Last weekend Syracuse nearly lost to lowly DePaul.  The third-ranked Orange trailed by 18 before rallying to win by 2.

Clearly, Syracuse took the Blue Demons too lightly right?

Not according to Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim.

"We were ready to play at DePaul," Boeheim told reporters this week.  "Whenever you have a bad game, people say you aren't ready to play.  It's never about that. We did not play well, period."

"It wasn't that it was a road game," the coach continued. "It wasn't that it was in the afternoon. It wasn't that we didn't have good food. It wasn't that we were tired. There's none of that. You have bad games, and we had a bad offensive game."

I don't entirely agree.  I do think that good teams sometimes take bad teams too lightly.  But Boeheim is right in the sense that it's never that simple.  In my opinion the "take the opponent too lightly" angle helps explain a slow start, but the good team usually gets that out of its system pretty quickly and has plenty of time to recover.

Still, I hope Syracuse fans are complaining that the Orange took the Bearcats too lightly at roughly 4 pm tomorrow.

I owe my friend Donna Ditota a public apology.

Donna is a sportswriter for the Syracuse Post-Standard, and when I ran into her at Big East Media Day she predicted that Syracuse would be a better team this year despite losing its top three scorers - Jonny Flynn (17.4), Eric Devendorf (15.7), and Paul Harris (12.0).  That's 45 points a game from a team that went 28-10 last season.

I thought Donna was nuts at the time.  I thought she was REALLY clueless on November 3^rd when the Orange lost an exhibition game to Division II LeMoyne College.

Three months later, Syracuse is off to the best start in school history at 22-1 and ranked third in the country.  It's pretty obvious that Donna knew what she was talking about.

"To me they're the best team in the country because they shoot 50% from the field (actually 53%) and they only give up 39% on defense," Mick Cronin said.  "They do a great job in their zone.  When you do penetrate their zone they block shots.  That's the backbreaker.  You gotta make sure you finish with strength around the rim against them because you can't get the ball down to the two-foot marker and come away empty.  You have to score or get fouled.  Their passing is excellent.  They get a ton of layups because of their transition, their size, and their passing."

In the LeMoyne loss, Syracuse played man-to-man defense and allowed 82 points - 50 in the second half.  The Orange has stayed in a 2-3 zone ever since and is playing it as well as a Syracuse team ever has.  The top six players in Jim Boeheim's rotation are 6'4", 6'5", 6'7", 6'7", 6'9" and 6'9".  That size has helped Syracuse average 11 steals and 7 blocks per game.

"They play hard," said UC junior Larry Davis.  "Their 2-3 zone is no joke.  They rebound the ball, they can get the ball in the paint, they've got a couple of guys that can really score . . . they're really tough."

In Syracuse's only regular season loss, Pittsburgh hit 10 of 24 three point shots in an 82-72 win.  Cincinnati is going to have to make a few 3-pointers, but the Bearcats are only shooting 30% from outside the arc this season and can't settle for jump shots against the SU zone.

"You're going to have to shoot the ball, the question is, 'Are you shooting open shots?' Coach Cronin said.  "One thing you have to be very careful of against Syracuse is taking bad shots because they just take off down to the other end with the best of 'em.  They've been that way historically - running with the basketball and converting.  They are so good in transition because they play above the rim."

In the past few weeks we've all started projecting what games UC needs to win - and is capable of winning - in order to make the NCAA Tournament.  With the exception of DePaul at home, nothing would shock me in Cincinnati's final eight regular season games.  Syracuse and Villanova are two of the best teams in the country but they are home games for UC and the Bearcats have been tough at Fifth Third Arena (where they also play Marquette).  Cincinnati will be a big underdog at West Virginia and Georgetown but the 'Cats have matched up well against those two schools over the last couple of years.  The Bearcats already have wins over UConn and USF, but can they complete the sweep on the road?

The Bearcats need to win at least half of their remaining regular season games to remain in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid.  To do that, they have to consistently play with the intensity they displayed in Maui.

