Springing into football

Now that Opening Day is upon us and we know who’s in the Final Four it’s time to turn our attention to……UC spring football.

Here are a few things to watch when spring drills get underway Tuesday:

How do Connor Barwin and Craig Carey adjust to defensive end? Moving Carey from quarterback to defensive end makes sense because it gives Carey a chance to get on the field. But the Barwin move seems rather drastic and is a sign that the Bearcats don’t have much at that position. How much will Barwin buy into playing defense after three years at tight end?

How good is Kazeem Alli? Brian Kelly wouldn’t have moved a quality player like Barwin if he didn’t believe that he had an adequate replacement. Alli has been highly regarded since he arrived at UC. Now he gets his chance to show what he can do. The Barwin move might also create more playing time for Ben Guidugli.

Is Demetrius Jones the answer at quarterback? While Ben Mauk still holds out hope that the NCAA might see things his way, Kelly has no choice but to assume that Mauk is finished at UC. The spring will go a long way toward determining if Notre Dame gave up too quickly on Jones or if Charlie Weis knew what he was doing when he demoted him last year.

Will John Goebel push Jacob Ramsey at running back? Kelly decided to redshirt Goebel last year because the sophomore had so much potential. Now with the three seniors from last year gone, the position is wide open. Goebel will challenge Ramsey during the spring and both of them will face competition in the fall from heralded freshman Isaiah Pead.

How good is Adrien Robinson, a redshirt freshman who excites Kelly with his combination of size and speed (he runs a 4.5 40)? “There aren’t too many guys who fit his athletic profile,” Kelly said. “It’s going to be fun to watch him in the spring.”

The best of times, the worst of times

After reading Dustin Dow's "By the numbers" in the paper today and learning that Xavier's 55 wins in the past two years are the most for any two-year period in XU history, I wondered if the opposite might not be true for UC- if the 38 losses of the past two seasons might be the most losses in any two-year period for the Bearcats. It turns out this is not the losingest two-year period in UC history. But it does rank third.

UC was 11-17 in Ed Badger's last year in 1982-83. The Bearcats followed that with a 3-25 record in 1983-84, Tony Yates' first season. That's 42 losses in two years.

They improved to 17-14 in 1984-85, but combined with the previous season that still gave them 39 losses in two years.

The best two-year periods for UC were the national championship years of 1960-61 and 1961-62 when they won 56 games. They matched that total in 1998-99 and 1999-00 and again in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Byrd suspended for season opener

Terrill Byrd, UC’s All-American defensive tackle, has been suspended for the Bearcats’ Aug. 28 season opener vs. Eastern Kentucky.

Byrd, a junior from Colerain High School, was cited for smoking marijuana on March 5 at his residence in the 2800 block of Bearcat Way.
He paid a $65 fine and $90 in costs on March 15.

“We said we would handle that matter and we are handling that internally,” UC coach Brian Kelly said today. “We think we’ve handed out the appropriate punishment for what we thought was poor judgment. He’s going to be suspended for the opener against Eastern Kentucky.”

Scotty Hopson

You may have seen the USA Today story today in which Scotty Hopson listed his five final schools and noticed that UC was not among them. Don't believe it. UC is still very much involved. I'm hearing that three schools remain in the running - Mississippi State (the school he originally committed to before reopening his recruitment), Tennessee and UC.

Barwin moving to defensive end

Connor Barwin, a tight end during his first three years at the University of Cincinnati, will line up at defensive end next Tuesday when the Bearcats begin spring practice.

Barwin, from Hazel Park, Mich., caught 31 passes for 399 yards and two touchdowns last season, averaging 12.9 yards per catch.

He caught seven passes for 86 yards in UC’s PapaJohn’s.com Bowl victory over Southern Miss and six passes for 109 yards in the Bearcats’ regular-season win over Miami.

But UC coach Brian Kelly is convinced that because of his size and athleticism, Barwin can help the team more on defense after the departure of defensive ends Anthony Hoke and Angelo Craig.

“We graduated two very good defensive ends,” Kelly said. “We’re a four-down defense and we needed to complement what we do defensively. Connor has the ability to make us a better defense than last year. When we started looking at trying to get people in the right position, his name was one I couldn’t turn away from anymore.”

Kelly said Barwin was surprised when the move was first suggested, but that he gradually warmed to the idea.

The UC coach said the position change could actually enhance Barwin’s stock as an NFL prospect.

“His junior day was off the charts,” Kelly said. “He ran a 4.6 40. At 6-5, 255 pounds, the dozen or so NFL scouts looked pretty enamored with him and the thought of him playing defense. As we moved closer to making this decision, that kind of sealed it for us.”

The move is not just another spring practice experiment. In Kelly’s mind, it’s a done deal. Barwin is now a defensive end.

“That’s where we need him to play,” Kelly said. “I’m very confident that he can do it over there or I wouldn’t have made the move.

“As we sat and talked about it, it made a lot of sense. He’s going to be given an opportunity to line up and run around and be the athletic player that he is. He’ll never come off the field. He’s got a chance to play every snap.”

With Barwin now a defensive player, fourth-year junior Kazeem Alli is the likely starter at tight end. Alli played in 12 games last season. He caught two passes for 54 yards.

Hopson on TV tonight

UC fans can watch the McDonald's All-American game tonight at 9:30 on ESPN and salivate over the prospect of having shooting guard Scotty Hopson playing for the Bearcats next season. UC remains in the running for Hopson, who's considered one of the top 10 players in the 2008 recruiting class. He'll play for the West team. If Mick Cronin can pull it off, he would be quite an addition to a recruiting class that already includes point guard Cashmere Wright, power forward Yancy Gates, and guards Dion Dixon and Varez Ward.

Wright shines in Germany

UC recruit Cashmere Wright scored 12 points with four assists and three rebounds in 22 minutes playing for Team USA in its first game in the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim, Germany. The tournament is a biennial tournament featuring some of the world's top under-18 players. In the paset, such players as Magic Johnson, Toni Kukoc, Tim Duncaon, Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker have played in this event.

Ward commits to UC

UC received a commitment today from Varez Ward, a 6-2 combo guard from Montgomery, Ala., who played this year for the Patterson School in Patterson, N.C. Here's the assessment of Ward, who was at UC's practice the other day, from Jerry Meyer of Rivals.com.

