Football tickets

UC announced today that season football tickets go on sale March 3. Current season ticket holders' seat locations will be held until April 30, after which the seat locations will be offered to UCATS members and reserved season ticket holders, based on UCATS priority points. The prices:

UCATS reserved: $232
Non-UCATS reserved: $232
Family Section: $199
Bearcats Lair: $90
Faculty/Staff $158
Youth $90

The school announced that the UC bench will be moved next year from the west side (press box) of the stadium to the east side to avoid teams having to cross paths on the way to their respective locker rooms. The school will also create the Bearcats Club in the atrium of the Lindner Center, where light snacks and drinks will be available during the pre-game.

All's quiet

Not much to report the past few days. There was no practice Thursday and although the Bearcats did practice early this morning, there was no media access. I will offer up this, however: As you know, UC's one and only trip to the Big East Tournament resulted in the Gerry McNamara game-winning shot two years ago, which means the Bearcats have yet to win a game in the tournament. How will they do this year? Can they win a game? Maybe two? Could they get hot and go all the way to the finals, maybe even win it? I know they've lost their last two games, but they played in two of the league's toughest venues - at Georgetown and at Pitt. They played fairly well at Pitt, not so well at Georgetown. How are they playing overall as they head into the final three games of the regular season?

It is what it is

As I was driving across I-70 this morning and down I-71 early this afternoon, I was trying to think of some original observation to make about the UC basketball team, but really, after 27 games, about half of them wins and half of them losses, there are no more surprises. John Williamson summed it up pretty well after the game last night. UC's game is to play defense and rebound, keep the score low and try to muster enough points to pull out a victory. There's not a lot of margin for error in that strategy. I hate this overused term but "It is what it is." When the defense lets down for an entire half the way it did last night, UC isn't going to win, especially against a good team on the road. Mick Cronin dismissed my questions last night about UC having only two players who can score, saying that it doesn't matter how many scorers you have as long as someone is scoring and the overall percentage is high. Maybe he's right, but it would still be nice if there were someone else that UC could throw the ball to for a basket besides John Williamson and Deonta Vaughn. One observation, and it's not an earth-shattering one: since Marvin Gentry went back into the starting lineup three games ago, he has scored a total of six points. He has missed his last 3-point attempts and didn't even attempt a shot during his 15 minutes on the floor vs. Pitt.

Pitt 73, UC 67 - postgame

UC relies on basically two players to do its scoring. John Williamson (27 points) and Deonta Vaughn (24) combned for 51 of UC's 67 points, but that's not what had Mick Cronin concerned after the game.

“I could care less who scores,” Cronin said. “I don’t care if one guy gets 67. It’s all about percentages. What I’d like is the guys that aren’t scoring, if they’d play a little better on the defensive end and keep DeJuan Blair off the glass.”

UC shot its second-best percentage of the season (48.1 percent) and made 8 of 18 from 3-point range, but gave up 44 points in the second half and allowed Pitt to shoot 51.9 percent after intermission.

With the way Bearcats struggle to score, they have no chance when they play defense like that.

Pitt 18, UC 17 - 7:52 first half

John Williamson just ended a drought of nearly six minutes without a field goal and he's on the line for a free throw when play resumes. Vaughn has been quiet since his fast start. As usual, UC isn't getting much on offense from anyone else.

UC 13, Pitt 13- 11:08 first half

UC is being very sloppy with the ball. The Bearcats have five turnovers already. Rashad Bishop, teh latest UC player urged to be more aggressive on offense, has one 3-pointer to his credit, his first since the Jan. 19 Pitt game. He had been 0 for his last 8 from long range.

UC 9, Pitt 6 - 15:34 first half

Deonta Vaughn is active early. He has seven points already and the Bearcats are 4-7 from the field. Two fouls on Marvin Gentry in the early going. This is a great building, kind of what The Shoe would be like if they had designed it more efficiently. But it's not close to being sold out. There's an entire section of empty seats in the corner of the upper level.

Warning

There might not be many in-game posts tonight. The wireless on press row keeps fading in and out. I'll do the best I can.

Warning

There might not be many in-game posts tonight. The wireless on press row keeps fading in and out. I'll do the best I can.

Correction

You guys on the blog are right. I just checked again and UC will clinch a berth in the Big East Tournament with either a win tonight or a St. John's loss. I was given incorrect information yesterday when I researched my story and when I made that post on the blog. Sorry for the confusion.

Must-win situation tonight for Pitt?

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is billing tonight's game as a must-win regular-season game for Pitt. Despite a three-game losing streak, Pitt seems to be in good shape for an NCAA Tournament berth with a RPI of No. 25, but a home loss to UC, which would extend the losing streak to four, could be damaging. The Panthers play at Syracuse on Saturday, followed by a game on Monday night at rival West Virginia, so they're not out of the woods yet. Pitt has never lost four in a row in five seasons under Jamie Dixon. The Panthers are 11-point favorites to beat UC, even though the Bearcats have a better Big East record and even though they beat Pitt in Cincinnati on Jan. 19.

Almost in

A UC victory Wednesday night at Pitt - which admittedly is a tall order - plus a St. John's loss at Georgetown later that night - which is expected - would enable UC to clinch a berth in the Big East Tournament after a one-year absence. That's still a long way from the NCAA Tournament, but perhaps a step closer to the NIT. And really, did anyone honestly believe at the start of this season that UC would play in the NCAA Tournament? Making it to the Big East Tournament and then possibly to the NIT is a realistic goal and a logical next step for where this program is trying to go, especially considering where it had to come from. Progress is being made, although from the tone of some of the comments on this blog, the progress hasn't been quick enough. It's as if some people thought UC would go from 11-19 to the Final Four in one year.

Another Tulane memory

OK, here's another quick story from Tulane that demonstrates how reporters sometimes fall into scoops. Back in the Robert Whaley era, if there was such a thing, I flew into New Orleans on my own, not on the same flight with the team. I got to the hotel a little late, checked in and headed down to the bar for a beer.

When I got there, associate head coach Dan Peters and some of the other UC people - not Bob Huggins - were already there. Peters asked me if Robert Whaley was on my flight.

"No," I said, "wasn't he on yours?"

That's how I found out that Huggs had left Whaley behind. I made a quick call to the paper and had it in my story the following morning.

Cronin's vote for Big East player of the year

He can't match the numbers of either Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (20.2 points, 10.8 rebounds) and Georgetown's Roy Hibbert (13.2, 6.5) was the preseason player of the year, but Mick Cronin says his vote for Big East player of the year will go to Louisville's David Padgett (11.2, 7.7).

"He's the best player on the best team," Cronin said.

2008 football schedule

UC just released its football schedule for 2008. We already knew the opponents and the sites. Now we know the dates:

Thursday, Aug. 28 - Eastern Kentucky
Saturday, Sept. 6 - at Oklahoma
Saturday, Sept. 20 - Miami (Ohio)
Saturday, Sept. 27 - at Akron
Friday, Oct. 3 - at Marshall (ESPN)
Saturday, Oct. 11 - Rutgers
Saturday, Oct. 25 - at UConn
Thursday, Oct. 30 - South Florida (ESPN)
Saturday, Nov. 8 - at West Virginia
Friday, Nov. 14 - at Louisville (ESPN2)
Saturday, Nov. 22 - Pittsburgh
Saturday, Nov. 29 - Syracuse
Saturday, Dec. 6 - at Hawaii

Memory lane - UC vs. Tulane

Last week, after I wrote about LaZelle Durden's heroics at Wyoming, the response was so overwhelming that I was inundated with requests for more strolls down memory lane. Actually, there was one such request, but since I like telling old stories about covering UC, I'm going to tell another one anyway.

This one occurred in 1996 if my media guide research is correct. UC was playing Tulane in Fogelman Arena, that little bandbox arena on campus in New Orleans. The Bearcats were struggling and Bob Huggins got ejected from the game in the first half. I worked at The Post at the time and this was a Saturday game. Since The Post had no Sunday paper, I was always looking for a different angle for Monday.

I waited until UC came out of the locker room to start the second half and found Huggins. I asked him where he was going to watch the rest of the game. He said he was going into the TV truck. I asked if he minded if I accompanied him. He said it was OK with him.

So I went to collect my stuff from inside the gym and hustled outside. I banged on the door of the TV truck only to be yelled at by the producer for disturbing their producation. "What do you want?" he said. I told him who I was and that Huggins said it was OK with him if I sat in there and watched the game with them. He reluctantly let me stay.

As the game wore on, the TV people were tapping into Huggins' knowledge to feed information to their announcers so they would as if they knew what they were talking about. Finally, it came down to one last possession for UC. They were either down one or tied. I don't remember.

UC called timeout. The TV guys asked Huggs what the Bearcats would run. He described a play in which Darnell Burton would end up free in the corner for a jump shot. The play was relayed to the announcers.

UC inbounded the ball and the play went off exactly as Huggins said it would. Burton got the ball in the corner and launched a shot that went in to win the game for UC.

And I had a pretty good Monday story.

