Tickets Box Score | Quotes | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery 
By Bill Koch
Go.BEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati Bearcats didn't waste any time showing that they had received the message about toughness from coach Mick Cronin after their loss to Temple a few days earlier.
The Bearcats came out more aggressive on defense than perhaps they've been all season. They were deflecting passes, pounding the backboards and yes, committing a slew of fouls. This would not be the same UC team that had lost its last two games at home.
That change in attitude was all the Bearcats needed to cruise past Tulsa, 76-57, Saturday before 10,102 fans at Fifth Third Arena. No. 22 UC improved to 11-4 overall, 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference while Tulsa lost for the third time in four games to fall to 8-6, 0-2.
Senior guard Farad Cobb was the only UC player to score in double figures with a season-high 21 points, but sophomore forward Gary Clark contributed 14 rebounds to match his season high and was feistier than he has been at any point this season. Late in the game, he was fouled after snaring an offensive rebound and was whacked across the head and the right eye by Tulsa's D'Andre Wright, who was called for a flagrant 2 foul. Shaquille Harrison scored 21 to lead Tulsa.
"Coach was telling us all week that teams were too comfortable playing us, too comfortable coming in our gym and just moving the ball freely, passing it, shooting," Clark said, "so we really tried to be aggressive on the ball. That's why we got in a lot of foul trouble early."
But that's also why the Bearcats were able to hold Tulsa to 22 percent shooting in the first half, 33.3 percent for the game. It's why the Golden Hurricane went nearly 14 minutes without a field goal in the first half, at one point missing 13 straight shots. And it's why UC was able to build a 24-point with 6:09 left in the half before Tulsa recovered to cut it to 14 at intermission.
"I told our team you've got to eliminate worrying about winning and losing," Cronin said. "You've got to eliminate worrying about things you can't control. You've got to worry about certain things we try to define for our guys - deflections, what we want to do on the glass, what we want to do on field goal percentage defense.
"We want to have less than 10 turnovers, 40 deflections, be plus-7 each half on the glass and hold teams under 38 percent. If we worry about those things, the rest of our season will take care of itself."
Cobb made five of seven shots from long range, but also dribbled past defenders on several occasions to locate pull-up shots or floaters to expand his game, although he failed to get to the free throw line for the third straight game.
But he seemed more pleased with the way the Bearcats responded to the public tongue-lashing they absorbed from Cronin after their loss to Temple than he was about his offensive performance.
"He was right," Cobb said. "We were't showing the toughness that Cincinnati teams usually do. We were getting out-rebounded, not getting many steals. He was telling us that's what the program was built off of, so this week in practice we made a few changes and tried to give better effort in those categories because that's what helps us win."
UC never trailed, but Tulsa did get to within 12 points early in the second half. The Bearcats then went on a 12-3 run to increase their lead to 21 at 59-38 with 12:04 remaining.
Troy Caupain's basket with 10:48 remaining put UC ahead by 24 for the second time in the game. The Bearcats out-rebounded Tulsa, 39-31.
UC committed 16 fouls in the first half that led to 21 free throws for the Golden Hurricane, which made 14 of them to keep from getting blown out. Tulsa would shoot only four more in the second half. Overall Cronin said he wasn't bothered by the abundance of fouls, especially early in the game when the Bearcats were setting a tone.
"I'd rather have the fouls we had today out of aggression than giving up 10 made threes per game," Cronin said. "We held them to four for 21 (from 3-point range) because we had much more pressure on the ball defensively. I'd rather have the fouls."
Although Cronin wouldn't say it, this was as close to a must-win game as a college basketball team can have on Jan. 2. The Bearcats simply couldn't afford to start their conference season with two losses at home. That's not the way Cronin sold it to his players, but they clearly knew the score.
"Toughness to me is being able to get your job done," Cronin said. "It's not about physicality. You've got to be tough enough to get your job done and if a team is making shots against you, you've got to be tough enough to find a way to sop them and still win the game. We try to focus on playing really hard and being mentally tough enough to get your job done, whatever your job is."
On this day, at least, that's exactly what they did.
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015. He has written a new book, a memoir titled, "I Can't Believe I Got Paid For This." The book is available online only at CreateSpace and Amazon.com