Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball

The No. 10 Cincinnati Bearcats (22-12, 9-9 Big East) lost to the No. 7 Creighton Bluejays (28-7, 13-5 MVC), 67-63, on Friday in the second round of the 2013 NCAA tournament at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.

There were five ties and seven lead changes in the first half but the Bluejays led the Bearcats 32-27 at halftime and never trailed in the second half.

Doug McDermott led Creighton in scoring with 27 points while Gregory Echenique had 13 and Ethan Wragge pitched in 12. Creighton shot 45.2 percent from the field, were 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from beyond the arc, and 22-of-25 from the free-throw line.

The Bearcats were led in scoring by Sean Kilpatrick with 19 while Cashmere Wright, Shaquille Thomas and Titus Rubles scored 15, 12 and 11, respectively. Cincinnati shot 42.2 percent from the field, 25 percent (5-of-20) from three-point range and went 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) from the free-throw line.

Cincinnati tied the game, 54-54, with 3:33 remaining on a Kilpatrick jumper after trailing by eight points—its largest deficit of the game—with 8:43 left.

Creighton went up 60-54 on two Austin Chatman free throws with 1:07 left.

McDermott was called for an flagrant-1 foul on the inbounds pass after throwing up his elbows and catching Thomas in the head when he was trapped, giving the Bearcats’ Thomas two foul shots and possession of the ball.

Thomas missed both free throws.

Kilpatrick hit a three-pointer off the inbounds pass to bring the Bearcats within three with 51 seconds left.

He was then called for a foul after Creighton inbounded the ball and his legs got caught up with Grant Gibbs.

Gibbs made both of his free throws to extend Creighton’s lead to 62-57 with 46 seconds left.

Wright was fouled as he made a layup, cutting Creighton’s lead to 62-59 with 41 seconds left, but he missed the free throw.

McDermott was fouled and made both of his free throws to put Crieghton up 64-59 with 40 seconds left.

Wright made a running jumper to cut the Creighton lead to 64-61 with 33 seconds left.

Cincinnati forced a jump ball and got possession of the ball with 24.5 seconds left.

Kilpatrick made a layup to bring the Bearcats within one with 17 seconds left.

Crieghton’s Chatman was fouled and made both of his free throws to make it a 66-63 game with 14 seconds left. 

Kilpatrick missed a three with eight seconds left.

Chatman was fouled again and made a free throw to put the Bluejays up by the final score of 67-63.

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The No. 10 seed Cincinnati Bearcats (22-11, 9-9 Big East) are set to face off with the No. 7 seed Creighton Bluejays (27-7, 13-5 MVC) in the second round of the 2013 NCAA tournament on Friday at approximately 2:45 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.

The Bearcats are led in scoring by Sean Kilpatrick with 16.9 points-per-game while Cashmere Wright and JaQuon Parker average 12.6 and 11.3 points, respectively.

Doug McDermott leads the Bluejays in scoring with 23.1 points-per-game. He is ranked second in that category in Division I basketball this year. McDermott is the only player averaging in double-digits for Creighton.

Creighton is the most accurate shooting team in Division I this year while Cincinnati is one of the worst. The Bluejays are ranked first in field-goal percentage at 50.8 percent compared to the Bearcats which are ranked 305th, shooting only 40.2 percent from the field. Creighton is also ranked first in three-point-field-goal percentage (42.1 percent), sixth in three-point-field-goals per game (8.8), 21st in free-throw percentage (75 percent) and 24th in scoring offense (75.4 points-per-game).

Cincinnati is one of the best defensive teams in Division I this year. The Bearcats are ranked sixth in blocked shots per game (6.2),15th in field-goal percentage defense (holding teams to 38.5 percent shooting), 24th in scoring defense (limiting teams to 58.8 points-per-game) and 26th in three-point-field-goal percentage defense (30 percent).

What we have here is your classic offensive vs. defensive match up.

So which one will prevail?

It's hard to imagine the most accurate shooting team in Division I basketball this season losing in their first game of the tournament. It's also hard to imagine that defensive-minded Bearcats head coach Mick Cronin won't be able to find a way to slow down McDermott and the Bluejays on offense or that a Big East team will lose to a team from the Missouri Valley Conference.

