UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

No. 24 UC Bearcats tested, but overpower SE Louisiana

Tom Groeschen
tgroeschen@enquirer.com
Bearcats forward Jacob Evans knocks the ball away from Southeastern Louisiana guard Zay Jackson during the first half.

Mick Cronin was not angry, or particularly upset. Instead, the University of Cincinnati basketball coach was glad that his newly 24th-ranked team got a minor scare Tuesday night.

UC pulled away late to beat feisty underdog Southeastern Louisiana 64-49 at Fifth Third Arena before 6,824 fans.

UC (5-0), which entered both the Associated Press and USA Today polls at No. 24 this week, was occasionally out-hustled by the smaller Lions (1-4). The Bearcats led only 38-35 with just under 11 minutes left.

BOX SCORE: UC 64, Southeastern Louisiana 49

Did UC need a wake-up call, after scorching its first four opponents by an average of 42.3 points?

“I don’t believe in all that,” Cronin said. “You shouldn’t have to. I would say it’s more strategic. To be honest, we really haven’t played against a tough man-to-man defense.”

UC saw that Tuesday, facing tight pressure and posting season lows for points and field goal percentage (40.7).

On the other end, the Lions were content to mostly run halfcourt offense and shorten the game. With no five-second call now, Southeastern Louisiana several times pushed the shot clock to its 30-second limit.

“Good strategy,” Cronin said. “If I was in (Southeastern Louisiana coach Jay Ladner’s) shoes, I’d have done the same thing.”

With UC holding its 38-35 lead, freshman swingman Jacob Evans III essentially iced the game with eight straight points, including two 3-pointers. That pushed the UC lead to 46-35.

Evans and junior guard Troy Caupain led UC with 15 points each, with Evans’ total a season high. Sophomore forward Gary Clark had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Clark said the Bearcats knew they were in a game.

“It was pretty close,” Clark said. “Coach was getting on us and we played harder. We handled it well. When the game got close, we outplayed them and won.”

Caupain credited Southeastern Louisiana for its effort.

“They played real hard, for real,” Caupain. “They were battling the whole game, real aggressive. They had athletes. They came ready to play.”

Was UC ready?

“Yes and no,” Caupain said. “We got outworked.”

Cronin said he knew UC was in for a fight after watching film of Southeastern Louisiana, which battled UC on the interior and held the Bearcats to 22 points in the paint.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t, but I thought we’d struggle offensively tonight against their man-to-man … against their converging on their post, their trapping the post, unless we came out and made every shot,” Cronin said. “We came out and missed every shot.”

The UC defense, for its part, held Southeastern Louisiana relatively at bay. The Lions shot only 37.3 percent from the field.

The game was the second in a four-game run of Barclays Center Classic games for UC. The Bearcats now head to Brooklyn, New York, for Thanksgiving weekend.

UC will play Nebraska on Friday (6:30 p.m.) at the Barclays Center in the next round of the four-game event.

“It was good for us to be in a game,” Cronin said. “I think Southeastern Louisiana was the problem tonight. Give them credit. Yeah, I’m not happy with my team, but it wouldn’t have happened if those kids wouldn’t have come in here scrapping.”

WHAT POLLS?: Cronin said in preseason that he had not read any preseason basketball magazines or seen any polls. Thus, Cronin's postgame response when asked about UC now being ranked No. 24:

"What rankings? What poll? I couldn't care less. Next question. And I'm being nice, I just don't care. I have no comment, I have no quote. It means nothing."

Cronin then elaborated:

"Look every year at the top 25 and compare it to the NCAA seeding. Missouri, five years ago, was ranked every week and when the brackets came out, we were a six (seed) and they were an 11. It happens every year. It tells you how off they are and how little they mean. Now the top four are probably the top four, but the rest of it doesn’t matter.”