College vs. the NBA

While the team flew home last night after the loss to Georgetown, I had stay another night and flew home today. Actually, I shouldn't say I "had" to stay another night in Washington. It's a great town.

I haven't seen an NBA game in person for a long time so after I finished working, I had dinner and then returned to the Verizon Center to watch the Wizards play the Charlotte Bobcats. I know that's a bad matchup. The Wizards struggle without injured Gilbert Arenas and the Bobcats are the Bobcats. Still, it's an NBA game.

I'm not one of those to disparage the NBA because they don't play defense. I actually think they do play defense, but the offensive skills of the players are at such a high level that sometimes it doesn' t matter. Most of the players, even players on mid-level teams like this are extremely talented or they wouldn't be in the league.

I enjoyed watching those players show their stuff. Obviously, they're a lot more talented than the players I watch in college on a regular basis, even in the Big East.

But I still find the college game to be more entertaining. I think it's because players compete with more passion than you find in a long NBA season. Most college basketball players are still trying to get to the pro level or to win for their school or their city. They haven't arrived yet, like the NBA players. There's more of a sense that every game means something. Until the playoffs arrive, I don't see that in the NBA on a consistent basis.

Nine from the Big East?

For what it's worth, and it's probably not worth much, The Washington Post attempted to seed the NCAA Tournament field today. The paper has nine Big East teams getting in. I suppose I don't need to mention that UC is not one of them. The nine, with their seed in parenthesis: Georgetown (3), Connecticut (3), Louisville (4), Notre Dame (5), Pittsburgh (7), Marquette (6), West Virginia (11), Syracuse (11), Villanova (12). Of course, UC has beaten Louisville, Pitt, West Virginia, Syracuse and Villanova. I understand why Mick Cronin did what he did last week when he began to campaign for his team as an NCAA at-large team, but the odds against that happening were - and still are - formidable. Jamual Warren's injury notwithstanding, they simply had too much ground to make up after their 5-7 non-conference start.

Georgetown 73, UC 53 - postgame

For a team that was trying to make a case as a possible NCAA Tournament at-large entry, that was one poor performance. We saw again how limited UC is offensively especially against a good defense like Georgetown's and especially when John Williamson gets called for a technical foul that's his fourth of the game and puts him on the bench, depriving the Bearcats of one of the few offensive weapons they have.

"The double technical killed us because it gave us John's fourth foul," Mick Cronin said. "I didn’t see it so I can't comment on what was going on. I understand that the officials have got to do their job but it didn’t hurt (Georgetown). Their technical was on Jessie Sapp, who didn't have fouls and ours was on John.

"I thought for us win this game, we weren’t going to score maybe 55 points. We scored about as much as I thought we would unfortunately. But I was disappointed in our (18) turnovers. We’re a better team than we showed. But their defense is so good it forces guys to try to make plays that they really probably shouldn’t be trying to make and that’s where the turnovers happen."

Georgetown 55, UC 39 - 7:45 second half

Williamson came back into the game with about 8 1/2 minutes to go. When he left the Bearcats were down by 10. When he returned they were down by 14. Adam H. has fouled out. Warren, Vaughn and Belton all have three fouls. This is pretty much over. It's been a rude slap in the face for a team that thought it was building a head of steam to make a case for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth. Georgetown will be 14-0 at home this year and 19-0 dating back to last year, but still, this has not been a good effort by UC by anyone's standards.

Georgetown 48, UC 33 - 11:25 second half

Mick Cronin said this week that the Bearcats would have a tough time beating Georgetown if they allowed the Hoyas to score 70 points. The way UC is playing on offense, he might amend that to 60 points. UC is 3-12 in the second half.

Georgetown 41, UC 31 - 15:51 second half

Things just got a little chippy after the TV timeout was called and the teams began to make their way to their benches. I was blocked out so it was hard to see, but it appears that it started with words bewteen Williamson and one of the Georgetown players. The officials got in the middle of it before it could escalate and were talking with both head coaches as the players went back to their benches. Adam H. and Williamson both have three fouls. As soon as Adam H. picked up his third, the Hoyas went right to him in an attempt to get another foul on Hrycaniuk. They just announced that technical fouls have been assessed against Williamson and Jessie Sapp. The technical is Williamson's fourth personal, but it appears that he's staying in the game. He has 11 points and five rebounds. Now Williamson has gone to the bench.

Georgetown 34, UC 27 - Halftime

UC is lucky to be this close given the way it has played on offense. A late flurry by Vaughn, who scored seven straight points, six on 3-pointers has gotten them back in the game. They'll have to cut down on their turnovers - they have 10 - to have a chance in the second half. On the plus side, the zone has limited Roy Hibbert to two points. He has attempted only two shots and has only one rebound.

Georgetown 29, UC 16 - 3:55 first half

The Hoyas seem to have shaken out of their shooting slump. They're shooting 55.6 percent and have made 4 of 10 3-pointers. Not only can't UC make any shots when they get them, they've turned the ball over nine times already. The UC press seems to bothering the Hoyas occasionally but once they get the ball in the frontcourt they are shredding UC's zone defense.

Georgetown 17, UC 11 - 7:48 first half

The Bearcats still have only two field goals. They have had five shots blocked and they have committed seven turnovers. In short, they are not having much success attacking the Georgetown defense. Deonta Vaughn has not scored. He has attempted only one shot. You can see how the Hoyas overplay the ball on the perimeter, almost daring you to dump it inside where the shot blockers can get at you.

Georgetown 10, UC 9 - 11:11 first half

As most teams do, UC is having trouble scoring against Georgtown's strong defense. The Bearcats have already been called for two shot-clock violations. But they are pounding the ball inside and attacking the basket. They've made only two shots in nine attempts and have had four shots blocked inside, but they are getting to the free throw line. They're already 5-6 from the line.

Bob Staak sighting

I just ran into former Xavier coach Bob Staak in the media room here at the Verizon Center. Staak is the man who took the XU program in the late 70s and began the massive transformation that has led it to where it is now. He's here scouting for the Orlando Magic. On a personal note, Staak is also the first college basketball coach I ever covered. I was covering preps at The Post when in January - I think it was 1983 - I was assigned to finish the season with XU. Staak was the coach and he was a delight to deal with. He still wears the ring from that 1983 season when XU won the MCC championship and went to the NCAA Tournament. He said he was amazed the first time he saw the Cintas Center, considering that his first office in Schmidt Fieldhouse was little more than a closet. Anyway, it was good to see him.

Big East coaches of the year from same school

Suppose Jim Calhoun was right and Mick Cronin really is the Big East coach of the year. That would give UC the football and men's basketball coaches of the year in the same year, which would be quite a thing. But it has been done before. In 1994-95 Miami's Dennis Erickson was the football coach of the year and Leonard Hamilton was the basketball coach of the year.

Biggie McClain vs. Roy Hibbert

Biggie McClain played against Roy Hibbert in open gym in Washington while he was in high school and considers him a friend. Tomorrow he gets to go against him when it counts.

"I’ve been looking forward to this since I signed here,” McClain said. “He was one of the first ones I told when I committed here. He gave me some pointers on certain things to do.”

Through a lot of hard work, including improving his body and his footwork, Hibbert developed into the Big East pre-season player of the year. Does McClain have that kind of potential?
It's too early to tell, but it's worth comparing their statistics from their respective freshman seasons.

McClain has played in 23 games. He averages 10 minutes per game and scored 3.1 points per game with 3.2 rebounds and 22 blocked shots. He has not started a game this year.

As a freshman, Hibbert played in 32 games, starting 17, and averaged 15.8 minutes per game. He averaged 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds with 50 blocked shots. As a sophomore, he improved to 11.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 54 blocked shots.

Jerry Palm's assessment of UC's NCAA hopes

Here's what Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com says about UC's chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament:

"They're not far enough along," Palm said. "If the bracket were today, they'd be done. That doesn't mean they can't play their way into it. The committee will consider their injury situation. They always do. If Cincinnati puts up three or four more wins, it could definitely happen, but they're not even on my radar yet. When I'm doing brackets, they're not a team I'm looking at."

Of course, that's what Mick Cronin is saying, that if UC finishes strong, it should be considered. But the Bearcats probably have to win four of their last five to even have a chance. Either that or they'll have to go to the final of the Big East tournament. And even that might not be enough.

The good news is that with road games at Georgetown, Pitt and UConn, the opportunity is there to make a statement on the road against quality teams.

"If they're as good as they think they are, they definitely have a chance," Palm said.

But not a good one. Palm points out that since 1994 when he started tracking these things only three teams have received at-large berths at four games over .500 and only one - 16-14 Georgia in 2001 - has ever been invited with a record less than four games over.

Why not UC as an NCAA at-large team?

Mick Cronin is beginning to state his case for UC to receive consideration as an NCAA Tournament team. His contention is that if the Bearcats finish sixth and the Big East is going to get seven or eight teams in the tournament, why shouldn't UC be one of them based on its Big East performance? He says those bad early-season losses should be discounted because UC was forced to play those games without point guard Jamual Warren.