I'm picking the Bearcats to win this game because of the level of competition they are used to playing against in the Big East. 

Cronin touched on that topic while talking with members of the media, including GoBearcats.com's Paul Dehner Jr., on Sunday night. 

"I know how good they are on offense," said Cronin. "They score a lot of points. They're a highly efficient offensive team. One thing about us; we played multiple games in a row against NCAA tournament teams. We played seven straight in February against tournament teams. We understand every game is tough. Every game brings different challenges. That's the one thing about our team. So you see different types and different styles."

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The Cincinnati Bearcats (22-11, 9-9 Big East) lost 62-43 to the No. 5 Georgetown Hoyas (25-5, 14-4 Big East) in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Big East tournament today at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Georgetown was led in scoring by the Big East player of the year Otto Porter Jr. who had 18 points. Markel Starks scored 14, and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera pitched in 13.

Cashmere Wright led the Bearcats in scoring with 14 points, including going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. JaQuon Parker scored 12 points and was 2-of-3 from three-point range. Sean Kilpatrick only had 4 points, going 2-of-12 from the field including 0-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Georgetown started the game on a 24-8 run. UC answered by going on a 23-7 run, spanning the end the first and beginning of the second half.

Cincinnati tied the game at 31-31 with 18:46 left in the game on a Wright three-pointer.

UC took its first lead since early in the game, 33-31, with 16:23 left on a Wright jump shot.

Then Georgetown outscored the Bearcats 31-10 the rest of the way. The Hoyas regained the lead, 36-33, with 14:55 left on a Smith-Rivera three-pointer.

Cincinnati was stuck at 39 points for over six minutes late in the game.

The Bearcats trailed the Hoyas 29-24 at halftime. UC went nearly 10 minutes without a field-goal in the first half. Cincinnati had eight points and trailed by 16 points with 6:24 left in the first half before going on a 16-5 run entering the locker room at halftime. That run included four three-pointers, three of them from Wright and one from Parker.

UC shot 36.8 percent (14-of-38) from the field while Georgetown shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48). Georgetown made seven three-pointers (7-of-17) compared to Cincinnati, which made six (6-of-17). The Hoyas shot 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the free-throw line while UC shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13).

Georgetown outrebounded Cincinnati 23-22.

Cincinnati turned the ball over 14 times compared to Georgetown, which turned it over nine times.

Georgetown will play the winner of today’s matchup between Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh on Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals of the 2013 Big East tournament at The Garden.

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The Cincinnati Bearcats (22-10, 9-9 Big East) defeated the Providence Friars (17-14, 9-9 Big East) 61-44 in the second round of the 2013 Big East Championship tournament today at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

UC let an 18 point lead in the first half shrink down to four points with 17:31 left in the game before recovering.

Sean Kilpatrick led the Bearcats in scoring with 17 points while JaQuon Parker had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Cheikh Mbodj scored eight points, had five blocked shots and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Friars were led in scoring by Kadeem Batts who had 14 while Bryce Cotton scored 12 and LaDontae Henton added eight.

The Bearcats started the game off hot on both ends of the floor, establishing an 18 point lead with 6:25 left in the first half. Then Providence went on a 15-5 run to end the first half, going into halftime down by eight.

Providence scored the first four points of second half, cutting the lead to four with 17:31 left in the game.

UC didn’t score a point for nearly six minutes from 2:51 left in the first half to 16:55 left in the game.

Later, the Bearcats did not make a field-goal for nearly six minutes, from 12:55 to 6:57 left in the game.

The Bearcats shot 40 percent from the field compared to the Friars, who shot 28.1 percent. UC was 5-of-15 (33 percent) from beyond the arc compared to Providence, who were 1-16 (6.3 percent). Cincinnati shot 70.6 percent from the free-throw line while Providence shot 63.6 percent (7-of-11).

UC outrebounded Providence 42-32.

The Bearcats are set to play the Georgetown Hoyas (24-5, 14-4 Big East) in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Big East Championship tournament on Thursday at 12 p.m. at The Garden.

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After starting the season with a 12-game winning streak, the Cincinnati Bearcats ended it by going 3-6 in its last nine games, placing head coach Mick Cronin in the coaching hot seat in the eyes of many.

