Doc: Bring on the next moment for UC
Paul Daugherty , pdaugherty@enquirer.com Published 10:03 p.m. ET March 17, 2017 | Updated 7 hours ago


SACRAMENTO, Cal. – Nothing gets a basketball player’s mind right like one-and-done. All that matters in March is the next possession, the next defensive stop, the next game. It’s basketball at its most essential.

The 2016-17 Cincinnati Bearcats had a lot to validate Friday night, more than any UC team since Bob Huggins stomped the sidelines. Was Mick Cronin’s view of the NCAA and how it conducts its basketball tournament correct?

Would the 29-win pre-Madness record have big meaning, or would it be a product of a lean league schedule? You could say that 29 wins is a great season, regardless. That’s true, as far as it goes. The Bearcats have won more than 29 in a year just once. But college basketball success has been distilled to its March essence. You are defined by how you do in the national tournament. “In this day and age, it’s all about this tournament,’’ Cronin said.

A big weekend here would validate everything nice said about these Bearcats. How might Cronin’s best team in his 11 years in Clifton handle its great expectations?

So far, so good. The Bearcats handled Kansas State, 75-61. We’d say they did it with relative ease, except almost nothing is easy in the Madness. Ask SMU about that today.

But UC played from the jump as if it knew it would win. Confidence and poise count for a lot in this event. “We had a sense of calm,’’ Kyle Washington said. Who wouldn’t want that in a national festival of hoop that calls itself “Madness’’?

UC rolled out to an eight-point lead in the first seven-plus minutes and was never ahead by fewer than six the rest of the way. Fittingly, Jarron Cumberland – fearless, icy, stone-cold freshman assassin – applied the finishing touch. As the shot clock seconds disappeared, he took a nice drive-and-dish pass from Jacob Evans and calmly buried a three from the right wing.

That made it 67-50 with 5:31 left. Thank you for coming, please drive safely.

It was a nails performance in prime time. Now all the Bearcats have to do is do it again. That’d be on Sunday, against 3rd-seeded UCLA. No one thinks the Bearcats can beat the Bruins.

If they can repeat what they showed Friday, well. . . that’s why it’s called Madness.

UC basically did everything well. Troy Caupain played like a solid senior point guard should, Gary Clark was beastly close to the basket. When he stayed in the game and out of foul trouble, Kyle Washington’s jump-hook was lethal, especially when he was allowed a clean catch in the paint.

Meantime, the defense was typical. Kansas State had three starters shooting at least 36 percent from three-point range, including 6-foot-10 Dean Wade, at 40 percent. The Bearcats extended their D while keeping Wildcats ballhandlers in front of them. In a tournament that has quickly become wholly 3-centric, K-State was just 2-for-8 in the first half. The Bearcats made the Wildcats work for everything.

The Bearcats led 39-28 at halftime, even as Washington missed 11 minutes with foul trouble.

UC played a no-complaints first half. Caupain especially played inspired senior-ball. When he is driving and creating, the Bearcats offense is worth your applause. Caupain showed he was around for the evening on UC’s first possession, when he split the lane for a dish to Gary Clark, who laid it in. It wasn’t an accident the Bearcats made 15 of 23 shots in the first half. Caupain also helped himself, scoring 14 points in the half.

“He played with great pace’’ was how Cronin put it.

The first-half consistency continued after intermission. Balanced scoring, smart decision-making, poise. The whole March package. When the Wildcats closed to 43-36 with 17:07 left, Washington assaulted the lane and made two free throws. Caupain went 90 feet with a layup and Jacob Evans scored from the lane. Problem solved, at least for one night.

On to UCLA and the opportunity to seize the biggest UC basketball day in, oh, two decades. Can Mick Cronin’s players keep cashing the checks he’s written with his candor?

“We’ve won 30 games. We ought to be confident,’’ the coach said. And oh, by the way, “To clarify, I love the West Coast. Two of my best friends live here.’’

What set this team apart this year was its ability to both bang and shoot. To the traditional UC choreography of elbows and sweat ethic was added some subtlety, some touch, some ability to put the ball in the basket from outside the lane. On Friday, they had all of that. And a reassuring calmness to boot.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../99336194/