“If we had had Jamual we would have been undefeated in November and we would have won some games in December that we didn’t win,” Cronin said. “It’s bothersome to me that as you watch all the so-called experts talk about teams, they say Cincinnati had some bad early-season losses, but it’s like nobody knows why.”

Does he really believe the NCAA will take that into consideration?

“They sure took it into consideration when Kenyon Martin got hurt and when Armein Kirkland got hurt,” Cronin said. “If it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander. It should be the same rules. It should be the same logic, the same reasoning.”

UC 52, USF 51 -postgame

Sorry for the inconvenience, but the Blogger function went down late in the game and this is the first chance I've had to get back to it after making first-edition deadline.

It certainly wasn't a great win for UC by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the Bearcats almost suffered the indignity of being the first Big East team to lose to USF at home. But they weren't.

“In the courses of a season you have to win sometimes when you’re terrible on offense,” Cronin said. “We dug down and gutted out a win. Sometimes you’ve got to do that."

His offensive limitations aside, Hrycaniuk did a great job on Gransberry, who was held to seven points.


“Jamual (Warren) gets a lot of credit for being a great role payer for us,” Cronin said. “I wish Adam would get the same amount of credit for what he does. That’s by far the best anybody has done against (Gransberry) all year.”

USF 39, UC 37 - 9:08 second half

The Gransberry injury was not serious. He came right back into the game and just made a layup to give the Bulls their first lead since the 7:13 mark of the first half. UC is shooting a woeful 31.1 percent from the field.

UC 35, USF 35 - 11:36 second half

With Vaughn and Williamson both on the bench grabbing a rest, the Bearcats have few scoring options on the court. To be honest, they weren't looking all that efficient on offense with both of those players in the game. Gransberry has left the game with an apparent twisted ankle at the 12:18 mark. He seemed to land wrong on it after passing out of a double team. He now has three points, 11 rebounds and four turnovers.

UC 32, USF 26 - 15:58 second half

Vaughn hasn't scored since he made two free throws at the 7:13 mark of the first half. Williamson finally found the range. He just hit a 3-pointer.

UC 27, USF 24 - Halftime

Believe it or not, Adam H. has played Gransberry practically even in the first half with two points and five rebounds to one point and seven rebounds. Gransberry has yet to convert a field goal in five tries and has missed several layups. The Bearcats are outscoring USF, 10-2 in points after turnovers.

UC 24, USF 22 - 3:39 first half

UC took the lead on an Adam H. jump shot from the top of the key. UC just can't seem to get Vaughn and Williamson on track at the same time. Now that Vaughn is back on his game, John Williamson is grappling to score. He has just two points and is 1-for-5 from the field. I know Brian Kelly thought it was bad that neither Cincy paper sent a reporter to Big East media day, but how about this? Neither the St. Petersburg Times nor the Tampa Tribune has a staff writer here tonight.

USF 21, UC 18 - 7:13 first half

I guess we can forget that stuff about Vaughn being worn down. He already has 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-4 from 3-point range. But no other UC player has more than two. Gransberry still hasn't scored for USF, but has five rebounds. The Bearcats' hope is to keep the game close in the first half, then take advantage of their better depth in the second. The crowd has filled in some, but it's still pretty sparse.

USF 16, UC 9 - 11:35 first half

USF on a 10-3 run. The Bulls are driving the ball right into the teeth of the UC defense, with UC offering little resistance. USF's last four baskets have come on layups. I just realized that if UC wins this game it will give the Bearcats their first-ever three-game Big East winning streak.

UC 9, USF 8 - 14:02 first half

Deonta Vaughn appears to be back to his old self. With seven points, he has already surpassed his point total from the St. John's game. He has two layups off USF turnovers and one 3-pointer. UC is double-teaming Kentrell Gransberry every time he touches the ball. Gransberry has yet to score but already has three rebounds.

Small crowd

With about three minutes left before tipoff this shapes up as a really small crowd, maybe the smallest of the season. We'll see. For the record, the smallest so far this year was the crowd of 6748 that showed up for the Nov. 24 Fairfield game. By the way, Reds TV color analyst Chris Welsh just stopped by. He attended USF and couldn't resist coming to see them play, even if they are 11-15.

7-5 in the Big East? How has this happened?

I was thinking back to the preseason and what was expected of this team, which was not much. UC was picked to finish 12th in the league by the coaches. Obviously, the Bearcats have exceeded those expectations to this point, with seven conference wins to their credit already, so they’ve been one of the surprise teams in the league.

You would have thought that of the Bearcats to be where they are one or two of their freshmen would have had to produce big years, but that hasn’t happened. So how have they reached this point where they appear headed to the Big East Tournament, possibly with a decent seed?

Of course, you start with the play of Deonta Vaughn, who has elevated his game well beyond where it was last year when he made the Big East all-rookie team. Then you factor in the play of point guard Jamual Warren, who in my mind has been the biggest surprise of all. Warren has been more valuable running the UC offense than I would have ever imagined. And I think he has surprised Mick Cronin, too. Remember, Cronin originally planned to use Vaughn a lot more at the point this year.

And although many UC fans don’t want to admit it, Adam Hrycaniuk has been an asset in the middle because of his ability to play post defense against some of the bigger players in the league. Unlike last year, UC has depth at that position with Hrycaniuk, Anthony McClain and Kenny Belton.

The freshmen haven’t been great, but they have made contributions. More importantly, they have given Cronin more options so that he can rest the other players. On the down side, I expected more out of Alvin Mitchell, who has been a non-factor and is currently suspended. And I thought McClain would be more productive, although he has been hindered by a foot injury.

Add it all up and somehow it’s working. Give Cronin and his coaches credit for that.

Catching up

Some late responses to some of your comments from yesterday. Sorry for the delay.

First, as to what Josh Katzowitz is doing, probably a lot of you know that he's working for Rivals.com. He's also doing a lot of free-lance work and even had a story in the New York Times a few weeks ago about the A-10. Good for him.

Someone asked what happened to Joby Wright. I'll try to find out, but I don't think he's in coaching anymore.

And finally, yes, it would be a good idea to post more UC flashbacks like the LaZelle Durden entry. I'll try to do that more often.

UC in the postseason?

OK, just for the sake of argument let's assume that UC will not win the Big East Tournament and go to the NCAA Tournament. What then? The good news is that in addition to the 32-team NIT, there's the new 16-team College Basketball Invitational, which intends to compete with the NIT for teams once the NCAA names its 65-team field.

UC does not have to have a winning record to play in the NIT, but it's unlikely the Bearcats would be invited without one, according to the NIT's Chris Fallon.

"There is nothing in our selection process that requires a winning record," Fallon wrote in an e-mail. "However, with the automatic qualifiers handed out to regular-season conference champions not invited to the NCAA Tournament, it does not seem likely that a team with a losing record would be invited."

Mick Cronin is a proponent of the new tournament and said UC has already been contacted by it.

"It's about time we got as smart as college football," Cronin said. "Our coaches need to support it because it’s more post-season for more teams. Just like they’ve continued to add bowl games over the last 20 years in football we need to continue to add post-season opportunities for our teams like there continues to be another bowl game every other day. We'd be a candidate for both of those tournaments."

Remembering LaZelle Durden

Mick Cronin made a reference to LaZelle Durden today when we were talking about Deonta Vaughn and how he has learned to move without the ball to get open looks. Nobody did that better than Durden, who was forever running off screens and seemed to never get tired.

One of the memories that stands out from covering UC over the years is the night in December, 1994 when Durden scored 45 points to keep the Bearcats from getting upset at Wyoming. The team had begun a trip west with a 91-88 overtime win at Minnesota on Dec. 13 then flew directly to Laramie, Wyoming, where we spent four of the coldest, windiest days you could imagine.

Wyoming was coached by former Miami coach Joby Wright and his team had Danny Fortson bottled up all night. But the Cowboys couldn't stop Durden, who made 16 of 32 shots, 7 of 20 from3-point range and 6 of 7 from the free throw line. UC trailed by two when Durden was fouled while attempting a 3-point shot as time expired.

Durden went to the foul line with the crowd screaming. He held up his index finger to his lips as if to silence the crowd, then calmly knocked in all three free throws to win the game, 81-80. I still remember watching the UC players run off the court as the stunned crowd watched in silence.

Vaughn says he's not tired

After Deonta Vaughn was held to three points last week vs. St. John's, Mick Cronin theorized that Vaughn might be a little tired and could use the breather that was created by the one week between games.

But Vaughn said today he's fine and ready to go all out for these last six games, although he did concede that he might be a bit mentally drained.

“I wasn’t worn down,” he said. “It was just that I didn’t want to force things. I wasn’t getting too many open looks and John was doing such a good job of going inside, why not keep going to John?
John carried us on his back the last two games. I was able to be a distraction with teams keying on me. It gave John some open shots. I still feel good. It’s late in the season, but we’ve still got to keep going hard. Everything’s all good.”

Who will play quarterback?

It seems a little strange blogging about UC football in the middle of February, but the basketball team is in the midst of a week off between games and well, frankly, UC football has become a big deal.

