Bearcats shut down late, fall to No. 3 Syracuse 71-54

Cronin mimics the look of every Bearcat fan in the stands, (Behrman)

With nearly 12 minutes left to play, the Cincinnati Bearcats led the No. 3 Syracuse Orange - arguably the best team in the nation - by six points.  To figure out how miserably the Bearcats played over those last twelve minutes, one only need to know that UC lost by 17.

Syracuse (23-1, 10-1 Big East) was down 49-43 with about 12 minutes left, then shut the door defensively on the Bearcats (14-9, 5-6). The Orange 2-3 zone was impenetrable, and Cincinnati was held to one shot.  

[Box Score: UC v. Syracuse]

The 'Cuse closed the game on a crushing 28-5 run.  In the words of ESPN analyst Pat Forde, "In short, it looked like a team that knows how to win against a team that only hoped it knew how to win."

Yes, the Bearcats hung close with likely the top team in the nation for nearly 25 minutes.  And yes, UC went on a couple of spurts that looked like they actually "got it" on the court.  But make no mistake - those in stands never felt that Cincinnati was poised to pull off the upset.   

Sometimes the adage "the game was closer than the score" is used to describe a game that slipped away.  This was decidedly not one of those games.  The fact that UC was even in the game at half was a bit of a minor miracle. 

The players looked clueless against the Syracuse 2-3 zone.  Fans could count on one hand the number of times a big man, whether it was Gates, Thomas or Toyloy, touched the ball in the paint in the first half.  Instead, the 'Cats looked satisfied to pass the ball around the outside, letting the clock tick away.  The result was numerous last second heaves from too deep or hurried turn overs.

Cronin's team was simply not prepared to play Syracuse.  The players did as they were told and, at times, made the best out of a bad situation.  But as boos rained down from the Shoemaker rafters, it became clear that Cincinnati Nation places the blame on the sideline.

UC has now dropped four of its last five games, with seven games remaining in the season (including games at Georgetown, at West Virginia, at UConn and home against Villanova).  They are now tied for ninth place with South Florida in the Big East Conference.

Given Mick Cronin's proven inability to win a game on the road, anyone that thinks the Bearcats have a realistic chance at playing in the NCAA Tournament must think Huggins is still on the sideline.

For a complete game summary, see Bill Koch's article at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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