It is likely that the Bearcats will be heading to the NCAA basketball tournament for the third consecutive year, but it is Cronin’s style of coaching and the way his teams play which have people questioning his effectiveness.

Since Cronin took over at UC for Bob Huggins in 2006, he has preached the importance of playing solid defense in order to win basketball games. It is hard to argue with that, and the Bearcats are certainly a strong defensive program; but people are demanding better offense from UC, and rightfully so.

The Bearcats are shooting worse this season than in any of the previous six seasons under Cronin. In Cronin’s first season as the head coach for Cincinnati, they shot 40.5 percent from the field. This season they are shooting 40.3 percent, putting them 306th out of 347 Division I basketball teams.

UC is also shooting worse than a lot of other teams this season in general. Cincinnati has shot more three-pointers than any other team in the Big East this season (677 attempts, 21.8 per game) but aren’t very efficient, making only 31.6 percent of them which ranks 273rd in Division I and 11th in the Big East.

The Bearcats rank 301st in Division I and 14th out of 15 Big East teams in free-throw percentage, shooting 64.7 percent from the line. They are scoring 67.6 points per game, which puts them at 172nd out of 347 teams.

Those are some awfully low numbers, especially considering the regular season is over and the team should have improved its shooting consistency since earlier in the season. After the first 20 games of the season, Cincinnati was ranked 204th in field-goal percentage (42.5 percent) and 158th in three-point field-goal percentage (34 percent). Cincinnati was ranked 294th in Division I and 14th out of 15 Big East teams in free-throw percentage, shooting 64.4 percent.

While there are people calling for Cronin to be fired, I don’t see that happening. Cronin is signed to a contract with UC through the 2016-17 season, and as long as the team makes it into the NCAA tournament, I don’t see a coaching change happening despite the team’s abysmal shooting this season.

Cronin has some options which I would urge him to exercise this offseason and for years to come in order to get off the hot seat and continue coaching in Cincinnati until he retires.

It’s going to come down to a change in his coaching philosophy and recruitment of more efficient players. Cronin can, and should, continue preaching and teaching defense in the way he has at UC for years, but he has to learn how to balance that with more offensive coaching geared toward shooting the ball more consistently.

He can do this by changing his play-calling to get players in open spots and higher-percentage scoring areas, holding extended practices focused more on offense and shooting than on defense and rebounding, and by recruiting more efficient offensive players compared to the fast, athletic and defensive types of players that comprise typical Cronin teams.

UC teams under Cronin have always been strong defensively, but it’s time to add to that strength with better offensive play.

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The No. 24 Cincinnati Bearcats (17-4, 5-3 Big East) beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-8, 3-6 Big East) 62-54 tonight after trailing by eight points at halftime.

Sean Kilpatrick led the Bearcats in scoring with 19 points, going 5-of-13 (38 percent) from the field, 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) from behind the arc and 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the line. Cheikh Mbodj scored 10, while Justin Jackson and Cashmere Wright each had seven.

Jackson also had six blocks, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. Jackson's play drew praise from Bearcats Head Coach Mick Cronin in his post-game radio interview on 700 WLW in Cincinnati.

“The leadership of our team refused to lose,” Cronin said. “It started with Justin’s energy, but on down the line, a lot of guys contributed in a lot of ways in the second half.”

Myles Mack led Rutgers in scoring with 15 points while Eli Carter and Jerome Seagears each scored 11.

UC took its first lead of the game, 42-40, on a Sean Kilpatrick steal and layup with 11:06 left in the game, and they never trailed again.

Rutgers tied the game twice, once at 42 with 10:39 left and again at 46 with 8:03 left, but they couldn’t regain the lead.

Wright increased Cincinnati’s lead to seven, 55-48, on two made free-throws with 51 seconds left.

Mack made a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to make it a four point game, 55-51.

UC led by six, 57-51, after two Titus Rubles free-throws with 38 seconds left before taking a nine point lead, 60-51, on a three-point-play from Ge'Lawn Guyn with 26 seconds left.

Mack made a three to cut Cincinnati’s lead to six points with 19 seconds left.

Kilpatrick made two free-throws with 17 seconds left to increase their lead to 62-54.