So here's the question: With Ben Mauk now out of the picture, who will be UC's quarterback next season? Will Dustin Grutza, the good soldier who never complained last year after Mauk took away his starting job, return to lead the Bearcats offense. Will ND transfer Demetrius Jones ride his athletic ability to the starting job? Will Tony Pike finally blossom into a big-time player?

My guess is that Brian Kelly will give Jones every chance to be the starter. He knows what Grutza can do and likes having a player with his experience and talent as a backup, but I don't think he wants him to be the starter. Spring practice should be interesting. There's nothing like a good quarterback battle to keep things lively.

Beware the Bulls

South Florida will arrive at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday night with a 2-11 record in the Big East and 39 losses in 45 games since joining the league. But the Bulls also have one of the best players in the league - 6-9, 270-pound Kentrell Gransberry.

Gransberry is coming off a monster performance - 26-points, 15-rebounds, 6-blocked shots in USF's last-second loss to UConn on Saturday. Before that, he scored 23 points with 9 rebounds in the Bulls' win over Syracuse. He leads the league in rebounding at 11.0 and in double-doubles with 14. He's seventh in scoring at 17.2 and shoots 54.1 percent from the field.

Last year he scored 21 points with 15 rebounds in USF's 74-59 win over UC in Tampa, a win that was so devastating that it moved Cedric McGowan to tears afterwards.

Of course, last year UC had no one who could physically match up with Gransberry. This time, with Adam Hrycaniuk, Anthony McClain and Kenny Belton they can throw three big bodies and 15 fouls at him. But that might not be enough.

Yes, the USF game is one UC should win and it helps that it's at Fifth Third because the Bulls have never won a Big East road game. But the presence of Gransberry alone should be enough to keep the Bearcats from taking this game for granted.

Don't give up on Mitchell

I don't know what's going to happen in the long run with Alvin Mitchell, but UC fans shouldn't give up on him yet. Different players react differently to the jump from high school to college. Some make the adjustment seamlessly. Others struggle to find their way when they discover that things aren't coming as easily as they did in high school.

A few years ago, like Mitchell, Eric Hicks arrived at UC having posted impressive numbers on the prep level and found himself sitting on the bench, trying to figure out what Bob Huggins was all about. He was sullen and angry and kept to himself. Eventually, though, he figured out that if we was going to play he would have to learn to rebound and play defense. He also figured out that since he was no longer going to be the first option on offense, he would have to earn his shots off the offensive glass.

By the time he was a junior, Hicks was a solid player. By the time he was a senior, he was an excellent player, a team leader and media spokesman, a symbol for a team that overcame great odds to put together a season that should have been rewarded with an NCAA Tournament berth.

Given time, Mitchell might respond the same way. He seems to be at that juncture where he either gets it together or gets frustrated and transfers. As Mick Cronin said in the paper today, it's up to Mitchell.

Cashmere Wright

With UC off until next Wednesday, I set out today to do a story on Cashmere Wright, UC's point guard of the future who signed a letter-of-intent last November.

I wanted to write the story because I had heard Wright is putting up some gaudy numbers during his senior year at Urban Christian Academy in Savannah, Ga. Apparently, he is scoring prolificly, although it's hard to determine exactly how prolificly. The athletic director down there estimated that Wright is averaging about 34 points and 11 or 12 assists. The coach said he'd have to look up the exact numbers and get back to me. The Savannah paper has no record of his stats because the school doesn't always call in its results.

This is not to suggest that Wright is not the real deal, only that sometimes high school stats can be suspect. In addition, Wright, apparently, does not play against the best competition, although he did score 28 against Oak Hill Academy.

Anyway, from what I can gather, Wright should be fun to watch for the next four years. With his quickness and long-range shooting ability, he could be the perfect complement for Deonta Vaughn by preventing opposing defenses from concentrating too much on Vaughn.

As of now, the story is scheduled to run in Sunday's paper.

More on Mitchell

Just talked to Mick Cronin. He would not elaborate about the reasons for Mitchell's suspension, except to say that it has nothing to with basketball. "It's been a series of things that have led us to this point," Cronin said.

He also said he's confident that Mitchell's suspension will not be a distraction to the rest of the team.

I asked him if there's a chance that Mitchell could remain suspended for the rest of the season.

"That's up to him," he said.

Mitchell suspended

UC announced a little while ago that freshman swingman Alvin Mitchell has been suspended indefinitely from the basketball team.

Here's Mick Cronin's quote from the release:

"We have standards and expectations for our players on the court, in the classroom and in their individual behavior. Alvin is not meeting those expectations at this time; therefore he is suspended from our team. It is my sincere hope that he chooses to put forth the effort to rejoin his team and be part of our program."

It's been a disappointing season for Mitchell, whom Cronin declared the most prepared among his six freshmen to make an immediate impact when he signed with UC last spring. For whatever reason, that hasn't happened. Mitchell, who averaged 33 points per game last year at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Ft. Lauderdale, is averaging 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds for UC this year. He's shooting 26.3 percent from the field and is 8-for-36 from 3-point range.

Carey changing positions

Elder High School product Craig Carey is no longer in the mix at quarterback. He's being moved to either defensive end or outside linebacker. That leaves UC with five quarterbacks who will compete in spring practice - Dustin Grutza, Demetrius Jones, Tony Pike, Zach Collaros and Chazz Anderson.

Clarification

It wouldn't have mattered if Mauk protested his redshirt year in 2003 or not. According to the NCAA bylaw that Mauk was caught under, "a redshirt year is considered within the control of the student-athlete and/or the institution." In other words, whether Mauk wanted to be redshirted or not - and he clearly didn't - the fact that Wake Forest wanted to redshirt him precluded the year from being considered "a missed participation opportunity." Sorry for any confusion.

Mauk, Kelly reactions

Mauk said he thought he had a good chance to get the extra year, but that he respected the NCAA's decision.
"Those two years were out of my control with redshirting and getting hurt," he said. "I had no choice in either of those years where I couldn't participate.
"It's not like I went into (Wake Forest) Coach (Jim) Grobe's office and said, 'Hey, Coach, I want to sit out this year. I don't want to play.' Coming in as a freshman, I wanted to play. Obviously, you never want to sit out. I thought I could help the team out and I wasn't allowed to play so I thought it was out of my control."
According to NCAA rules, a redshirt year is under the control of the coach and/or the student-athlete. In other words, according to the NCAA, Mauk could have refused to redshirt.
That's basically what this came down to.
"Are we disappointed?" said UC coach Brian Kelly. "Absolutely. There's no question that we're disappointed. I don't know I would say we were surprised when it came to this. We were prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.
"The NCAA had come back to us and asked for additional medical information and maybe we were wrong in assuming it was going to come down to a decision relative to the medical, but it really had nothing to do with that. It was still about the redshirt year in 2003."
UC' s contention was that even if Mauk did have a choice in redshirting in 2003, granting him a sixth year would not have benefited Wake Forest because he's no longer there. Obviously, the NCAA didn' t buy that reasoning.
Kelly said if the season started to tomorrow, senior Dustin Grutza would be UC's starting quarterback, but the season is a long way off. Obviously, the job is wide open, with Notre Dame expected to challenge Grutza for the starting job.

More on Mauk

The NCAA denied Mauk's application for an extension of eligibility based on NCAA Bylaw 30.6.1.2 that states that a redshirt year is considered within the control of the institution and/or student-athlete and does not constitute a missed participation opportunity.

Mauk was redshirted as a freshman at Wake Forest in 2003. He was injured in 2006 while playing quarterback at Wake in the season opener vs. Syracuse and missed the rest of the season due to his injury. The NCAA accepted 2006 as a lost opportunity for participation, but not the 2003 season.

Mauk set a school record with 31 passing touchdowns last season, leading UC to a 10-3 recdord and a No. 17 ranking in the final AP poll. He completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 3,121 yards.

Mauk appeal denied

UC quarterback Ben Mauk has had his appeal for a sixth year of eligibility denied by the NCAA.

Mauk decision tomorrow

UC expects to receive the Ben Mauk decision at about noon tomorrow.

What's wrong with Vaughn?

John Williamson's 22 points vs. Rutgers and 25 vs. St. John's couldn't have come at a better timem because Deonta Vaughn has clearly hit a wall. Mick Cronin thinks Vaughn is just plain tired from shouldering so much of UC's scoring burden this year.

“I think he’s tired,” Cronin said. “We don’t play for a week. I’m going to make sure I get him more rest than the other guys. I think he’s definitely worn down a little bit. I can tell in practice. When Jamual was hurt, he was logging a lot of minutes back in November in those five or six games. It’s carried over to him shouldering the scoring burden for this team. It’s been a long year.”

Williamson's double-double was his third of the season and the eighth of his career.

UC 60, St. John's 43 - final

A late flurry brought St. John's up to 25.5 percent and 12 field goals on the night. The West Virginia standard remains for this season. Williamson had a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds. Vaughn had a career low 3 points but it didn't matter. The Bearcats now have more wins than they had all of last season.

UC 55, St. John's 30 - 4:48 second half

The Red Storm is down to 17.5 percent and still has just two field goals in the second half. Williamson has gone to the bench with a season-high 24 points.