Super Bowl Sunday at 2:00 would be a good time to start.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

When the Bearcats twice failed to get the ball inbounds and let a 3-point lead slip through their fingertips in the last 12 seconds at St. John's, Mick Cronin called it the "toughest loss of his coaching career."

Imagine how Providence coach Keno Davis felt 10 days later.

The Friars led USF by 13 points with two minutes to go . . . 9 points with 49 seconds remaining . . . 5 points with 16 ticks left on the clock . . . and lost by 4 in overtime.

Keno Davis was named the National Coach of the Year two years ago at Drake.

* * * * *

When UC squandered an early 12-point lead at Seton Hall, Deonta Vaughn admitted that the Bearcats lost their focus after jumping in front.

"We just relaxed too much when we thought we had them and they fought back," Vaughn told the Enquirer's Bill Koch after the game.

Vaughn was promptly ripped on various message boards.  "What an idiot," one person wrote.  "Who thinks they have a team beaten that early in the game?"

I wonder if there were similar posts on UConn message boards this week after the Huskies blew a 10-point first half lead in an 81-66 loss at Providence.

"We just took our foot off the gas. We thought that we had the game won already," UConn forward Gavin Edwards told reporters after the game.

Edwards played on UConn's Final Four team a year ago.

* * * * *

Here's my point.  Blowing a game doesn't make you a bad coach.  And failing to maintain intensity for 40 minutes doesn't mean a team has no heart.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion about Mick Cronin and it's fair to ask whether he can lift the UC program back to national prominence.  But a tough loss doesn't make him Dave Shula, just as a big win doesn't mean he's Don Shula.

Mick is the 38-year-old head coach of a team that's 14-7 overall, 5-4 in the nation's toughest conference, and currently projected to go the NCAA Tournament.  His team is looking to looking to increase its win total for the fourth consecutive season, and in the last two years he's signed the number one player in the city (Yancy Gates) and one of the most highly-touted recruits in the country (Lance Stephenson).

This year's team is agonizingly close to being 17-4 if not for a blown call (end of regular vs. Gonzaga), a terrible night at the line (10-for-22 in the 2-OT loss at Xavier), and the bad finish at St. John's.  Even winning two of those games would probably put the 'Cats back in the Top 25. 

That's obviously frustrating - it's perfectly OK to want the Bearcats to be great.  We all do.

But in case you haven't noticed, they're already good. 

And working hard to get better.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

As painful as the St. John's loss was last week, if the Bearcats win at Louisville on Sunday, they can erase the bitter taste of that defeat.

That's one of the great things about playing in the Big East.  While it's brutally difficult, there are plenty of opportunities to redeem yourself after an early season loss and enhance your NCAA resume.

"We're not even near the half-way point in the Big East and there are 5 ½ weeks left in the regular season," Mick Cronin said after Wednesday's win over USF.  "There's a long way to go and we've got to continue to strive to get better."

The Bearcats have 11 regular season games left and only three of them are against teams that are currently outside of the top 75 in the RPI ratings (USF #84, Providence #92, DePaul #190).  If Cincinnati wins those three games, the 'Cats would still need at least two "quality wins" to finish .500-or-better in league play.

That's why Sunday's game at Louisville looms so large.  The Cardinals suffered heavy losses from the team that won last year's Big East regular season and tournament titles, but a win at Freedom Hall would still look great on Selection Sunday. 

Since Louisville plays at Seton Hall on Thursday night, UC will have an extra day to prepare - but with no guarantee that Lance Stephenson will be on the court.

"He's got a sprained ankle and it's the same ankle that he sprained earlier in the year," Mick told me.  "He's a tough kid - trust me, I'll have to tie him down to stop him from playing on Sunday.  But I'm not going to put him in any jeopardy - if he's healthy he'll play, if he's not he won't.  We'll give him Thursday off and see how his ankle reacts and go day-to-day.  He's too important to put him out there if he's not ready, so hopefully he can practice on Friday and Saturday and see if he's ready to go."

The Bearcats played well offensively without Stephenson in their win over USF, scoring 78 points on 56% shooting with only 8 turnovers.  But those numbers will be tough to match against Louisville on its home court.

