The Cincinnati Bearcats dropped another big opportunity at home to put a shine on their NCAA Tournament resume, this time to the #9/#11 Iowa State Cyclones.
It’s just another game where I’m left wondering “why us”? What did we ever do to deserve this? I mean, this season had so much promise and, quite honestly, it still very much does. But to lose on a buzzer beater to Butler at home, get mauled by Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout, and drop another big one against Iowa State? That’s not how we drew it up in the preseason.
It’s perhaps the way that Cincinnati lost last night that’s so deflating. UC was down by as much as 13 and one point and clawed their way back to take the lead at the final media timeout in the second half. On the one hand, it should have been another blowout. On the other, the Bearcats did what they normally do; pull up their boot straps, get a little dirty, and grind their way back into the game. By all accounts they should have gotten either blown out or won in comeback fashion. Unfortunately it wasn’t the latter.
That’s just the way it goes sometimes when you schedule teams of the caliber of a Butler, Xavier, or Iowa State. Things won’t always go UC’s way. To their credit they led the Bulldogs most of the game, made the Crosstown Shootout less embarrassing, and put the Cyclones on their heels late in the second half. They very well could, some say should, at least two of those.
But, again, they just came up a hair short, which might be the difference between a 2-3 seed and 4-6 seed come Selection Sunday.
Do I believe there is anything intrinsically wrong with this team right now? Absolutely not. They’re as talented a group of players as Mick Cronin’s had ever as a head coach of this team and they’re only getting better. That being said, tweaks need to be made.
The most important in my mind is perimeter switching. Far too often last night were the Bearcats over committing on the passer and not keeping enough attention on the shooter. Now, Iowa State only shot 30% from three but they were left open more than a few times last night, especially in the corner. Plus three point defense has been a big issues for Cincinnati in general this season.
And I’d like to see far more of Jacob Evans and far, far less of Shaq Thomas and Kevin Johnson. He’ll never start, considering Mick’s propensity to favor the veterans on his team. That’s just something that probably won’t ever change in the near future. There are exceptions like Gary Clark but once Mick’s mind is made up about the starting lineup at the beginning of the season, it rarely ever changes. Thankfully, Evans is garnering 20.2 minutes per game, sixth most on the team and slightly more than KJ. He’s rewarded Mick with that court time with 8.4 points per game, which is fifth highest.
The problem is that Shaq and KJ tend to simply fade into the background in crucial games. Shaq’s best game this season was against Morgan State, when he went 15 and nine. UC also won that game by 21. Against Butler, Xavier, VCU, and Iowa State he scored five, 11, four, and four points from the field, respectively. Johnson went for nine, three, four, and eight points. Conversely, Evans appears to play best against top competition, scoring a career high 16 against Butler and four, nine, and 11 in the others.
Why he’s not getting upwards of 25 minutes per game I don’t know.
Now, all of that might seem nitpicky. I can see that. This is a 9-3 basketball team after all that came harrowingly close to being 11-1. But that’s the problem, UC’s a good team right now but not great. The Bearcats can hang with the country’s top teams but aren’t able to get over the hump to actually knock them off their perch. They need to tweak their defense and the make up of their lineup. The strength of this team is their deep rotation but if two of those players simply disappear in critical games, how far can we really expect them to go in March? That picture is frighteningly murky.
The good news is the nasty, lingering taste of losses like last night’s can be washed away in AAC play, which kicks off next Tuesday against the Temple Owls. Win the conference and win it in resounding fashion, Butler, Xavier, and Iowa State will be but a distant memory.