"He's athletic. He can really jump. He's strong, a good defender. Skill-wise, he's solid. He could extend his shooting range some. He's not really a long-range shooter, but a slasher. He's a good combo guard. He can handle the point guard some. I don't think that's his primary position, but he can certainly guard the point guard position. He's a solid player, but he's not going to score a whole lot of points. That's not his forte. He's a good pickup. He's a solid 3-star player."

With Ward and guard Dion Dixon, both of whom are expected to sign next month, UC has four commitments for next year. That includes Yancy Gates and point guard Cashmere Wright. But Mick Cronin is not finished recruiting. He could still have as many as two scholarships remaining if Western Carolina transfer Nick Aldridge pays his own way, which is a distinct possibility, and if Alvin Mitchell does not return.

UC is still in the running for shooting guard Scotty Hopson and Steven Hoyloy, a 6-9 center from Miami-Dade Community College.

McClain surgery

Mick Cronin confirmed after the game that Anthony McClain will have surgery on Friday to remove a bone spur from the top of the foot that bothered him all season. McClain needs to have a productive summer if he's going to help this team next year. He nees to get stronger and he needs to work on his footwork. It all starts withi him getting healthy.

Bradley 70, UC 67

OK, this time it's really over, although someone suggested after the game that maybe the CBI has something similar to wrestle-backs, where the Bearcats would play Brown next and then keep playing until they lose again. No such luck. There is no consolation bracket in the CBI. In the end, as Mick Cronin said after the game, it was the same story, UC was just too limited offensively with too small of a margin for error. There are many who believe that UC didn't belong in the postseason with its record and I understand that. It's hard to make a case for a team with a 13-18 record and a six-game losing streak, but I don't blame Cronin or his team for wanting to play. As Cronin said, these seniors, while they may not be the most talented, gave him everything they had the last two years. If they wanted to play another game, who was he to say no? So now you can look ahead to next year, presumably with a little more offensive firepower and a little more margin for error. May the CBI, bless its good intentions, be a one-time experience for the UC basketball program.

Bradley 60, UC 52 - 3:04 second half

The Bearcats are up to 18 turnovers. Meanwhile, Bradley's 3-point shooting, which is its offensive strength, has kicked in just enough to give the Braves a comfortable lead.

Bradley 54, UC 47 - 6:20 second half

Bradley's Jeremy Crouch is living up to his reputation. He has 20 points. UC, as usual, is getting scoring from two players - Vaughn (15) and Williamson (12).

Bradley 37, UC 34 - 15:25 second half

UC started the second half with two quick turnovers. Williamson picked up his third foul less than a minute into the second half. Without him in the lineup, the Bearcats are down to one reliable scorer in Vaughn, much the same way they were against Pitt in the Big East tournament.

Bradley 29, UC 28 - halftime

Jamual Warren's runner just before time expired pulled UC within one. The Bearcats are doing a terrible job of taking care of the ball. Anthony McClain is getting an inordinate amount of playing time for UC. Vaughn has 12 points at halftime. He needs 35 tonight to hit the 1,000-point mark.

Bradley 24, UC 21 - 3:50 first half

Bradley is on an 8-1 run. UC has turned the ball over three straight times and 10 times overall in the first half. Bradley, which makes its living shooting threes, just made its first one with 4:57 to go.

Technical foul update

Now the officials are saying that Warren was also called for a T, so no free throws were attempted.

UC 12, Bradley 6 - 11:16 first half

UC's Larry Davis was just called for a technical foul for shoving Bradley's Andrew Warren. Davis' shove came after a double foul was called on the two players for shoving each other. It's a virtual shove-fest. Anyway, that counts for two fouls on Davis.

UC 4, Bradley 2 - 15:30 first half

Both teams are having trouble finding the basket in the early going. There's actually a decent crowed here considering the situation. They may be somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 fans on hand.

My thoughts on UC-OSU football

Of course, it would have been nice to have Ohio State play UC at PBS in 2012, but Brian Kelly had it right when he said that OSU was only doing what it had a right to do under the terms of the contract that was negotiated in 2003. Before you get all indignant about OSU backing out of a commitment, consider that UC adopts a similar stance when it comes to playing long-time rivals Dayton and Miami. The Bearcats don't play Dayton at all and will play Miami only at Fifth Third Arena or at U.S. Bank Arena. The fact is that in college athletics, the big boys have all the advantages. That's why UC wanted to badly to get into the Big East.

I would much rather see UC and Ohio State play each other in basketball on a regular basis, but Thad Matta made it quite clear last year in Indianapolis that that's not likely to happen. It's obvious that the only reason OSU agreed to play UC last year was that the UC program was in a shambles and Matta knew there was no way the Buckeyes could lose.

In college sports, there's very little concern anymore about neighborhood rivals or matchups that fans want to see. It's all about how much money you can make and how you can position yourself for the post-season to make even more money. That's just a fact of life.

I know that UC likes to think that because it's in a BCS conference it is now on a par with Ohio State in football, but believe me, they don't see it that way in Columbus. And probably never will.

On the scene at the CBI

OK, here I am at Carver Arena in downtown Peoria and my first priority is to see if they have any CBI T-shirts for sale. I have to have one of those things, if such an animal exists. It will be interesting - well, mildly interesting - to see how many people show up to watch this.

UC-Ohio State football

I know a lot of you have been waiting to hear what's going on with the UC-Ohio State football series, what with all the rumors floating around today. I didn't want to post anything until I knew the true story.

Here it is, according to a UC release:

Ohio State indicated a desire to opt out of the 2012 game, which was to be played at Paul Brown Stadium, and had the right to do that under a buyout clause. UC then negotiated an agreement to play the game in Columbus, with Ohio State paying UC $1,000,000. The 2014 game, the last one from a contract that was signed in 2003, will be played in Columbus. UC will be paid $375,000 for that game.

"You know how I feel," said UC coach Brian Kelly. "I'll play anybody anywhere anyplace. My philosophy has always been that we need to play Ohio State. If they don't want to play here, I'll play them in a parking lot in Xenia."