"Our issue is consistency," Cronin said.  "We need to know that every night, certain guys are going to show up offensively and we really haven't had that.  We've had different guys play well at different times, but we have to strive to get consistent play from three or four guys every night on the offensive end."

The Bearcats won the last time they visited Freedom Hall in January of 2008, as a team with John Williamson, Adam Hrycaniuk, and Jamual Warren in the starting lineup, beat a Louisville squad that included future NBA draft picks Terrence Williams and Earl Clark.  Cincinnati is much more talented now according to Louisville senior Edgar Sosa.

"Cincinnati is a really tough, hard-nosed team that has most of its players back, and with a good recruit like Lance coming in, there's no telling how good they can be," Sosa told me at Big East Media Day.  "Cincinnati is definitely a team to watch out for in the Big East."

The Bearcats will look to prove Sosa right on Sunday.

* * * * *

Rick Bozich had an interesting story in the Louisville Courier-Journal on Thursday that makes the case that 10 Big East wins is the magic number for going to the NCAA tourney.

Since the Big East expanded to 16 schools four years ago, 27 of 30 teams that have finished above .500 in league play have been selected for the field of 65.

The exceptions were Providence (10-8 last year), West Virginia (9-7 in '06-07) and DePaul (9-7 in '06-07).

However, finishing at .500 has generally not been good enough since the league expanded as only one of four teams received an at-large bid.  Villanova qualified with a 9-9 record in '07-08, but Syracuse ('07-08), Providence ('06-07), and Cincinnati ('05-06) were left out with. 500 league records.

Syracuse finished below .500 (7-9) in '05-06, but rode Gerry McNamara to the Big East Tournament title.

* * * * *

Quick quiz:  What college basketball coach has made the following statements after his team's losses this season?

"The freshmen are trying ... but they haven't been through these wars yet.  If I live long enough, maybe it will help us a couple of years down the road. But I don't know if I can live through this."

"Some of our inexperienced players have to get experienced quickly, and a couple of experienced players have to play a heck of a lot better."

"We looked like a really inexperienced team in the first half. We reacted like an inexperienced team."

"This is the least experience and least depth I've ever had on the perimeter.  I always love big guys - but I've got to have guards. I've got to have perimeter players that know what they're doing."

"We both showed our inexperience.  We showed it in the first half and I think they showed it a little bit in the second half."

Answer:  North Carolina's Roy Williams.  His Tar Heels fell to 12-7 with a home loss vs. Wake Forest on Wednesday night.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

So the early NCAA tournament projections have started to come out, and Cincinnati makes the field of 65 in all but one that I've seen.

Andy Glockner of SI.com lists UC as a #12 seed facing Clemson.

Ryan Fagan of The Sporting News has Cincinnati as a #9 seed.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN ranks the Bearcats as a #12 seed facing Temple.

Bracketville has the 'Cats in as a #10 seed facing Vanderbilt.

Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com lists Cincy as a #8 seed taking on Cornell.

The Hoops Report has UC as a #8 seed with a first-round matchup against North Carolina.

Collegehoopsnet.com ranks the Bearcats as a 12^th seed.

The only "bracketologist" I could find that doesn't include Cincinnati in the tournament is Daniel Evans from onlinesportsfanatic.com, and he has UC listed among his last four teams out.

So what does that mean?

Zilch.

But it does go to show all of us that the season didn't end when the Bearcats gift-wrapped and gave away the St. John's game.

Saturday's win over Notre Dame was absolutely critical.  If you figure (as I do) that a 9-9 Big East record would put Cincinnati on the NCAA bubble while a 10-8 mark would give UC a strong resume heading into March, the Bearcats cannot afford to lose any more games that they are favored to win.

They also can't afford to keep shooting 32% from the field.

Fortunately, great defense, aggressive rebounding, and good offensive execution in the last 1:30 were enough to beat the Fighting Irish.

