Big East tournament preview: Can Cincinnati Bearcats play Big?
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The Enquirer/Leigh Taylor
Mick Cronin gives instructions to Justin Jackson during the Bearcats' win against Marquette last week.

Written by
Bill Koch

NEW YORK - Playing in the championship game of the Big East tournament has been a goal of University of Cincinnati basketball coach Mick Cronin’s since he was hired in 2006.

He remembers watching the clashes between Syracuse and Georgetown on TV, loves the energy at Madison Square Garden and looks forward to being on that grand stage on a Saturday night when the title is decided.

Perhaps this is the year it will happen. The Bearcats, who have never reached the semifinals, begin play in the quarterfinals Thursday better positioned than they’ve ever been, with a No. 4 seed, a double-bye and a team that has won five of its last six games.

In the past, Madison Square Garden, which is hallowed ground in college basketball, has been mostly a house of horrors for UC, a school that grew accustomed to dominating the Conference USA tournament for 10 years before joining the Big East.

They say timing is everything, and that’s certainly true for the Bearcats, who joined the nation’s pre-eminent basketball conference at exactly the wrong time. Their first season in 2005-06 began just months after Bob Huggins was forced out as coach. But there was enough talent left – including first-team all-Big East forward Eric Hicks – to enable the Bearcats to win 21 games and reach the cusp of the NCAA tournament.

But in its first appearance in the tournament, UC was beaten by Syracuse when Gerry McNamara hit a running 3-pointer with little time remaining, perhaps a precursor to the bad fortune that was to bedevil the Bearcats so frequently in this tournament.

In Cronin’s first season, the Bearcats were left out. Those were the days when only the top 12 teams in the standings were invited. They returned in 2007-08 with a No. 10 seed and were eliminated in the first round by No. 7 Pittsburgh.

By 2008-09, they were in the third year of Cronin’s rebuilding project and seemingly better fortified to compete in the Big East. They earned the No.9 seed, only to fall to lowly DePaul, the No. 16 seed, in the first round.

In 2009-10, they made it to the quarterfinals with wins over Rutgers and Louisvillle before running into No.3 seed West Virginia. That was the game where Dion Dixon fumbled the ball out of bounds with 3.1 seconds left, setting up Da’Sean Butler, who banked in a 3-point shot at the buzzer to win. West Virginia advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.

Last year the Bearcats received a first-round bye and turned back South Florida in the second round but were blown out by No. 2 seed Notre Dame 89-51 in the quarterfinals.

In four appearances, the Bearcats are 3-5 and have absorbed more heartache than triumph. But they’re hoping to change their fortunes beginning today against Georgetown. Newly ascended into the ranks of double-bye royalty that includes Syracuse, Marquette and Notre Dame this year, they have the talent and the experience to make a deep run.

And when the game’s on the line, they’re way overdue to have the ball bounce their way.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120...-play-Big-

(03-08-2012 03:20 AM)ctipton Wrote:  Big East tournament preview: Can Cincinnati Bearcats play Big?
College sports spotlight

And when the game’s on the line, they’re way overdue to have the ball bounce their way.

Ain't that the truth. I can remember dozens of killer shots against us, but very few that have gone for us over the years. We have got to be due for a ton of good luck at some point, right?

we haven't had a ton of luck in the big east tournament specifically, but we did have killa's 3 pointer against uconn earlier this season...

i think it's just easier to remember the heartbreak associated with being on the short end of the last second shot stick

(03-08-2012 10:53 AM)JPBearcat3 Wrote:  we haven't had a ton of luck in the big east tournament specifically, but we did have killa's 3 pointer against uconn earlier this season...

i think it's just easier to remember the heartbreak associated with being on the short end of the last second shot stick

I don't know that I would call SK's shot a lucky one. It was an open look and not overly deep. Think of all the lucky shots and banked in 3 pointers against us over the years. Heck this year I can think of at least three 3-pointers from the corner banked in against us. The shot should be next to impossible and it has been done at least 3 times this season against us.

You got Miles Simon hitting a 3/4 court shot, the tipped 3 point bank shot years ago against WVU (The two big ones off the top of my head) and then the ones mentioned that have happened in the BET. I can't for the life of me remember any lucky bounces that went our way. We are way overdue.

(03-08-2012 10:53 AM)JPBearcat3 Wrote:  we haven't had a ton of luck in the big east tournament specifically, but we did have killa's 3 pointer against uconn earlier this season...

i think it's just easier to remember the heartbreak associated with being on the short end of the last second shot stick

I think we have had our share of big shots go our way over the years, but i think the fact that some of the ones that lost it have been in such big games and the bad bounces have been killer. Two games with WVU come to bind, both losses on bank three point shots in tournament play. The McNamara shot springs to mind as well. Some of the horrific bounces we got in the UCLA double OT tournament game in Logan's senior year are right there too.