Congratulations to Corie Blount

Corie Blount, who played on UC's 1992 Final Four team and the 1993 Elite Eight team, is taking his last final exam tonight and expects to receive his degree next week. Good for him. Not only is he getting his degree, unlike some former UC players who turned against their school after Bob Huggins was let go, Blount returned to help coach the Bearcats under Andy Kennedy two years ago after Keith LeGree was forced to resign. He told me after that experience that he wanted to get into coaching full-time but that he needed his degree to do it. Now he's about to get that degree. Obviously, he wasn't just talking.

Clarification - UC would host second round

The information that I received Evan Olesh of the CBI was incorrect. In fact, UC requested only that it not host a first-round game. According to senior associate athletic director Mike Waddell, if the Bearcats beat Bradley on Wednesday, they will host the second-round game at Fifth Third Arena.

More on UC in the CBI

I just talked to Evan Olesh, director of communications for The Gazelle Group, which is putting the CBI together. I asked him why UC was attractive for his tournament given the fact that the Bearcats have a 13-18 record and a six-game losing streak that included a 45-point loss at UConn.

"There were a lot of factors that went into almost every team being in the tournament," Olesh said. "One of the factors from Cincinnati is that they did express high interest in wanting their team to continue to play. They wanted their seniors to hopefully go out on a high note.

"We were thrilled to have them. We understand they had a down year but we like the name Cincinnati. The way the NIT bracket panned out they took a lot of teams they normally would not have in the past. It put us in an almost awkward situation in filling our bracket but we like the way it turned out."

Olesh said that UC is on the road because UC officials requested not to host any games. He also said that UC and the other schools will be paid only their expenses, so the school doesn't stand to make any money off this deal.

More on UC in the CBI

New rules

I will no longer post comments referring to Mick Cronin as "Sippin' Mick" or any other derogatory nickname. It's fine to criticize his coaching, but he doesn't deserve to be subject to that kind of disrespect. Also, no more comments regarding Nancy Zimpher and what she's done to the basketball program. It's been almost three years. We all get it by now. It serves no purpose to continue to post the same comments over and over again. Try to come up with some new stuff. If it's exhausting for me to read those comments over and over again - and it is - it has to be exhausting for readers of this blog, too.

Brian Kelly on Terrill Byrd

Brian Kelly said today the athletic department is in the process of investigating the incident that resulted in All-American defensive tackle Terrill Byrd being cited for marijuana use.

“He was never arrested,” Kelly said. “He was issued a ticket. It was a matter where there was marijuana smoke, there was the presence of the smell of marijuana coming from his room. You’re going to be ticketed for that whether you’re responsible for that or not.

“From our standpoint we’re going to investigate that matter a little more closely. We have a lot of tools at our disposal and we’re going to use them all. All I’m saying is that we’ve got some work to do to try to put everything together.”

According to court documents, Byrd, a junior from Colerain High School, was caught smoking marijuana at his residence in the 2800 block of Bearcat Way at 11 p.m. on March 5.

On Saturday, March 15, he paid a $65 dollar fine and $90 in costs.

Kelly said no disciplinary action has been taken with regard to Byrd pending the outcome of the school’s investigation.

“We’ve got to handle some things internally,” he said. “If there’s further action to take we will make it known because of his profile.”

CBI field

Here's the rest of the CBI field, according to its web site:

March 18
Richmond at Virginia
Houston at Nevada
Brown at Ohio
Rider at Old Dominion

March 19
UC at Bradley, 7 p.m.
Valparaiso at Washington
Miami at Tulsa
Utah at UTEP

Quarterfinals: March 24
Semifinals: March 26
Championship Series (best of three): March 31, April 2, April 4

The winner of the UC-Bradley game on Wednesday will play the winner of Ohio-Brown in the quarterfinals.

When the tournament reaches the semifinals, the teams are re-seeded one through four, with the two higher seeds hosting games.

In the championship series, game one is played at the higher seed, game two at the lower seed, and game three, if necessary, back at the higher seed.

UC's first-round game is on Fox College Sports.
Enjoy! I guess.

UC now playing Bradley

Just got the call from Mick Cronin. Forget Virginia or Penn State. Now UC is playing at Bradley on Wednesday night. Bradley is 17-15 and finished in sixth place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 9-9 record. UC regularly played Bradley when the Bearcats were in the MVC. They lead the series, 19-13. Their last meeting was on Dec. 21, 1981, the famous seven-overtime game that UC won, 75-73, at Bradley.

UC not finished yet

The University of Cincinnati basketball team isn’t finished playing this season after all.

The Bearcats learned late Sunday night that they have been invited to play in the inaugural 16-team College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday at either Penn State (15-16) or Virginia (15-15).

“We’ll find out our opponent (Monday) morning,” said senior associate athletic director Mike Waddell said.

UC (13-18) lost its last six games, including its first-round game in the Big East Tournament last Wednesday, 70-64, to Pittsburgh, the eventual Big East champion.

“To say that our guys are excited is an understatement,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “When I rounded them up to tell them they were jumping through the phone.”

UC officials had been in contact with both the CBI near the end of the regular season.

“Last week, after the end of the season we sent out a note saying thanks for the consideration and good luck with your first tournament,” Waddell said, “just keeping in contact with them. We got a call tonight at about 9:25.”

Cronin said CBI officials told UC that the tournament was not concerned about the Bearcats’ record.

“They’re trying to get the best teams available that aren’t in the NCAA Tournament,” Cronin said. “I was surprised, but when you start looking at our strength of schedule and the way we played against Pitt. It’s arguable that we played them better than Marquette and Georgetown.”

UC vs. the field

By my count, UC played 14 of its 31 games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats went 4-10 in those games, with the wins coming over Pitt, Louisville, West Virginia and Villanova. Nine of their 31 games were against teams that received a No. 4 seed or higher.

Byrd pays fine

University of Cincinnati defensive tackle Terrill Byrd on Saturday paid a $65 dollar fine and $90 in costs in connection with a March 5 incident in which he was arrested and charged with drug abuse, according to the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts web site.

According to court documents, Byrd - a second-team All-American in 2007 - was caught smoking marijuana at his residence in the 2800 block of Bearcat Way at 11 p.m. on March 5.

An arrest warrant had been issued for him after he failed to appear in court on the charge Friday.