UC 45, St. John's 29 - 7:50 second half

St. John's is now down to 18.9 percent shooting, with a real chance to break the Mountaineers' mark. Attendance was just announced at 7,884, the lowest Fifth Third Arena crowd since the Dec. 19 Memphis game drew 8,254.

UC 41, St. John's 29 - 11:27 second half

What we have here now is a struggle by St. John's to see if it can shoot worse than the 20 percent that West Virginia managed against UC two weeks ago. The Red Storm has a legitimate shot. It has made just 7 of 31 shots for 22.6 percnet and was right at the 20 percent mark before a Rob Thomas made a layup a few seconds ago. Vaughn has finally scored on a 3-pointer with 15:32 to go. Unlike Saturday, it appears that UC will not require him to score 13 points in an overtime period to save the day. But there's still a long way to go.

UC 32, St. John's 24 - 15:42 second half

UC scored the first six points of the second half to go up by nine. St. John's still has only six field goals to go with 12 turnovers. UC just made its first three-pointer in six tries when Marvin Gentry connected from the wing. The Bearcats are still in their full-court press trying to put this game away early.

UC 23, St. John's 20 - Halftime

For the second straight game, Vaughn has been held scoreless in the first half. St. John's is shooting 22.7 percent from the field and has only five field goals, but still trails by only three points. Three of its five field goals are 3-pointers. UC is 0-5 from long range. Larry Davis has eight points for the Bearcats. Williamson has 11 on 5-of-10 shooting. St. John's is playing without Anthony Mason, Jr., who scored 17 points in the Red Storm's victory over UC on Jan. 5.

UC 19, St. John's 12 - 3:41 first half

UC is on a 7-1 run. The Bearcats have a six-point lead but considering how badly St. John's is playing, they should probably be ahead by a lot more. The Red Storm has made only three field goals in 18 attempts and has committed eight turnovers. They're having all kinds of trouble against UC's press. Larry Davis has given UC a nice boost off the bench with six points on 3-of-3 shooting. Vaughn remains scoreless.

UC 12, St. John's 9 - 7:55 first half

This is another slow-paced, poor-shooting game, much like the Rutgers game of the other night. Vaughn still scoreless, but he has now attempted two shots, both 3-pointers. One bad early sign for UC - the Bearcats are getting outrebounded, 12-9.

UC 6, St. John's 4 - 11:49 first half

Deonta Vaughn has yet to take a shot. Paris Horne made St. John's first field goal - a 3-pointer with 12:36 to go. The Red Storm had missed seven shots before that.

UC 4, St. John's 0 - 15:55 first half

St. John's has missed four shots and turned the ball over once. John Williamson, fresh off his 22-point, 20-shot performance from Saturday, has already taken three shots. Not much of a crowd here tonight. Even the student sections aren't close to being full.

Son of Puffy

For those of you who didn't already know - and I confess I didn't know until this afternoon - St. John's forward D.J. Kennedy is the son of former UC player David "Puffy" Kennedy, UC's career steals leader with 189. Puffy, who played at UC from 1977 to 1981, was also a 1,000-point scorer at UC. He ranks 44th on the all-time scoring list with 1,002 points.

Anthony Mason update

Just talked to the SID from St. John's. He says that Anthony Mason is not expected to play tonight.

The Final Four - Who will get there first?

Paul Daugherty has unabashedly predicted that Xavier will make it to the Final Four this year, but I had a conversation with a friend today who predicted that Mick Cronin would get UC to the Final Four before Xavier ever makes it there. At the risk of unleashing a storm of nasty comments and back-and-forth charges about who is and who isn't an idiot, I thought I'd offer that topic for discussion. Of course, this being a UC blog, I would expect the majority of comments to suggest that UC will make it first. But XU fans know where this blog is, too. So what do you think? Does XU really have a chance to make it to the Final Four this year? Does UC have a realistic chance of getting back there anytime in the near future?

Looking ahead to St. John's

Anthony Mason, Jr., who scored 17 points against UC in the Red Storm's 70-58 win on Jan. 5 in New York, has missed the last two games with an ankle contusion, but he might return in time to face the Bearcats tomorrow.

I just talked to St. John's coach Norm Roberts and asked him about Mason, among other things.

“We hope we can get him back,” Roberts said, “but we’re not going to rush anything with him. It’s been a nagging injury all year. There’s a chance he could play.”

No one will be more fired up to play St. John's than UC point guard Jamual Warren, who got into foul trouble in the first half of that Jan. 5 game and watched from the bench as the Red Storm went on a 19-4 run to end the first half. Warren was so upset about some of the calls that went against him that he was called for a technical foul as he sat on the bench.

“I was frustrated after the game because I thought we could have played harder,” Warren said. “I thought I should have played harder. I thought I could have done some things and I didn’t get a chance to do them because I was on the bench.”

Playing in the Big East Tournament

Next year all 16 members of the Big East Conference will play in the Big East Tournament, which means there will be no more battle for those coveted 12 spots in the tournament the way there is now. I suppose it's a good thing that every team gets to play in the tournament, but I prefer the way it is now. I like the fact that teams have to earn their way in. From a UC standpoint, just getting to the tournament this year would be a nice way to gauge the improvement of the program over last season. And for programs that don't make it year after year, it's a convenient way to note the progress that's not being made.

More on Canfield

Canfield was accused of hitting an Erik Monsen in the head with a bottle early Sunday. $500 of the $5,000 bond was posted for him. The charge is a second-degree felony with a maximum prison sentence of 8 years. He's due back in court on Feb. 26 for arraignment.

Canfield arrested

UC offensive lineman Trevor Canfield, from Western Hills High School, was arrested Sunday and charged with felonious assault. UC just put out a release about the arrest after an inquiry was made about it. Brian Kelly has suspended Canfield pending completion of the legal process. According to the release, he will have no further comment.
Canfield was a second-team all-Big East selection last year. He started all 13 of UC's games.

Mauk decision coming this week

According to Brian Kelly, UC expects to receive a decision from the NCAA this week on whether quarterback Ben Mauk will be granted another year of eligibility to play next year. Kelly said the decision could come as early as Wednesday, but by Thursday at the latest.

UC's progress under Cronin

No one who follows the UC basketball program wanted to see it go through what it has the past few years, but it’s clear the Bearcats are on their way back. It has been interesting to follow UC's progress under Mick Cronin the past two years, to see how he has taken a program with only one player and rebuilt it to the point where it’s currently tied for sixth place in the Big East and will likely play in the Big East Tournament this year. With a strong finish, the Bearcats might be able to make it to the NIT.

Contrast that with St. John’s, whose program was also devastated three seasons ago. The Red Storm has failed to qualify for the conference tournament in three of the last four years, is struggling to make it this year, and according to a story in Sunday’s New York Times, some fans are calling for coach Norm Roberts, who’s in the fourth year of a five-year contract, to be fired. St. John's, which plays UC here Wednesday, started four freshmen against Providence because of an injury to Anthony Mason, Jr. It seems that in two years, UC has already made more progress in its revival than St. John’s has in four, even though the Bearcats did lose to the Red Storm back back on Jan. 5 in New York.

Vaughn's 'off' night

Deonta Vaughn said he wasn't frustrated Saturday night when he was unable to score. As he sat on the bench for long stretches at a time, he said he was content to cheer on his teammates, who were doing fine without him.

That sounds nice, but it's hard to swallow. First of all, his teammates, with the exception of John Williamson, weren't doing so well without him. Second, Mick Cronin said he could tell Vaughn was getting down on himself, feeling that he was letting his teammates down.

“Sometimes he puts too much pressure on himself,” Cronin said, “and you can understand why when you look at the configuration of how much he’s had to score for us. It’s a lot of pressure on him night in and night out to produce for us. It’s a lot to ask of a guy to never have an off night. But you saw the real Deonta Vaughn in overtime. That’s the guy that’s really got us to the position that we’re in.”

With his 20.4-point average, Vaughn accounts for roughly one-third of UC's scoring average in Big East play. That's quite a burden to put on one player, which is why Cronin was so happy to see Williamson put up 22 points against Rutgers.

It's a tribute to Vaughn's mental toughness that, despite the struggles he endured during regulation, he bounced back to score 13 points in overtime. Not many players could hang in there the way he did.

The aftermath

A year ago, the UC players were about as devastated as they as they would get all season after blowing a six-point lead with 4:04 to play and losing to Rutgers, 73-69, here at The RAC. I remember Jamual Warren, the best quote on the team, emerging from the locker room and saying that if he could find a bridge he would just keep on walking across it. Of course, the Bearcats were all smiles after their 62-58 overtime win over Rutgers tonight.

How does Deonta Vaughn go from scoring six points in regulation to getting 13 in overtime?
“In overtime, I had open shots," Vaughn said. "It started with the wide open three. I knocked it down and then after that I hit a few pull-ups and it just helped me go over from there.”

The important thing for UC is that John Williamson was there when they needed him, scoring 22 points and playing like he did early last season when he was UC's first offensive option. If he can continue to play close to the way he did tonight, the Bearcats will not only make the Big East Tourament - and it's more and more likely that they will - they might even get a favorable seed.