"We played with a lot of heart," Coach Cronin told me.  "It wasn't pretty, we didn't make many shots, and we made our share of mistakes.  But our heart was there and that's what carried us through."

No one embodied that more than Yancy Gates.  Mick likes to joke that instead of a "5-Hour Energy Drink", he wishes someone would invent a "2-Hour Angry Drink" for Gates to consume right before tipoff.

"The thing that I'm trying to get some of our guys to do - Yancy being one, Rashad being another - is to get serious and get mean," Cronin said.  "You've to play with some emotion and heart.  This is a game of wills and competitiveness and talent is only going to take you so far.  You have got to compete and show some emotion.  Lay your heart on the line out there because that's what the teams at the top of this league have historically done.  Those guys are good guys, but they have to get mean between the lines and that's what I have been challenging them to do."

Perhaps a few more shots will go in on Wednesday night vs. USF, but if they don't, a team that intends to stay in the bracketologist's projections has to find a way to win.

"I told the guys, you can't live and die with the jump shot," Cronin said.  "We have to live and die with the offensive rebound.  We have to go and rebound the ball because we are not going to win a game of horse.  A physical game, an athletic game, a rebounding game, a game of toughness and defense we can win."

* * * * *

In case you're wondering why Biggie McClain was not in uniform on Saturday, he took a nasty fall the day before at practice and hurt his knee.  Fortunately, an MRI found no structural damage and he could see action on Wednesday night.

Additionally, Ibrahima Thomas has been hampered by a sprained left thumb.  He's wearing a protective cover over it when he's off the court, but is only taping it during practice and games.

* * * * *

The Notre Dame game drew the biggest crowd of the year at Fifth Third Arena and there were several clever Brian Kelly-related signs in the student section including one that said, "The 11^th Commandment:  Thou Shall Not Covet They Neighbor's Coach."

Mick Cronin would love to see a similar home court advantage against USF.  As he jokingly pointed out on his radio show on Monday night, "Don't forget, they stole our defensive coordinator Joe Tresey prior to the season."

Something tells me that Tresey won't be the subject of any signs in the student section.

* * * * *

Sam Hoard (AKA "The Handsome Lad") attended his first game of the season on Saturday.  Special thanks to Director of Basketball Operations Chris Goggin, his wife Sonya, and their daughter Simone for showing Sam (and my wife Peg) a great time.

The only thing Sam enjoyed more than the win over Notre Dame was his first visit to Graeter's.  The kid loves ice cream and classic rock.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

Here we go again.

The Bearcats lost a game as a 4 ½-point underdog and my in-box is flooded with angry e-mail.

Let's see . . . you're tired of excuses.  You can't believe that Deonta Vaughn said the Bearcats "relaxed too much" with a 12-point lead at Seton Hall.  You think it's time for a coaching change.    

Duly noted.

I'm not here to tell you that everything is perfect, but why did the season suddenly end with a loss on January 9^th?

The Bearcats are 11-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big East.  They have three wins over Top 25 opponents and have had one horrible performance (at UAB).  My hope for this season was to see the team return to the NCAA Tournament.  I still think that is realistic.

Mick Cronin finally has enough talent to have a fighting chance in the Big East.  That doesn't mean that UC has more talent than Villanova, West Virginia, Syracuse or UConn, but it does mean that he's no longer bringing a water pistol to a gun fight. 

I don't know if/when Mick will lift the Bearcats to national prominence, but I do know this:  He's a Cincinnati guy who took on the challenge of rebuilding the program even though he knew it could get ugly.  The fact that he inherited a disgruntled fan base hasn't made the job any easier.  That doesn't make Mick immune to criticism, but I do think he deserves a realistic evaluation. 

As for Deonta's postgame comments, I think we put too much stock in what college kids say a few minutes after a difficult loss.  Did the Bearcats relax for a moment when they got up by 12?  Perhaps, but it wasn't like they completely stopped trying.  UC blew the lead because it started turning the ball over and giving up fast-break baskets.  It didn't help that Yancy Gates and Rashad Bishop were on the bench with foul trouble. 