No comment from Brian Kelly

I talked to Brian Kelly this afternoon. He said that due to privacy issues he could not comment on the Terrill Byrd situation other than to say that the matter would be handled internally. He said that under UC's athletic department drug policy, an athlete who tests positive for drugs the first time is automatically suspended for 10 percent of his team's games. He said all of UC's football players have been tested, but could not discuss individual results of those tests.

Byrd drug charge

If you haven't seen it on our web site, there's a story by news reporter Kimball Perry about Terrill Byrd, UC's second-team All-American defensive tackle, and his former Colerain High School teammate, Mister Simpson, both of whom have had warrants issued for their arrest after they didn't show up today for a court appearance. Both were facing a drug abuse charge after they were arrested on March 5 for allegedly smoking marijuana. I'm trying to reach Brian Kelly now.

Looking ahead

Here are a few choice tidbits from my interview with Mick Cronin looking ahead to next season and discussing the current state of the program:

“We’ve won enough games now and people now nationally in recruiting circles – kids, parents, coaches – see, hey, they’re back. No matter what anybody says, that’s the prevailing thought out there.”

“I’m excited about the talent level we’ve got coming in. Our experience won’t be quite as good but our talent will be better. We’ll be able to score the ball more, but we’ll have a lot of new guys so it’s important that we get our schedule as good as we can get it next year.”

On Alvin Mitchell's status:
“I’ll be meeting with Alvin. He’ll have an opportunity in the spring to rejoin the program. That’s going to be solely up to him. I’m building the program in a certain fashion. I’m building for the long term where character and academics are important.”

On the length of the rebuilding process:
“It’s frustrating, sure, because your fans want to win and they want it to happen sooner rather than later and your detractors that are always going to be upset over Coach Huggins’ departure are always going to jump on you. I can’t control that.”

It's over

Surely no one wanted to see the season end with six straight losses, but it was clear down the stretch that this team, extremely limited to start with, simply ran out of gas. Give them credit for fighting to the end agaisnt Pitt after absorbing that 45-point loss to UConn.

“We fought hard to get to the Big East tournament,” Mick Cronin said. “That’s all we were focused on. So now that we’re here we wanted to make sure that we showed what Cincinnati basketball was all about – fight hard, compete, never give up. Anybody that was in the arena tonight saw that.”

Of course, fighting hard is not the goal here. Winning is. The Bearcats surpassed what they were able to do last year, but now they have to take up another few notches next year to keep this thing on course. Whether they'll be able to do that remains to be seen, but the fact that Rashad Bishop was more assertive tonight, scoring 11 points with five rebounds, was a good sign.

I talked briefly with Mike Williams after the game and he's champing at the bit to get to next season. He should make a big difference. He needs to. So does Yancy Gates and Cashmere Wright.

Pitt 64, UC 56 - 3:30 second half

Vaughn did what he could, but Pitt has a variety of offensive options and UC has, well, just Vaughn. So this one is just about over. Williamson, who scored 27 points in the last Pitt game, has just six.

Pitt 56, UC 51 - 7:06 second half

Of course, there is one way that UC could come back and that's if Vaughn gets hot, which he is now. He has just scored eight straight points, making three straight 3-pointers.

Pitt 48, UC 40 - 11:17 second half

An eight-point deficit with more than 11 minutes left shouldn't be insurmountable but UC is so bad offensively, gets so few easy baskets and gets to the free throw line so infrequently that it's just hard to see how the Bearcats could make up eight points during that span.

Pitt 41, UC 34 - 15:42 second half

We just saw an example of why UC doesn't win more games. After Pitt missed a shot, UC failed to lock up the rebound. A Pitt player flipped the ball back to a teammate at the top of the key just before falling out of bounds. Pitt then passed it inside for a layup and UC helped when Anthony McClain committed a foolish foul. So instead of UC being at the other end with the ball and no points scored, Pitt is on the line for a 3-point play, looking to spread its lead to eight.

Pitt 31, UC 25 -halftime

UC is doing what it needs to do defensively to give itself a chance to win this game. Give the Bearcats credit. They're playing pretty hard for a team that just got whipped by 45 points.

Oscar honored

Oscar Robertson was just honored at midcourt to commemorate the night on Jan. 9, 1958 when he scored 56 points as a UC sophomore, outscoring the entire Seton Hall team in a 118-54 win over Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden. Oscar was presented with a framed black and white picture of himself in a UC uniform by UC athletic director Mike Thomas, who was joined on the floor by UC president Nancy Zimpher. As Zimpher continued to clap her hands during the announcement, Oscar reached down and stopped her, as if he were embarrassed and then kissed Zimpher on the cheek.

PItt 15, UC 12 - 11:49 first half

The Bearcats have settled down and they're hanging in there. Their defense is much better this game so far than it was in the last meeting vs. Pitt. Needless to say, it's also much better than what they played against UConn. DeJuan Blair has yet to score for Pitt, which is a good sign for UC.

Pitt 11,UC 6 - 14:59 first half

UC got a rare 4-point play from Rashad Bishop, who, at least at the outset, is playing with an intensity I haven't seen from him very often. But the Bearcats have already committed four turnovers and Pitt has already knocked down three 3-pointers. Not a good start for the Bearcats.

Huggins continued

"I don't know how any team that wins 11 games in this league is not an NCAA Tournament team," Huggins said. "I was at Akron for five years and I know hard it is and how hard those guys work, but the reality is that if it's the 34 best (at-large) teams, put those teams in our league and see how many they win. This has to be the hardest league in the country."

Huggins, at his first Big East Tournament, was impressed by the way the tournament is run and by the interest that it generates here in New York. "This is the way things are supposed to be done," he said.

Dapper Huggs thinks his team is in

There was no garish gold suit or boots for the Big East Tournament. If you watched on TV you noticed that Bob Huggins was dressed very tastefully in a dark suit with a dark blue mock turtle neck shirt. After West Virginia knocked off Providence in Huggins' first Big East game, he declared that he thought the Mountaineers would be in the NCAA Tournament.

A little NY humor

On my walk here to MSG, I passed someone sitting on the sidewalk holding a sign that read: "I only need $43,000 so I can get a nice girl like our governor." He didn't seem to be having much success, but he did provide me with a chuckle.

