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By Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - Maybe this will finally be the year the University of Cincinnati Bearcats become better known for their offense than their defense.
During Mick Cronin's first nine years as the Bearcats' head coach, defense has been the trademark of his teams, but in the early stages of this season, it's the offense that's turning heads and making fans wonder if it's for real.
With Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips watching from just next to press row, UC rolled to a 97-72 victory over Western Carolina in its season opener on Friday night before 7,213 fans at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats never scored more than 84 points all of last season. UC has won 33 of its last 35 season openers.
You can say the opposition wasn't at a high level and you would be right, but Cronin has seen enough during pre-season practice, two exhibition games and now one regular season game to be convinced that this is a much better offensive team than UC fans are accustomed to seeing.
"I'm pretty confident in that," Cronin said.
The UC coach looked stylish sporting a pair of glasses on the bench for the first time, the result, he said, of failing Lasik surgery that he had years ago.
"My Lasik is slipping," Cronin said. "I've had them for about a year. I was blind, man. Tonight when I came out for warmups I noticed the glare was really bad."
Sophomore forward Gary Clark led the way for the Bearcats (1-0) with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field. He also made all three of his free throws and added eight rebounds in 28 minutes.
But he had plenty of help. Three other UC players reached double figures. Octavius Ellis had the fourth double-double of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Coreontae DeBerry scored 12 points, one short of his career high last year in the NCAA Tournament vs. Purdue, and Farad Cobb added 11.
That's exactly the kind of production Cronin hopes to see all year.
"When I look down I want to see at least four to six guys in double figures," Cronin said. "That would be my preference. Teams are going to defend you in different ways. Some games you're going to have to score more inside than outside. The luxury we have is that we can do both."
Clark failed to score in UC's first exhibition game and managed only eight points in the second. But he came out with a different attitude when the real games began.
"Coach is always yelling at me," Clark said, "asking me am I going to be the nice guy or the angry and aggressive guy? So tonight I really tried to get position and easier shots and trust my jump shot when I was open."
UC, which led by as many as 30, had a huge advantage inside against the overmatched Cantamounts (0-1). The Bearcats' three big men - Clark, Ellis and DeBerry - were a combined 21 of 26 from the field, accounting for a large portion of the Bearcats' 54 points in the paint. UC shot 61 percent overall, making 36 of 59 shots, and out-rebounded Western Carolina, 43-27, after getting out-rebounded in both of their exhibition games. They committed 17 turnovers.
The offensive efficiency that has been in evidence so far shouldn't be a surprise, Cobb said.
"I would say early on our offense is ahead of our defense right now because over the course of the summer that's basically what we focused on the most," Cobb said. "We've got to catch up on the defensive end because that's what it's going to come down to later in the year."
Freshmen Justin Jenifer and Jacob Evans each scored seven points. Jenifer twice lit up the crowd with acrobatic layups in transition.
UC held Western Carolina to 22 points in the first half, but the Cantamounts scored 50 in the second half as the game was played in a more wide-open fashion and became a bit sloppy.
"I told the guys I'm all for scoring more points, but we're not going to get pushed around," Cronin said. "We're going to add to what we do. We're not going to change what we do. Just because we're going to try to run and score more points doesn't mean we're going to stop playing defense."
When March arrives, the Bearcats will need both if they hope to make the deep run in the NCAA Tournament that they believe their capable of.
"Two years ago we won 27 games, but the problem with that team was we really were a two-dimensional offensive team," Cronin said, "with Justin (Jackson) inside and SK (Sean Kilpatrick) outside. You're only gonna go so far that way."
SCOTT TO REDSHIRT - Freshman forward Tre Scott, the only UC player who didn't get on the floor Friday night, will likely redshirt, Cronin said after the game.
"It's just hard to get him in the game right now," Cronin said. "It's hard to get 10 in. It's really hard to get 11 in. I sit around and I think, 'What if I'd have redshirted Justin Jackson? He probably would have been preseason player of the year last year in the American Conference. He would have at least been first team all-league pre-season. It would have just been better all around.' I just don't like to waste a year on a guy that I think is a great kid and a great player."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of Go.Bearcats.com in January, 2015.