There are 14 games left in the regular season.  The next three (at St. John's, home against Notre Dame and USF) are crucial, and if the Bearcats come through, they will be near the top of the Big East standings.

The Seton Hall game is over.  The season isn't.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

I'll admit it; I had the Pitt game penciled in as a win going into the season.

The Panthers lost DeJuan Blair (15.7 points, 12.3 rebs), Sam Young (19.2 points, 6.3 rebs) and Levance Fields (10.7 points, 7.5 assists) from last season's Elite 8 team and were picked to finish 9^th in the Big East in the preseason coaches' poll.

After seeing them in person on Monday night, they are a heck of a lot better than I thought they were going to be.

(Previously unbeaten Syracuse learned the same thing on Saturday at the Carrier Dome.)

There's a reason why Pitt coach Jamie Dixon won more games in his first six years than any other Division 1 coach in college basketball history - his teams are tough, disciplined, and don't make mistakes. 

In my opinion, the Bearcats can learn more from their loss to Pitt than any of their previous defeats this season.  They weren't robbed by a lousy call (Gonzaga).  They didn't blow the game at the FT line (Xavier).  And they didn't get outhustled (UAB). 

Simply put, they had a few more mental lapses on the defensive end (have you ever seen so many guys fall for head fakes?) and it cost them the game.

"We couldn't stop 'em," Coach Cronin told me.  "We didn't get enough stops to win the game.  That's not who we are.  We don't give up 49% shooting.  If we defend as we have all year we win this game."

Pitt methodically executed its offense for 40 minutes (48% shooting in first half, 50% in second half) and only turned the ball over seven times.  Cincinnati's offensive numbers were nearly identical (49% shooting, 8 turnovers), but when the Bearcats failed to score late in the game, they gave up easy baskets on the other end.

"When we don't score, we go down to the other end and carry that miss with us," Cronin said.  "It's got to be over with - you can't let a missed shot or an empty possession compound the problem by giving them an easy shot on the other end.  We have to develop a tougher mettle about us where we understand that there are going to be times that we don't score in crucial situations.  You cannot get deflated and let it impact the defensive end."

Pitt doesn't let that happen.  Let's hope it's a lesson learned for UC.

* * * * *

I've received a bunch of e-mail from fans that made the trip to New Orleans and every single person indicated they had a great time despite the outcome of the Sugar Bowl.

I'm still amazed by the sheer amount of red-and-black that I saw in the French Quarter, and the pep rally is one of the coolest things I've even been involved with.  Kudos to the folks from the UC alumni association for putting together such a great event.    

I had a chance to visit with Nick Carparelli, the Big East's Senior Associate Commissioner for Football, and he said the UC fan support had definitely made a statement that will help the Bearcats in future bowl negotiations.  We've come a long way in a very short period of time. 

I took one of team busses back to the hotel after the game and got a lump in my throat when I walked with the Bearcats through a roped-off line of thousands of cheering UC fans.  I can only imagine how much that meant to the players and coaches.  Thank you to everyone who waited at the Marriott to lift their spirits.

* * * * *  

I also want to thank all of you who stopped me in New Orleans to express your disappointment that I wasn't chosen to fill the Cincinnati Reds broadcasting position.  I can't adequately express how much I appreciate the kind words.  While that remains a dream job for me, I love broadcasting UC football and basketball and hope to do so for many years to come.

Finally, a number of you also wondered why I haven't posted any photos of the handsome lad lately.  It's a very good question.  Here is 3-year-old Sam, proudly wearing his Bearcat gear.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

I grew up in Lakewood, NY rooting for the Buffalo Bills and was lucky to attend three of their four Super Bowl appearances while working for a TV station in Syracuse.

Technically, I was there as a member of the media, but I was a diehard Bills fan at heart and the games were devastating.

Super Bowl XXVI:  Washington 37  Buffalo 24

Super Bowl XXVII:  Dallas 52  Buffalo 17

Super Bowl XXVIII;  Dallas 30  Buffalo 13

The Bills became a national punch line.  When Buffalo blew a halftime lead in their final Super Bowl loss, Letterman did a "Top 10 Things Buffalo Bills Coach Marv Levy Said at Halftime."