Back on the horse

I just arrived at the hotel in New York and talked with Mick Cronin. He said the Bearcats had one of their most physical practices of the year on Monday after what he referred to as the "debacle" against UConn.

“The guys have responded,” Cronin said. “Suffice it to say that (Monday) was our most physical practice of the year. We’ve got to make sure that we get our confidence back. Obviously, I was disappointed in our effort in our last game. Things kind of snowballed on us. Our focus is getting back to being physically competitive.”

UC stayed in Storrs to practice on Monday, then took a bus to New York. The Bearcats will play Pitt at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the Big East Tournament. The question is, do they have anything left in their tank after the beat-down they absorbed Sunday?

Incidentally, Pitt is 19-8 at Madison Square Garden since 2000-01. The Panthers are 2-0 there this year and have won four of their last give games.

Vaughn first-team all-Big East

Sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn today was one of 10 players named to the all-Big East first team. Vaughn is averaging 16.7 points per game, which ranks seventh in the league. He also ranks 11th in assists (4.07), seventh in free throw percentage (8.5) and third in 3-point field goal percentage (39.3).

"He's been a godsend for us," Mick Cronin said. "When I got the job, things could have been a lot worse. Fortunately we were able to find a diamond in the rough like Deonta Vaughn and outsmart all the guys who didn’t sign him. It's helped accelerate the rebuilding process here."

UConn 96, UC 51 - postgame

I've been doing this for a long, long time. I was there for some pretty bad teams during the Tony Yates coaching era, but needless to say I've never seen anything like this. Usually when games get out of hand like this in the first half, the superior teams loses some intensity in the second half and the final score ends up being fairly presentable. That's what happened last year vs. Ohio State. But not today. It just kept getting worse and worse so that I spent most of the second half flipping through the media guide trying to figure out how this loss stacked up historically. What Dan Hoard and I came up with is that it was the worst loss since Feb. 14, 1913 when the Bearcats fell to Denison, 78-29. It was also the worst loss in Big East Conference history.

After it was over, Mick Cronin said this will only make him more determined to get the job done at UC.

“Right now, as bad as this is,” Cronin said, “it’s step two of a four- or five-step process. You’ve got to be tough in this business. You can’t take a job that you know is going to require a ton of toughness on your part and hard work and fortitude to get the job one..you can’t waiver or you should have never taken the job in the first place.”

UConn 47, UC 15 - Halftime

Here are the ugly numbers: UC is 5-32 from the field. Vaughn and Warren each have three fouls. UC has 10 turnovers. UConn has blocked seven UC shots. You'll excuse me, I hope, if I don' t conitnue with blow-by-blow description the rest of the way. You get the idea.

UConn 36, UC 10 - 3:15 first half

The UConn run finally ended after 30 straight points when John Williamson made a running layup for UC. That ended a string of 16 straight missed shots for the Bearcats. Williamson scored again moments later on a follow shot, which so enraged UConn coach Jim Calhoun that he called timeout. The Bearcats are now 4-27, 1-8 from 3-point range.

UConn 36, UC 5 - 5:56 first half

As the great Dick Enberg often says, "Oh, my." It's now a 30-point run for UConn. Mick Cronin was called for a technical foul, apparently for protesting the lack of a goal tending call.

UConn 27, UC 5 - 7:57 first half

It's now a 21-0 UConn run. UC has missed 11 straight shots with five turnovers during that span. With five points, the Bearcats need to score 14 in the last 7:57 to avoid their lowest one-half point total of the season - 18 in the first half vs. Illinois State.

UConn 17, UC 5 - 11:50 first half

UC's defensive woes continue. UConn made 6 of its first 10 shots, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. The Huskies seem to be able to do pretty much anything they want to do on offense. Stop me if you've heard this before, but UC is having trouble scoring. UConn is on a 13-0 run. UC hasn't scored in 4:20.

UConn 9, UC 5 - 15:08 first half

It's been about what you would expect. UConn is 4-5 from the field, UC 2-6. It probably doesn't mean anything but the UC players seemed very relaxed and loose as the they took the floor for the center jump.

Oscar's big night

The New York Times today has a first-person story by Oscar Robertson about the night - Jan. 9, 1958 - when Oscar scored 56 points in the old Madison Square Garden. In the story, Oscar talks about walking out into the "empty and glowing" streets after talking with a horde of reporters and heading back to the hotel with his roommate, Chuck Machock. Fifty years later, Oscar will be honored for his achievement Wednesday during UC's first-round Big East Tournament game at The Garden.

No Gentry today

Marvin Gentry, still bothered by plantar fasciitis, is sitting on the bench in street clothes. He won't play today.

Latest scenario

With Seton Hall's loss to Rutgers, UC's Big East Tournament boils down to this: If the Bearcats beat UConn today they will be the No. 8 seed and will play No. 9 seed Villanova at noon Wednesday. If they lose today, they will be the No. 10 seed and will play No. 7 seed Pitt at 7 p.m. Seton Hall is the No. 11 seed, with Providence at No. 12.

Dan Hoard returning next year

Nothing is official yet, but radio play-by-play man Dan Hoard, whose contract expires at the end of this season, says he expects to return next season. Hoard, who lives in the Boston area and does Class AAA Pawtucket baseball during the summer, said he has talked with both UC and WLW radio officials and everything appears to be in order for his return.

Today's scenario

Here's how I have it figured: If UC wins today, it will land the N0. 8 seed and will play No. 9 seed Villanova at noon Wednesday in the opening round of the Big East Tournament. If UC loses and Seton Hall beats Rutgers, the Bearcats would fall all the way to the No. 11 seed, in which case they would play No. 6 seed Marquette at 9 p.m. Wednesday. If UC loses and Seton Hall loses to Rutgers, the Bearcats would be the No. 10 seed and would play No. 7 seed Pitt (assuming the Panthers finish beating DePaul this afternoon) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

UC travel update

After an aborted attempt to reach Storrs, Conn. on Friday night, the University of Cincinnati basketball team was expected to arrive on the University of Connecticut campus late tonight in time to play its regular-season finale vs. No. 13 UConn at 6 p.m. Sunday.
The Bearcats were originally scheduled to leave Cincinnati Friday night on a 7:40 p.m. flight for Hartford.

