have made 4-8 3-pt. shots to 2-11 for Louisville. Padgett played 11 minutes, scored two points and had one rebound. UC's McClain played 13 minutes with four rebounds and two points. The Bearcats committed 10 turnovers to 5 for Louisville. Deonta Vaughn has just two points for UC, which leads, 30-26.

uc-louisville

UC leads at halftime, 30-26. The Bearcats built a 25-19 lead, their largest of the game, with 3:16 to go. Louisville came back to cut the lead to one on a Jerry Smith layup and a Smith 3-pointer, but McClain then slammed home a dunk and after a Padgett basket again drew Louisville to within one, Marcus Sikes made a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down to give UC its four-point halftime lead.

uc-louisville

Louisville center David Padgett did not start but made his first appearance with 18:04 to go in the first half. He received a standing ovation from the Freedom Hall crowd. UC led, 4-0, at the time. At the 15:31 TV timeout, Louisville has scored eight straight points to take an 8-4 lead, taking advantage of UC turnovers and using them to score in transition.

Mike Williams update

Mike Williams is making progress in his recovery from the ruptured Achilles tendon that sidelined him before the season started. He says he's been doing some light running for about a week, but does not anticipate returning later this season. A front line of Williams, Anthony McClain and incoming freshamn Yancy Gates looks pretty good for next year, though.

A class act

One of the most enjoyable years I've ever had covering the UC beat was the 2005-06 season with Andy Kennedy and Frank Martin. I grew to be friends with both of them, so I had to spend part of my New Year's Eve last night at U.S. Bank Arena watching the Kansas State-Xavier game. Besides, I wanted to see Michael Beasley play. Beasley was disappointing, but it was great to talk with Frank after the game. I was impressed by what he said to the media after his team absorbed a beating from XU. "I've loved this guys for three months," he said, "so I'm not going to start hating them now because they had one bad night. If I did that, I would be a phony."