UC 72, Rutgers 68 - OT

Vaughn scored 13 of UC's 16 points in overtime.

UC 56, Rutgers 56 - end of regulation

Farmer made two free throws for Rutgers with 20.1 seconds left to tie the score. UC worked the ball to Williamson in the low post. He forced up a shot that was no good. The rebound went out of bounds to UC with 2.5 seconds left. UC inbounded the ball to Gentry but his shot in the corner was partially blocked, sending the game into overtime, UC's first of the season.

UC 53, Rutgers 51 - 2:53 second half

Williamson now has a season-high 19 points. Two Williamson baskets and a couple of treys from Marvin Gentry have given UC a 53-51 lead with 2:53 to go. UC has the ball out of bounds after the TV timeout ends.

Rutgers 44, UC 43 - 7:15 second half

Williamson now has 15 points. Vaughn has yet to make a 3-pointer in four attempts. Adam H. has four fouls but has remained in the game. This is about as ugly a game as you'll want to see. Rutgers can't shoot free throws, even though it has been in the bonus since about the 11-minute mark and now is in the double bonus. UC can't get to the line to attempt any. Neither team can shoot from the field.

Rutgers 36, UC 33 - 11:36 second half

Vaughn finally scored, with 13:35 to go, on a layup off a steal with UC pressing and now has four points. The press is rattling Rutgers a bit, but the Bearcats have not been able to take advantage of it offensively. For the record, Vaughn' s career low at UC is four points, which he did twice last year against Villanova and Ohio. His low this year is 5 points vs. UAB and Western Carolina. He hasn't scored under double figures since he got eight against Illinois State on Dec. 8.

Rutgers 32, UC 28 - 15:42 second half

Rutgers went up, 32-26, its biggest lead of the game before Williamson's follow shot. Vaughn looks totally lost out there. He's now 0-for-5. Even with Williamson's 10 points, there's nowhere for UC to go to get a basket. Only the Bearcats' 31-19 rebound advantage and Rutgers' 4-for-9 from the free throw line are keeping UC in the game.

Rutgers 25, UC 24 - halftime

Cronin is getting more production out of Williamson, who has eight first-half points, but now he's getting nothing from Vaughn, who still hasn't scored and has attempted only four shots, two of which were 3-pointers. Stop me if you've heard this before - UC has attempted only one free throw in the first half.

Rutgers 22, UC 19 - 3:58 first half

Neither of these teams' top scorers - Vaughn for UC, JR Inman for Rutgers, has scored. Warren is back in the game but the offense still isn't running smoothly. UC is currently shooting 37.5 percent. Here's a stat for you: UC has yet to shoot over 50 percent in a game this year and has done it only three times in two years under Mick Cronin.

UC 15, Rutgers 14 - 7:43 first half

You know that post about how both of these teams were off to fairly good shooting starts? Scratch that. They are now both shooting to match their season stats. Rutgers is 5-15, UC is 7-16. Bad sign for UC: Jamual Warren is on the bench with two fouls, reminiscent of UC's loss at St. John's. So is Adam H. Still no points for Vaughn, who has taken only three shots. UC is outrebounding Rutgers, 14-6.

UC 11, Rutgers 9 - 11:52 first half

You can tell that John Williamson has been told to look to score more. He's been making a concerted effort to go to the basket, so concerted that he just called for an offensive foul. Both teams are on a zone now and neither one is having much success shooting over it. Vaughn has yet to score for UC.

UC 9, Rutgers 7 - 14:46 first half

Both teams are shooting fairly well given their reputations as poor shooting teams. Rutgers is 3-6, UC 4-8. Adam Hyrcaniuk has already made two layups. There aren't a whole lot of people here, so few in fact that when Deonta Vaughn fired up an air ball, no one even broke into the tired old "air ball, air ball" chant. Maybe they weren't paying attention or maybe these are sophisticated fans who realize how lame that cheer is.

Strength of schedule

UC begins this stretch of supposedly winnable games with the a strength of schedule that's ranked fourth nationally. Only Arizona, Tennessee and Michigan have played tougher schedules to this point. At the end of December, when UC was 5-7, its SOS was No. 196.

New assistant football coach

UC announced this afternoon that it has hired William Inge to serve as linebackers coach next season. Tim Hinton, who coached the linebackers last year, is moving back to running backs coach, a position he held from 2004-06. Inge, 34, was the linebackers coach at San Diego State the past two seasons. The moves were made to replace running backs coach Ernest Jones, who resigned at the end of last season to become the head coach at his Alcorn State, his alma mater.

Mick wants more from Williamson

If the Bearcats are going to take advantage of what seems to be a favorable schedule down the stretch, they need to get more scoring from John Williamson to take some of the pressure off Deonta Vaughn.

“John’s a guy that’s not always aggressive," Cronin said. "He’s hard to coach because the minute you let up on him he seems to take a back seat. You’re used to coaching guys that are trying to score more. I’m appreciative of the fact that he cares about winning, but we’ll win a lot more games if he’s getting 13 or 14 a game."

Williamson has averaged only 8.2 points in his last four games, three of which UC has lost, this from a guy who averaged 13.5 last year and scored 27 a game in junior college. He says he's up to the challenge, that all Mick has to do is say the word because scoring has never been a problem for him.

We'll see.

Oscar and Tiki

I stumbled across this in the New York Times today in a column by William C. Rhoden about how Tiki Barber must feel seeing the Giants win the Super Bowl the year after he retired.

"In the midst of all the 'how must Tiki feel' speculation, I thought about Oscar Robertson, one of the greatest basketball players ever. Robertson was a star at the University of Cincinnati and led the Bearcats to the Final Four in 1960. The season after Robertson left, Cincinnati won the first of two consecutive national championships. I wondered how he felt.

'I was really happy for them,' Robertson said Thursday from his home in Cincinnati. 'Everything is timing, you know.'

Robertson said that when the star player left, younger players who watched and took notes often stepped up the following season.

'All that time, when the star is taking all that heat, getting double- and triple-teamed, you've got to learn something,' Robertson said. 'Without even knowing it, sometimes you lay a foundation.'

Was there any part of him that wished he were there to enjoy the thrill of winning a national championship?

'Naturally, I would have liked to have won while I was there, but I had my time,' he said. 'I couldn't go back; I had my time.' "

As most of you know, Oscar attends almost every UC home game. He sits right next to press row, so we can hear a lot of what he says during the games. He can be pretty critical at times, but the important thing is that all these years later he still cares about his alma mater. No one can question that.

The New Jersey Turnpike

There's nothing that gets me more fired up to begin my day than the prospect of flying to New Jersey later in the day and getting the chance to drive on the New Jersey Turnpike. The first time I was on that gorgeous stretch of highway, I was trying to get to the Meadowlands to cover an NCAA Tournament game in which David Robinson was playing for Navy. Yes, I know that means I'm really, really old. I could see the Meadowlands from the highway but couldn't figure out how to get there. I went through those dreadful toll booths several times and still couldn't figure it out. Finally, I asked one of the guys manning the toll booth for help. He was very nice. He told me to turn around and go the other way and that if I explained my situation to the guy at the other toll booth, I wouldn't have to pay again. Right. The other guy not only made me pay again, he was about as nasty as you could get. At that point, I made a remark about New Jersey that would get me arrested today in post-9/11 America. I think of that trip every time I fly to Newark. I've since learned to navigate the Turnpike better, but I still hate driving on it.

Cats are well-rested

Mick Cronin took advantage of the week between games by giving his players a break this week. They came in at 6 a.m. on Sunday to watch the loss to Marquette - OK, 6 a.m. on Sunday isn't much of a break - then did some shooting on Monday and took off Tuesday before returning to a full-scale practice on Wednesday to begin preparations for Saturday's game at Rutgers.

"We needed time off," Cronin said. "We needed to get away from each other a little bit. Anybody watching the Marquette game could see a team that was stale. It was very evident in many ways from watching the film and our practice that we needed that break, mentally more than anything. We’ve just got to make sure the time off doesn’t hurt us, that we don’t lose some of our edge and some of our sharpness. We need to make sure we get that game energy back and try to jump on Rutgers early."

Academic honors

The UC football team has landed six players on the Big East all-academic team: offensive linemen Digger Bujnoch, Chris Flores and Jeff Linkenbach, punter Kevin Huber, linebacker Ryan Manalac and defensive back Cedric Tolbert. All are finance majors, except for Tolbert, who is majoring in special education.

Marcus Sikes' role

You need look no further than Marcus Sikes to gauge the improvement this year in the UC basketball team. Last year, when Sikes was pressed into service as a center after Adam Hrycaniuk and Hernol Hall were declared ineligible by the NCAA, Sikes averaged 29.2 minutes per game, with 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds. This year, his minutes are down to 15.8 per game and he’s averaging 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds. And he’s no longer being forced to guard opposiong post players.