After that flight was cancelled the Bearcats boarded a bus with the intention of driving to Detroit, from where they would catch a flight to Harford.

But road conditions were so bad as the bus approached I-75 near downtown that UC coach Mick Cronin ordered it to turn around and return to the UC campus.

The Bearcats then scheduled a 7:30 p.m. charter flight to take them to Hartford, where they were to board a bus for the 45-minute drive to Storrs.

The game was originally scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday, was temporarily moved to 8 p.m. Saturday and finally to today’s 6 p.m. starting time.

Meanwhile, Chuck Machock and I have already arrived on a commercial flight. There's no snow here, just a lot of rain. If the team can't arrive, Chuck can play point guard and I'm pretty confident that I can handle Hasheem Thabeet.

UC-UConn to play Sunday

UC just announced that tonight's game at UConn has been postponed and will be played at 6 Sundady night in Storrs. The team is tentatively scheduled to fly out of Cincinnati tonight.

New game time

Just got this from UC: if they can get in the air by 2 p.m. Saturday, they'll play UConn at 8 p.m. instead of the scheduled 4 p.m. game time. If they can't, they will move the game to Sunday at 6.

Mauk update

Ben Mauk is taking one more shot at securing another year of eligibility to play football at the University of Cincinnati.
UC coach Brian Kelly said Friday that Mauk has provided the school with additional information regarding an injury he suffered before he enrolled at Wake Forest in 2003 that precluded him from playing for the Demon Deacons during his true freshman year.
Mauk was redshirted as a freshman at Wake. He enrolled at UC as a graduate student last year and became the Bearcats’ starting quarterback after injuries to his arm and his shoulder wiped out all but one game of his junior year at Wake Forest.
But the NCAA ruled on Feb. 12 that Mauk was not entitled to a sixth year in which to complete his five years of eligibility because his redshirt year as a freshman was not the result of an injury, but a decision by the school to have him sit out.
Now Mauk apparently is claiming that an injury would have prevented him from playing to his full potential that year anyway.
“He’s essentially including some additional information to the original information he sent out,” Kelly said, “that going into his first year at Wake he had a screw put in his foot. He’s got medical documentation. We’re submitting it on his behalf and we’ll see where it takes him.”
Mike Mauk, Ben’s father and high school coach at Kenton (Ohio) High School, confirmed Friday that he and Ben had provided UC with additional information, but would not go into specifics.
“We’re going to wait and see what they say,” Mike Mauk said. “I don’t know that I want to say everything right now.”
Kelly said the school plans to submit the new information to the NCAA within the next few days.
“We’re waiting for some additional medical information from the surgeon that took care of Ben,” Kelly said.
Asked why Mauk didn’t submit this information as part of his original request for a hardship waiver, Kelly said, “I think Ben’s got some clarity in his own mind relative to what the NCAA was looking for. What they were looking for was two separate seasons where he was affected by an injury.
“It put his attention now on, OK, well in 2003 I was redshirted., but here’s the deal. I couldn’t be the quarterback I wanted to be in the spread offense. He’s claiming, and he’s got medical documentation to back it up, that after track season, they put a screw in his foot.”
Mauk’s claim could be hurt by a comment he made last month after he learned that his hardship waiver had been denied, when he told reporters it wasn’t his idea to redshirt as a freshman.
“I thought I could help the team out,” he said, “and I wasn’t allowed to play, so I thought it was out of my control.”

White death has lead over UC

UC's flight to Hartford tonight has been cancelled, so what happens to that 4 p.m. game tomorrow at UConn remains to be seen. Right now, the team is exploring its options in conjunction with the league office.

Two big questions

As the snow continues to fall, two key questions come to mind:

Question No. 1: Will our flight to Hartford tonight go as planned so that we can arrive in time for tomorrow afternoon's 4 p.m. game vs. UConn?

Question No. 2: Will UC win another game this season? They way they've played lately the answer to Question No. 2 would seem to be no. If anything, UC is getting worse offensively as the season nears the end. If they lose to UConn, as expected, and then lose in the first round of the Big East Tournament next week, they would finish up on a 6-game losing streak, which would be a really terrible way to end what once was such a promising season.

Here's hoping that Nick Aldridge, Cashmere Wright, Yancy Gates, Mike Williams and Dion Dixon can put the ball in the basket next season because it's really hard to watch a team that can't score.

DePaul 60, UC 54 - Postgame

Someone in the postgame asked Mick Cronin if it wasn't a sad thing that the seniors had to go out with a loss in their last home game. (It wasn't soft-hearted me who asked the question). Mick's proper response was the seniors should be disappointed and embarrassed over the way they played.

I don't know if this is the worst offensive team I've ever covered at UC but if it's not, last year's team was.

During those five minutes when UC didn't score late in the game, the Bearcats missed 10 straight shots and committed 10 turnovers.

"We're obviously a very inept offensive team right now," Cronin said.

That may be the greatest understatement Cronin has uttered since he arrived at UC.

UC 48, DePaul 45 - 7:59 second half

UC has scored the last seven points to go up by three, matching its largest lead of the night. After making 9 of 15 from 3-point range in the first half, DePaul is 1-for-6 in the second. UC isn't shooting bad from long range either, making 5 of 10, even though Vaughn is having an off night.

DePaul 42, UC 40 - 11:53 second half

Vaughn has only three points for UC. He needs 16 to become the 32nd player in UC history to score 500 in one season. Marvin Gentry has not played for the Bearcats. He wore his warmup jacket for the first half. Now he has the jacket off but still hasn't budged from the bench.

DePaul 37, UC 35 - 15:24 second half

DePaul has just done something that's highly unusual for the Blue Demons in this game - they actually scored points without making a 3-pointer. One came on a free throw. Two more came on a layup. Still, 30 of DePaul's 37 points have been the result of 3-pointers. It would be logical to assume that DePaul can't keep shooting like this and that when it cools off, UC will win the game. But the Blue Demons haven't cooled off yet. That's for sure.