Both teams were 18-of-48 (37.5 percent) from the field.

Rutgers made eight three-pointers, shooting 8-of-17 (47.1 percent). Cincinnati made five threes, shooting 5-of-21 (23.8 percent).

Cincinnati scored 21 points at the free-throw line, shooting 72.4 percent (21-of-29) while the Scarlett Knights only scored 10, shooting 10-of-11 (90.9 percent).

The Bearcats won the rebounding battle 32-21.

11,024 fans were in attendance at Fifth Third Arena.

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The No. 24 Cincinnati Bearcats (16-4, 4-3 Big East) are set to take on the Rutgers Scarlett Knights (12-7, 3-5 Big East) on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena after an eight-day break following their 57-55 loss to then-No. 3 Syracuse on Jan. 21.

UC beat Rutgers 68-58 in Piscataway on Jan. 12 in a game that was won with defense, rebounding and points at the free-throw line.

Cincinnati held Rutgers to only 15 points and 21.1 percent shooting in the first half. The Scarlett Knights didn’t get into double figures until there was 4:25 left in the first half. According to ESPN, Rutgers’ 15 points in the first half was only one point better than the lowest they have ever scored in Big East play.

The Bearcats held the Scarlett Knights’ leading scorer Eli Carter, who averages 15.4 points per game this season, to only six points, going 1-of-11 from the field and 0-of-6 from behind the arc.

Only one Scarlett Knight scored more than eight points. Myles Mack scored 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including three successful three-pointers.

The Bearcats had three players reach double figures in the game. Cashmere Wright led the team with 23 points, while JaQuon Parker had 11 and Sean Kilpatrick had 10.

UC controlled the offensive and defensive boards in the game. The Bearcats had 15 offensive rebounds to Rutgers’ 11 and 23 defensive rebounds to Rutgers’ 21. Cincinnati’s Titus Rubles led all players with 11 rebounds and also scored seven points.

Both teams shot 20-of-53 (37 percent) in the game, including five made three-pointers for each, but the 10 point difference in the game can be attributed to Cincinnati’s 23 points at the line compared to Rutgers’ 13.

Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin has preached the importance of solid defense and rebounding for years, and their importance was evident in the first meeting between these two teams this season.

If Cincinnati can duplicate its defensive performance from its win against Rutgers in their first meeting, then getting back in the win column shouldn't be much of a problem.

Then again, it's hard to predict what's going to happen in the Big East this season or in college basketball for that matter.

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The No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats (16-4, 4-3 Big East) started off the season 12-0 but are 4-4 since, with three of those losses in conference play and the other to New Mexico. They lost to New Mexico and St. John’s by one point, Syracuse by two and Notre Dame by six.

The Bearcats need to shore up some of their weaknesses to win the type of close games they have been losing, beginning with shooting the ball better.

The team puts up a lot of shots, but they need to do a better job at making them. 

Cincinnati is ranked 204th in field-goal percentage (42.5 percent) and 158th in three-point field-goal percentage (34 percent) in Division I basketball this season, while also ranking 25th in field-goal attempts and 31st in three-point field goals attempted (21.75 per game).

The Bearcats are shooting worse in conference play. Their field-goal percentage and three-point field-goal percentage have both gone down during conference play. Cincinnati is ranked 14th out of 15 teams in field-goal percentage (39.7 percent) and eighth in three-point field-goal percentage (31.4 percent) through seven games. They also lead in three-point field goals attempted (22.3 per game).

The team shot 20.7 percent (6-of-29) and went nearly 10 minutes without scoring a basket in the first half of their most recent game against No. 3 Syracuse. Unable to effectively penetrate Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense, the Bearcats didn’t score a two-point field goal until there was 2:04 left in the half.

They had 18 points at halftime.

The Bearcats also need to shoot better from the free-throw line. Cincinnati is ranked 294th in Division I and 14th out of 15 Big East teams in free-throw percentage, shooting 64.4 percent this season.
Beyond shooting, Cincinnati needs to start getting more assists. They are ranked 125th in assists per game with a 13.7 average.

If the Bearcats can address these weaknesses, they can win more games and position themselves well for the Big East and NCAA tournaments in March.

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