"He's become a role player," Mick Cronin said, "which is probablywhat his talent dictates playing at the highest level in the Big East. Marcus struggles shooting the ball and he doesn't have great athleticism. "He's tried to help us in any way he can, which I think embodies our team’s attitude this year, but there’s obviously a lesser role for him. There's a reason why we’re better. It's because we're not playing a 6-6 guy (actually Sikes is listed at 6-8) at center who’s not very athletic. We’re using him in the role he needs to be in coming off the bench."

Early signing date for football?

Brian Kelly was an advocate for an early signing date before he lost defensive end Patrick Omameh to Michigan this week, but he talked about it last summer because more and more players are committing earlier than they used to. The loss of Omameh only reinforced what he already believed.

"I think that's where this is moving," Kelly said. "If a kid gives his word, we expect him to live up to that."

Kelly said he would like to see an early signing date sometime in December.

"I think there's a movement amongst all coaches to end the sillines and the circus that we see, especially on the last day," he said. "I think an early signing date would help a lot."

Kelly's comments on all his recruits

Here are Brian Kelly's comments on each of UC's 24 football signees:

Isaiah Pead, RB, 5-11, 185, Columbus – “He was heavily recruited by all of the major schools and at the end of the day we thought we had a great opportunity because of our situation being in the spread. He likes to catch the football. He’s a guy who sees he has an opportunity to play right away. It came down to us, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Indiana.”

Dominique Battle, DB, 6-0, 175, Boca Raton, Fla. – “Very athletic, physical, the kind of safety that we’re looking for and has the versatility to play on the back end. He’s as good as any player that we’ve recruited at that position.”

Camerron Cheaetham, DB, 5-8, 165, Kalamazoo, Mich. – “He comes in with sub-4.4 speed. He had the fastest time in our (summer) camp. His speed cannot be duplicated.”

Evan Davis, C, 6-4, 250, Colerain High School – “Gives us exactly what we’re looking for. He keeps his feet and plays up. He’s not on the ground. We love his agility.”

Dan Giordano, DL, 6-4, 240, Frankford, Ill. – “A very explosive player. A strong, physical player. He uses his hands very well. He’s an explosive player who goes from sideline to sideline.”

Sean Hooey, OL, 6-8, 260, Litchfield, Mich. – “We’re projecting him as an offensive tackle. A young man who can move his feet at such great size. He may be closer to 6-9 right now. He also played defensive end. He gets great penetration. Those are the kind of guys we’re looking for.”

Bruce Horner, DB, 6-1, 175, Farmington Hills, Mich. – “Will enroll here in March. An athletic player that can come off the edge and be extremely disruptive. He’s a corner, safety, nickel player for us.”

Ike Iloegbu, DB, 6-1, 185, Harmony Prep – “A quarterback who we see as an athlete. He’s not going to play the quarterback position. We’re going to bring him in as an athlete. He can play corner, safety, wide receiver, a little bit of everything.”

Brendon Kay, QB, 6-4, 220, Ira, Mich. – “Won a state championship at the quarterback position. He played defensive end as well. He’s very physical, with a strong arm.”

Travis Kelce, QB, 6-5, 235, Cleveland Heights, Ohio – “His brother, Jason, is in our program. At the quarterback position, he’s extremely athletic. He’s a three-sport athlete, another great fit into the type of offense that we run.”

Patrick Lambert, DB, 6-1, 190, St. Cloud, Fla. – “He’s got the potential to be a great player here. Probably one of the most consistent players for a school that turns out a number of BCS players.”

Danny Milligan, WR, 5-9, 170, St. Xavier High School – “All he does is make plays. You can talk about his size and speed but he played at the highest level of competition and made plays. He’s not too bad making plays at the kicking position and he’ll have an opportunity to compete there as well.”

Brandon Mills, DL, 5-11, 255, Colerain High School – “Very explosive. Very physical. Runs extremely well. Obviously comparisons to Terrill Byrd are inevitable because of his size. He really dominated against very good high school competition. He loves to play the game. He’s only going to get better and better.”

Lynell Payne, WR, 6-3, 205, Marlton, NJ – “We won a tough battle against Clemson to get his services. A big, physical wide receiver. Great ball skills. He can adjust to the football. Just gives us more weapons at a position that is very important to us. A pretty special player.”

Quincy Quetant, DB, 6-0, 190, Orlando, Fla. – “Wake Forest made a bid to take him away. Great character, great kid. A young man who’s very versatile and can play on both sides of the ball. Adds more speed to our defense.”

Jared Rains, DB, 5-10, 180, Aliquippa, Pa. – “Can play running back, safety, corner. Gives us another gifted, skilled athlete. His dad (Dan) played for Tony Mason.”

J.K. Schaffer, LB, 6-1, 210, La Salle High School – “We’re really fortunate to have this young man. He’s a great character kid. He loves the University of Cincinnati. We could recruit guys like this all day. One of the things that separates J.K. from a lot of the players that we recruited, not only does he have the linebacker skills in terms of his size, but his ability to run is unmatched.”

Walter Stewart, DL, 6-5, 220, Ashville, Ohio – “We’re projecting him as a defensive end. He’s extremely athletic. We see him a lot as an Angelo Craig in developing, getting stronger and bigger and more physical. One thing he will do, he will track you down.”

Nick Truesdell, WR, 6-7, 215, Anderson High School – “He’s just starting to understand the game of football. He’s only played it a couple of years. One of the things we loved about him is his untapped potential at 6-7. He attacks the football with his hands. At 6-7, if you attack the ball with his hands you’re going to win a lot of those matchups.”

Darrin Williams, RB, 5-7, 175, Detroit – “Explosive and powerful as a back. Has that speed that you need. He’s got the kind of speed to run the corner. Posted the third highest running total in Michigan history.”

George Winn, RB, 5-10, 175, Southfield, Mich. – “A complete running back. He’ll block you. He’ll run. He’s a physical player. He lined up at the wide receiver position for a lot of the year. He gives us that back that has all those traits. He can run it. He can catch it and he can block.”

Derek Wolfe, DL, 6-5, 270, Lisbon, Ohio – “A big, physically dominating football player. A young man who has just started to get bigger and stronger. He’s also an accomplished wrestler.”

D.J. Woods, WR, 6-0, 170, Strongsville, Ohio – “Arguably the most sought after recruit in our class. A physically gifted wide receiver. It came down to us and Michigan. Just a great speed player. Catches it in stride. He can take it the distance. Once he gets out on the perimeter, nobody’s going to catch him. He’s got that kind of speed.”

One more big one for UC

About 20 minutes after Brian Kelly finished talking to the media about his 2008 recruiting class, UC landed perhaps the most talented player in the class in running back Isaiah Pead from Columbus Eastmoor. Pead announced at a 4 p.m. press conference that he was signing with UC.

“We’ve got a guy who’s a high-profile athletic running back at a school that everybody knew was there,” Kelly said. “He was heavily recruited by all of the major schools and at the end of the day we thought we had a great opportunity because of our situation being in the spread. He likes to catch the football. He’s a guy who sees he has an opportunity to play right away. We told him he’ll have a chance to compete for playing time right away. It came down to us, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Indiana.”

Pead, the Ohio Division IV player of the year, rushed for 2,204 yards and 39 touchdowns as a senior. He gained 4,443 yards in his career, breaking the school record by Archie Griffin.

Signing day

For years, I've heard UC football coaches tell reporters how talented their recruiting classes are only to have them consistently ranked in the 90s, but this year it appears the Bearcats have really made some progress. I just talked to Jeremy Crabtree from Rivals.com and although UC's class is currently ranked No. 75, he believes it should be higher.

"I really like the Cincinnati class," Crabtree said. "For some reason which I don’t understand, I think their class shold be ranked much higher than it is inn our rankings. They went out and did a nice job fillling some needs with some quality kids. It won't crack the Top 50 but this class was a step forward."

The UC class can get closer to the Top 50 if things pan out today. Kelly is still waiting for a decision from RB Isaiah Pead and CB Ed Imeokparia. DE Patrick Omameh, who originally committed to UC, now says he's going to Michigan, but according to Crabtree, that decision might not yet be final.

Having said all that, you have to question what these rankings mean anyway. Kelly told me earlier this week that when he was at Central Michigan, he recruited several players who were 3-star recruits until they signed with CMU. Then they were downgraded to 2-star recruits.

UC has scheduled a 3 p.m. news conference to announce its class.

UC's remaining schedule

UC still has a lot of work to do to become one of the 12 teams that qualify for the Big East tournament, but the schedule is set up nicely for them. Beginning with Saturday's game at Rutgers, five of their remaining eight games are against teams that are a combined 12-34 in the league and those are precisely the teams the Bearcats must beat to nail down one of those tournament slots. In addition, four of those games - vs. St. John's (2-7), South Florida (1-8), Providence (3-6) and DePaul (4-5) are at Fifth Third Arena. If they win all four of those games, they'll be at least 9-9 in the league. If they can beat Rutgers this weekend plus take care of business at home, you're looking at 10-8. To be sure, UC has some difficult road games remaining - at Georgetown, at Pitt and at UConn - but if they take care of business against those other teams, especially at home, they should be in good shape to play in New York in March.