#6  "Hey, Kelly. Leave some champagne for everyone else!"

#3  "Okay, boys--get out there and start sucking"

At the time it sucked to be from the Buffalo area.  Some Bills fans (including my beloved mom) actually said they hoped the team didn't make it back to another Super Bowl because they couldn't stand the heartache.

I guarantee that they don't feel that way anymore.

Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, and Coach Levy have entered the Hall of Fame in Canton, and the Bills of the early 90's are widely considered the best team in NFL history that didn't win the big one.

As a fan, I have nothing but great memories of those teams and my Super Bowl adventures.  As horribly as the games turned out, I remember the thrill of seeing the Rose Bowl for the first time, the spectacle of watching 100,000 flashbulbs go off at the opening kickoff, and the pride I felt in rooting for a team that kept bouncing back after excruciating losses.

I know that's how we're eventually going to feel about the Bearcats.

In the short term, the Big East bashing will sting, and we'll have to put up with rival fans (think they enjoyed the Sugar Bowl in Louisville and Columbus?) who will attempt to diminish the 'Cats 12-1 season and back-to-back BCS bowl appearances.

(If Buckeye fans lay it on too thick, you can remind them that OSU lost to Florida for the 2006 National Championship by the same 27 point margin that UC lost the Sugar Bowl).

But at the risk of getting too "Oprah-ish," don't let anybody steal your joy.

If you were among the 20,000-plus that made it to New Orleans, remember what it was like to see red-and-black everywhere you looked in the French Quarter.

Remember the inspiration of Mitch Stone and how our team rallied around him.

Remember Armon Binns making the most important catch in UC history while playing with a separated shoulder.

Remember your heart skipping a beat when the clock briefly hit zero in the Texas/Nebraska game.

Remember the rags-to-riches rise of future NFL quarterback Tony Pike.

Remember the greatness on the field and the grace off of it displayed by Mardy Gilyard.

And yes, remember Brian Kelly.  He gave us a wonderful ride.

And the ride is not over.

Take it from a Bills fan.  A lousy night shouldn't ruin a phenomenal year.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

Say "84% wrong" to a West Virginia football fan and, chances are, they'll know exactly what you're talking about.

Three years ago, the Mountaineers experienced what the Bearcats are going through now as head coach Rich Rodriguez bolted for Michigan 19 days before WVU faced Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

West Virginia's long-time radio broadcaster Tony Caridi - one of my old college buddies at Syracuse - admits that he wasn't very optimistic going into the game.

"It would be totally disingenuous if I said that walking into the stadium that night that I thought that West Virginia was going to have a chance to win the game," Caridi told me recently.   "Not only did they have to play a game without their head coach, but it was against an Oklahoma team that was being mentioned by pundits as perhaps the best team in the nation.    Rich Rodriguez and one assistant had already left, and you knew that several other coaches were literally going to be on the road to Michigan the next day.  It did not look like West Virginia would be able to win the game or even be competitive."

Football fans across the country agreed with the WVU announcer.

"There was an ESPN poll where fans voted on who would win the game and it looked like a presidential map with the red states and the blue states," Caridi recalled.  "84% of the nation picked Oklahoma to win the football game and the only state in the United States that picked West Virginia was West Virginia.  And that was obviously with their hearts and not their minds."

But West Virginia not only won, the Mountaineers dominated the Sooners in a 48-28 victory.  On the sideline near the end of the game, Mountaineers wide receiver Dorrell Jalloh held up a sign that said "84 percent wrong."

"When you first walk into the football facility at West Virginia, a photo of that sign is located to your immediate left and it is blown up to a huge size," Caridi said.  "That underscores defying all the odds when you're told that you can't do something.  I would think that would have to be the number one victory in school history.  It's the highest-ranked team that they have even beaten and then you have to consider the situation that they were put into.  And they not only beat them, they thumped them.  So I think that would probably be the number one victory - this is my 26^th season, and without question, in my 26 years that's the biggest." 