DePaul 31, UC 28 - halftime

Cronin was so upset with UC's sloppy play near the end of the half that he yanked Jamual Warren and Deonta Vaughn out of the game with 1:11 to go and inserted seldom-used Darnell Wilks until the end of the half. Nine of DePaul's field goals are 3-pionters. Burns has 15 points. Tucker has 10.

DePaul 25, UC 24 - 3:37 first half

Vaughn is still on the bench. DePaul has now made 7 of 12 from long range. The Blue Demons, like Providence on Sunday, have lost five in a row and nine of their last 10. They are grappling to make it to New York next week. How about this stat? The last time DePaul beat UC in Cincinnati was Feb. 20, 1992. At the end of that game, Bob Huggins ran onto the floor after referee Phil Bova and was suspended for the Bearcats' next home game vs. Marquette.

UC 22, DePaul 22 - 6:12 first half

UC answered DePaul's 15-4 start with an 18-4 run of its own to take a 22-19 lead. At one point the Bearcats scored 11 straight points. Larry Davis has given UC another offensive lift off the bench with two 3-ponters. Vaughn went to the bench at the 8:37 mark with his second foul.

DePaul 19, UC 14 - 10:00 first half

UC has outscored DePaul, 10-4, to get back into contention, but if it weren't for a few mistakes they would be closer. Adam H. missed another layup and Vaughn stepped on the sideline just before sinking what would have been a 3-pointer. That's five points that UC won't have down the stretch if this is another close game.

DePaul 12, UC 4 - 15:30 first half

That lack of defensive intensity that has cost UC in its last few games has reared its ugly head again. DePaul, which shoots 35.1 percent from 3-point range has already made four of its first five from long range. Three of those were by Draelon Burns, the fifth-leading scorer in the league at 17.4 points per game, just ahead of Deonta Vaughn's 17.3

UC vs. Villanova in first round?

With two games remaining for UC, the most likely scenario has the Bearcats as the No. 8 seed playing No. 9 seed Villanova in the first round of the Big East Tournament next Wednesday at noon. Under this scenario, UC (8-8) splits its final two games - tonight vs. DePaul and Saturday at UConn - to finish 9-9. Villanova (currently 8-9) wins at Providence on Saturday to also finish 9-9, but UC gets the No. 8 seed by virtue of its 69-66 win over Villanova on Jan. 12. The winner of that game would play the No. 1 seed, either Louisville or Georgetown, in the quarterfinals at noon on Thursday.

Goodbye to the seniors

Every year when basketball practice starts in October, there's a period of adjustment as I learn to associate the new names with the new faces. Two years ago, when Mick Cronin re-started the UC program basically from scratch, the task was more difficult than usual because there were virtually no veterans with whom I was already familiar. Everybody was new. It took awhile, but eventually I figured out who everybody was. Now, after two years, Marcus Sikes, Jamual Warren, Marvin Gentry, John Williamson and Adam Hrycaniuk will play their last UC home game tomorrow night vs. DePaul.

These guys have taken a lot of grief because they haven't been as talented as past UC players. They did nothing to deserve that grief. All they did was play as hard as they could and do their best to help rebuild the program. I'll admit that sometimes it's hard to watch them play because of their talent limitations. But there have been other times when I've been impressed by what they've been able to accomplish under difficult circumstances.

From my standpoint, every one of them has been pleasant to deal with. Jamual Warren, who wears his heart on his sleeve, has been the best quote because he says what's on his mind, even though he likes to make fun of my sweaters. Adam H., with his Polish accent and his willingness to share what he's gone through the past two years, is always fun to talk to. Marcus Sikes is so polite and respectful that no matter how many times I've asked him to call me Bill he still shakes hands when I see him and says, "Hello, Sir."

None of them has embarrassed the university with off-the-court behavior and all five of them will graduate. Sikes, Gentry and Williamson are expected to graduate at the end of the current quarter. Warren and Hrycaniuk are on target to graduate at the end of spring quarter.

When Bob Huggins arrived at UC in 1989 to take over a program on probation, he talked about how Andre Tate, Levertis Robinson, Lou Banks and Keith Starks would be remembered as the players who helped start the program back on the road to success. That's exactly what they did. Assuming that UC returns to national prominence in the next few years, the current crop of seniors will be remembered the same way.

Another dip in attendance

With one home game remaining on the 2007-08 schedule – Thursday vs. DePaul – the Bearcats have seen their attendance fall for the fourth straight season.

UC is averaging 8,477 fans per game this season, the lowest average in the 19 years the Bearcats have played in Fifth Third Arena and a 23.3 percent decline from the 11,059 that UC averaged in 2004-05, the last year that Bob Huggins was the head coach and the year in which the Bearcats made their most recent appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
That figure is down four percent from last year’s 8,831, which was the previous low at Fifth Third.

“Am I concerned?,” said UC athletic director Mike Thomas. “No, I’m not. I’m actually excited about the future. I think what Mick and the kids have done this year, what the future looks like with the kids on board, the kids that are coming back and the kids that he has committed for next year, I think all arrows are pointed in the right direction.”

Please clean it up

A few things about this blog. You don't have to agree with everything UC does in order to have your comments posted here. You don't have to agree with everything the Enquirer does in order to have your comments posted here. But our expectation is that you will be civil to each other and toward UC, its coaches and administration. Most of you are. Some of you are not. And as a result, we must moderate this blog. Nobody likes moderation. We dislike it more than you do. But things are getting really bad. The constant back-and-forth sniping at each other is exhausting. The constant ripping of Mick Cronin and the UC administration is exhausting. You have the right to submit those kinds of comments, but we are not obligated to publish them. Again, please keep things civil. If everybody did that, we wouldn't have to moderate at all. If anybody would like to e-mail me their thoughts my e-mail address is jpichler@enquirer.com.
Thanks. Josh Pichler, Sports Editor.

Mitchell finished for this season at least

UC freshman swingman Alvin Mitchell, who has been suspended since Feb. 15, will not return this season, Mick Cronin said today. "His indefinite suspension will last through this season," Cronin said. "Then I'll revaluate where he's at."