Football recruiting

If you were looking for that Top 25 finish to translate into some 4-star and 5-star recruits signing with UC on Wednesday, well, it hasn't happened. Not yet, anyway. According to Rivals.com, UC has five 3-star recruits on its commitment list and none in the 4- and 5-star range. I talked to Brian Kelly this morning and he conceded that the program has not reached the point yet where it can compete for those higher level players, but he believes he's making progress and suggested that with another successful season, he might be able to move up and land a 4-star player next year. He also pointed out that UC finished with a No. 17 national ranking this year without those highly rated players, suggesting that he knows how to win with less talent by taking players who can develop into quality players with a year or two of seasoning.

Thoughts on Mike Thomas

Mike Thomas alienated a lot of people when he took over as the UC athletic director in 2005. Part of the reason was that he didn’t have the folksy personality of his predecessor, Bob Goin. To add to his problems, he was hired by Nancy Zimpher, which was a strike against him from the outset in the eyes of many UC fans. He then turned over much of the athletic department staff and was criticized for hiring Mick Cronin to coach the basketball team instead of fan favorite Andy Kennedy. We’ll never know what kind of job Kennedy would have done if he had stayed, but it’s clear that Cronin has the program on the right track in a very short period of time. Thomas also deserves credit for hiring Brian Kelly to coach the football program, for helping to sell out Nippert Stadium three times last fall and for acting to sign Kelly to a five-year contract extension.

He still has much work to do, though. In an era of financial belt tightening at UC, he has to find the money to pay for the practice fields and indoor bubble that are part of Kelly’s new contract, even while Varsity Village hasn’t been totally paid for. Further down the road, he must decide how to enlarge Nippert Stadium to squeeze more revenue out of it and improve or replace Fifth Third Arena. If Goin was judged on getting UC into the Big East and getting Varsity Village built, Thomas’ legacy at UC could very well be tied to what happens with Nippert Stadium and Fifth Third Arena.

Vaughn, Downey and other thoughts

Unnoticed during UC's loss to Marquette yesterday was the fact that Deonta Vaughn clearly outplayed Dominic James. Vaughn scored 23 points while James had eight points on 2-9 shooting, 0-5 from 3-point range. Vaughn has averaged 21.1 points over his last 13 games and needs 109 points to become the 32nd player in UC history to score 500 points in a season. Here's what Marquette coach Tom Crean said about Vaughn after the game yesterday:

"What they’ve done with him development-wise and strength-wise, they’re really improving their players. Deonta Vaughn is the recipient of that work. He’s got great range, a quick release and he can get to the iron. When he’s in a trap, he doesn’t force plays. He’s going to be an outstanding guard for a long time."

You may have noticed that Devan Downey scored 25 points yesterday for South Carolina against his old coach, former UC interim coach Andy Kennedy. It made me wonder what it would be like now at UC if Downey had stayed after Kennedy left and UC had both Downey and Vaughn at guard. Of course, maybe Vaughn wouldn't have signed with UC if Downey were still there. Who knows? The bottom line is that Vaughn has emerged as an outstanding player poised to be the cornerstone of Mick Cronin's program for the next two years.

UC is off today and tomorrow, then will begin Tuesday to prepare for Saturday's game at Rutgers. That will be followed by home games vs. St. John's and USF. If all goes well, they could be 8-5 in the league on Feb. 20. But after the performance they turned in Saturday, it would be foolhardy to take anything for granted.

Marquette 75, UC 60 - Final

UC was simply outhustled and played terrible interior defense. Final points in the paint, 40-18 in favor of Marquette. Vaughn can't do it all by himself.

Marquette 68, UC 58 - 2:23 second half

Marquette continues to pound the ball inside. It's now 36-18 when it comes to points in the paint. Barro has a season-high 19 points.

Marquette 58, UC 50 - 7:24 second half

UC used a 13-2 run to cut the lead to four. But Marquette has answered and is back up by eight with Hayward at the line to try to complete a 3-point play. Barro now has 14 for Marquette, matching his career high. Vaughn has 20 points for UC. The Golden Eagles continue to pound the ball inside against UC's defense. They have 34 points in the paint to 16 for UC.

Marquette 50, UC 42 - 10:09 second half

UC is now on a 9-2 run. Marquette just called timeout. Dominic James is 0-7 from the field, 0-5 from 3-point range. He has three points.

Marquette 50, UC 39 - 11:11 second half

Marquette is slicing through UC's defense like it's not even there, shooting layup after layup. The Golden Eagles are 9-15 from the floor in the second half and generally outhustling UC all over the floor. Vaughn now has 17 points for UC. No one else has more than six. UC is shooting 29.3 percent from the field and is getting outrebounded, 29-24.

Marquette 38, UC 29 - 15:46 second half

The fans are booing Adam H., who has just missed two more layups. Vaughn's 3-pointer with 18:32 left ended a period of more than seven minutes without a field goal for UC. They still have just one in the second half. Marquette, meanwhile, is beating the Bearcats down the floor in transition. Barro now has 12 points, two off his season high. He is not missing his layups.

Marquette 28, UC 24 - Halftime

Kenny Belton continues to be an adventure when he shoots free throws. This time, on his second attempt, he lost control of the ball, the other players went into the lane, then he regained control and somehow made the shot. Those two free throws were the only two points UC scored in the last 5:49 of the half, while Marquette was outscoring them, 15-2. The missed layup count for UC is at least five, maybe more. Honestly, the Bearcats should probably have a 10-15 point lead right now.

UC 22, Marquette 20 - 2:40 first half

Adam H. just missed another layup. UC has missed at least four layups by my unofficial count. They also committed a senseless turnover when Jamual Warren was called for a 10-second violation as he walked the ball up the court. Sure enough, Marquette has taken advantage of UC's miscues. The Golden Eagles are on a 7-0 run and have trimmed a 22-13 to deficit to 22-20.

Adam H.

Adam H. just missed another layup. Maybe Cronin isn't using him right. Every time he gets a shot in close he should dribble outside the line and shoot a 3.

UC 14, Marquette 11 - 9:26 first half

Kenny Belton missed a wide open dunk. Remember that one if UC loses by two points. But then Deonta Vaughn made a basket that hit the rim about five times before it bounced in. He and John Williamson were laughing about it as Vaughn waited to shoot his free throw. Cronin just called time out after Ousmane Barro just made his third uncontested layup.

UC 11, Marquette 6 - 11:33 first half

Cronin is making the most of his depth. Six and a half minutes into the game, he had already used nine players and has two more about to enter after the TV timeout. UC is up by five but could be and probably should be up by a lot more. Marquette has made only 2 of 11 shots. UC is 4-13 and has missed a number of easy shots already.

UC 9, Marquette 4 - 15:49 first half

UC came out with a lot of intensity. They're playing with a lot of confidence, probably a carryover from what they did to West Virginia Wednesday night. The place is almost full. Although it doesn't appear to be a sellout, this should be the largest home crowd of the season.

Mike Kitts on hand

Mike Kitts, the man who heaved Chuck Machock out of the NCAA Tournament game five years ago, is doing the game today.

No red suit

Cronin and the coaching staffs from both schools are wearing sneakers to show their support for the fight against cancer as part of an effort sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Cronin, who had hinted Friday that he might create a wardrobe splash along the lines of Bob Huggins’ gold suit, was dressed conservatively in a red shirt, black UC sweater vest and white slacks. The UC players are wearing their red uniforms. Mick doesn't look at all like an elf, as Marvin Gentry suggested. He looks more like an usher.

Can Cronin match Huggins thread for thread?

Mick hinted today that because tomorrow's Marquette game is a Ring of Red game, he might have a wardrobe surprise of his own, something along the lines of the gold suit that Bob Huggins wore Wednesday night.

“We’ll have to see how I dress,” Cronin said. “I can’t let the cat out of the bag. We’ve got to get everybody to the game so you see how I dress.”

UC guard Marvin Gentry, for one, doesn’t think a red suit would be a good look for his coach.
“He’d look like an elf, maybe,” Gentry said. “He’s already little.”

Selling disrespect

Mick Cronin doesn't think his team is getting enough credit nationally for what it's done in the Big East. Or maybe he likes the fact that he keeps hearing about what a bad loss it was for Louisville to lose to UC or that West Virginia had a bad shooting night, with no credit being given to UC's defense. As long as that kind of talk continues, he has something to sell to his players.

"I sell it to them all the time" Cronin said today. "The fact is that we've been playing as well as anybody in our league ouside of Georgetown since Jan. 1. Look at the teams we've beaten in the Big East and look at the quality wins we have. Find me another Big East team that’s beaten the quality of teams that we have. I tell our players that all the time. We’ve earned what we've gotten so far. Nothing's been handed to us from the day we all got here. But you hear a lot of announcers out there and a lot of things written the places we go about Cincinnati in a not so positive light, even when we have success."

Ring of Red games

From the UC athletic department: Fans attending the UC men's game vs. Marquette and the UC women's game vs. Notre Dame on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena are asked to wear red to show support for the Bearcats in a Ring of Red game. The men's game starts at noon, the women's game at 3.