ESPN.com is once again giving fans the opportunity to make their online bowl picks (you can vote on the Sugar Bowl here).  As of December 22^nd, nearly 70,000 people had voted and 67% pick Florida to beat UC.

That comes as no surprise to Mardy Gilyard.

"Even at 12-0 we've got people asking us, 'Do you think you can compete with Florida?' Gilyard told me.  "Then when BK left, it was almost like pouring gas on the fire for us, because now there are people running around asking, 'Can they compete without Coach Kelly?'  People should know that Coach Kelly had a staff that had something to do with this too, and those are the guys who are working extremely hard to get us prepared for this game."    

The Bearcats goal is to hoist the Sugar Bowl trophy after the game.

Holding up a sign that says "67% wrong" would be nice too.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.

And if you Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard

After his team's lousy performance in Birmingham on Wednesday, Mick Cronin knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep, so he put his insomnia to good use by staying up all night and watching every minute of every Bearcat game this season in hopes of finding ways to be more productive offensively.

"There are things in that game that were embarrassing for me," Cronin said.  "Shot selection is something I pride myself on as a coach - my teams are going to play smart.  Any coach wants to feel like his teams are going to play smart basketball and we were disoriented at UAB.  We had to get ourselves back on the same page in order to take high-quality shots."

But two days of extensive work on the offensive end at practice did not produce early results on Saturday against Lipscomb as the Bearcats did not make a field goal for the first 6 ½ minutes. 

"I thought there was a possibility that we would come out and freeze because guys were so determined to run the offense that they weren't trying to score when it was there," Cronin said.  "Early in the game there was a lot of ball movement but nobody was looking to shoot."

Eventually, the Bearcats began to take - and make - good shots, shooting 54% from the floor in an 80-52 win over the Bisons.

"We had 21 assists today which is a direct reflection of ball movement and execution," Cronin said.  "You could see that the conviction to try to share the ball more was there today."

"You have to get guys to believe in letting the offense work," Mick told me.  "You have to hang on to your execution in tough times and not hang on to the bravado of, 'I'll grab the ball and go score.'  We have to rely on our execution.  Because we really got away with not executing in Maui, we hadn't become a team that really understood that yet.  Although I was very unhappy with the result at UAB, I do think it's going to make us a better team."

* * * * *

Ibrahima Thomas made his first start as a Bearcat on Saturday and played 18 productive minutes, finishing with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots.

"Everybody saw the real guy that's got a chance to be a really good player and help us a lot," Cronin said.

But with Big East play looming in less than two weeks, the Yancy Gates who averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds in Maui, needs to grab a return flight from the Islands.  On Saturday, Gates played four ineffective minutes in the first half (0 points, 0 rebounds) and stayed on the bench for the rest of the game.

"I love everybody in that locker room and I love Yancy as much as the rest of those guys, but we needed a win," Mick told us after the game.  "It doesn't matter who you are.  If I feel that you're not ready to play - you're not sprinting down the floor, you're not playing with strength - we have to go with somebody else.  Hopefully he'll come back and respond and practice hard and get ready to play on Tuesday.  As a coach, you've to play the guys that give you the best chance to win and that's really all I try to do."

Cashmere Wright also saw limited minutes.  Deonta Vaughn started at point guard and Jaquon Parker - who barely played in the previous two games - was the first point guard off the bench.  Wright eventually got into the game in the second half and played a total of nine minutes.

"Our point guards had eight turnovers combined which has to get rectified in a hurry before Big East play starts," Cronin said.  "Our point guards are better players than that.  Their decisions are the problem right now.  They had no forced turnovers.  They didn't get trapped.  Those were all turnovers where they either made a bad pass on their own, or drove too deep.  They just elected to do that.  They have got to start seeing the floor and stop staring at their target because the defense is reading their eyes like a free safety in football.  You cannot win in the Big East with your point guards turning it over eight times in a game.  It's not going to happen."

You know what results from point guards that turn the ball over?  More sleepless nights for their coach.

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