Vaughn nearing 500

There hasn't been much for UC fans to get excited about in the last three games, but there is this: Deonta Vaughn needs only 16 more points to become the 32nd player in school history to reach 500 for the season. The last to do it were James White and Eric Hicks in 2005-06. He needs 82 points to become the 45th player to reach 1,000 points in his career at UC, which puts him on pace to finish ahead of Steve Logan as the No. 2 scorer in school history behind Oscar Robertson. He has a chance to become only the second player in UC history to reach the 2,000-point plateau. Logan scored 1,985 points. Oscar scored 2,973 in three seasons.

Providence 81, UC 79 - post game

That was one very bad loss for UC any way you slice it. This was a team that had lost five in a row and nine of its last 10 and still might not make the Big East Tournament. Now at 13-15, it's becoming less and less likely that the Bearcats are going to be playing anywhere after the Big East Tournament.

“We played bad defense for the third straight game,” said UC coach Mick Cronin. “We were at home this time. We really had no excuse. We should have done a much better job on the defensive end of the floor. To have a team come in here and shoot 50 percent against us in regulation is inexcusable.”

Dion Dixon commits

Chicago guard Dion Dixon, who was at the game today, just announced that he has committed to UC. Dixon is a 6-3 guard from Crane High School. He averages 25 points per game and plays point guard in high school, although he says he can also play the two.

"I just fell in love with the coaching staff," Dixon said. "And when I watched the game, I love the way they play. It fits my style. Coach lets you play."

Dixon said he was also recruited by Baylor and Ohio State, although UC is the only school he has visited.

UC 73, Providence 73 - overtime

UC overcame a six-point deficit withi 4:29 to go to take a two-point lead with 21 seconds left thanks to two Marcus Sikes follow shots, but just when it appeared that UC would win the game, Providence's Marshon Brooks threw in a prayer from the lane after the Bearcats blocked two shots to send the game into overtime.

Providence 63, UC 56 - 7:34 second half

If you like quality basketball you've come to the wrong place. UC hasn't made a field goal since the 13:00 mark, but still used free throws to get within one at the 9:07 mark. But then, trailing by two, UC's Rashad Bishop missed a reverse layup and Providence made it hurt when Jeff Xavier made a 3-pointer. After a Vaughn turnover, Brian McKenzie's layup gave the Friars a 7-point lead. If UC loses this game, that turn of events could be what did the Bearcts in. Before I could even finish this post, it' s now 65-56 after a McKenzie dunk. There's now 6:24 to go and UC is in deep trouble.

Providence 55, UC 50 - 11:53 second half

Vaughn just came out of the game and sat down on the bench to have assistant coach Tony Stubblefield get in his face. Perhaps Stubblefield was urging him to be more aggressive on offense - that's putting it mildly - because Vaughn has been invisible today. They're going to need him down the stretch if they're going to win this game.

Providence 48, UC 44 - 15:37 second half

UC's defense wasn't any better at the start of the second half than it was during the first half. The Friars made 4 of their first five shots after intermission to go up by 10. Vaughn continued to be a non-factor, but Williamson is up to 10 points and is on the line to shoot a free throw after making a layup. The Bearcats are shooting a terrible 38.5 percent from the field.

Providence 40, UC 34 - Halftime

Not a very good half of defensive basketball by UC. The Bearcats allowed Providence to shoot 50 percent from the field and to make 6 of 12 3-point shots. UC, meanwhile, is down around its usual 40 percent mark. If it weren't for Larry Davis' contribution, the Bearcats would be in big trouble. As it is, they're still in the game if they can Vaughn untracked and play a little defense in the second half.

Providence 33, UC 32 - 2:09 first half

Providence is shooting 52.4 percent overall and has made 5 of 9 3-pointers. Vaughn has only three points for UC. He has attempted only three shots. You would think that Providence won't shoot this well in the second half, which should bode well for UC, but then again UC's defense wasn't all that stellar in the second half of the Pitt game last Wednesday.

Providence 28, UC 26 - 7:49 first half

If you were looking for UC to find another offensive option besides Deonta Vaughn and John Williamson, Larry Davis is providing it today. He already has 12 points, three shy of his career high and just the fifth double-figure scoring effort of the season.

Mick Cronin technical- 10:46 first half

Cronin was just called for a technical foul after he complained that there was a travelling call before Providence's Randall Hanke received the ball for a layup. The consensus on press row is the official missed the call. Providence is on the line to shoot the two technical free throws. Brian McKenzie made one of the two foul shots and the Friars now have the ball, leading 23-18.

Providence 20, UC 18 - 10:56 first half

UC has gotten a nice lift off the bench from Larry Davis, who has knocked in two 3-pointers and has eight points overall. The Bearcats also used their full-court pressure to pick up their energy. Providence is 4-4 from 3-point range.

Providence 12, UC 4 - 14:43 first half

So far, the team that's fighting to get into the Big East Tournament is playing a lot harder than the team that's trying to improve its seed. The Friars have come out of the gate making 5 of their first 8 shots, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range. UC is 2-10 with two turnovers. Marcus Sikes just inexplicably bypassed a layup to throw the ball back outside.

Clark Kellogg sighting

I just spotted CBS-TV analyst and former Ohio State star Clark Kellogg in the building. Kellogg's son, Alex, a freshman forward, plays for Providence. In fact, he's making his first start today. For my money, Clark Kellogg is one of the best analysts in the game.

Another step on the road back

There was a time, of course, when making the conference tournament was no big deal for UC. The question for the Bearcats was whether they would get the No. 1 seed. But given the condition this program was in last year when Mick Cronin took over, having clinched one of the 12 spots in the tournament with three regular-season games to go is a noteworthy achievement. Winning a game or two in the tournament would be even more of an accomplishment.

"Making the Big East Tournament was definitely a goal of ours this year," Cronin said. "It wasn’t something that I was concerned with until Mike Williams got hurt. When Mike got hurt obviously it became a concern because he was going to be our most experienced player. I thought he was going to change our team, giving us a veteran go-to guy, a guy you could count on on both ends of the floor."

Next year, of course, all 16 Big East teams will qualify for the tournament. And Cronin thinks that's a good idea.

"As coaches we'd like to have all 16 get in," Cronin said. "It's unfair to the players of the four teams that don’t make it. It's not like they haven’t tried all year. It takes that experience away from 52 kids and that’s’ really what it's all about. Even at the highest level, the majority of these kids don’t go on to play professional ball so you'd like to make sure that those kids have that experience."