KOCH: Scrimmage Helps Prepare Bearcats for BB&T Arena

RED-BLACK SCRIMMAGE PRESENTED BY SKYLINE CHILI
Saturday, Oct. 28 // BB&T Arena // 3:30 p.m.
Free Admission
Gates open at 3 p.m.
Parking is $5 cash
Student Halftime Competition - Exclusive Team Experience Prize

By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com

CINCINNATI – Two weeks before the University of Cincinnati Bearcats play their season opener against Savannah State, UC coach Mick Cronin has begun fielding the inevitable questions about how his players will be affected by having to play their home games on someone else's floor. 

That's understandable considering that the only home court the Bearcats have known since 1989 is Fifth Third Arena.

But with Fifth Third in the midst of an $87-million renovation, Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena will serve as their home this season. Sure it's an unusual situation, but Cronin said he's determined not to let it become a distraction or an excuse for his team, which was ranked 13th in USA Today's preseason coaches poll.    

"I just think when it comes to that stuff as a coach, whether it's a player getting injured, where the game is, who the referees are, whether the fans are there or not there, those are all things that should have nothing to do with your focus and your effort and your energy and what you're trying to accomplish," Cronin said, "so we have never discussed where we're playing."

But that doesn't mean the Bearcats won't take measures to get accustomed to their temporary home. To that end, they'll play their annual Red-Black intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at BB&T. Admissionis free. Gates open at 3. Parking is $5 (cash).

"You've got to get them over there," Cronin said of his players. "That's why Saturday is good. We're even going to wear uniforms so they try to get a feel for this is where we're playing all year."

The scrimmage will present the first opportunity for the public to see the Bearcats in their surroundings, but it won't be the first time the players have competed on NKU's court. Most of them played pickup games there with the NKU players during the summer to begin the adjustment process.

"We did it a few times because we wanted to get used to the rims," said senior forward Kyle Washington. "And NKU wasn't a bad team last year. They were good players and we enjoyed playing there. It was all of our team. Everybody who was here during the summertime."

The Norse, who won the Horizon League tournament, were 24-10 last year and earned a No. 15 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament where they lost to Kentucky, 79-70.

According to Cronin, Washington is an aficionado of rims, so it's important to him to get a feel for the rims that he'll be aiming at this season.

"He's a rim expert as far as tightness of the rim," Cronin said. "I keep trying to tell him the goal is to not hit the rim."

Washington laughed at Cronin's description of him as an expert on rims and declared that the ones at NKU seem just fine to him.    

"They're not really that different," he said. "It's more getting used to the depth perception and the bowl. It's kind of like a bowl in there, but it's a nice facility. If you look at our team, we're used to being in different environments, being in pro arenas, being in different facilities. It'll be a change at first, but we'll transition to it pretty well and our fans are going to be supportive. We already know that. I just want to get it right so I make sure I'm shooting the right way."

The Bearcats will play their first of two preseason exhibition games next Wednesday against Division II power Bellarmine at Freedom Hall in Louisville. The second scrimmage is set for Nov. 5 at BB&T Arena against Embry-Riddle, a Division II school from Daytona Beach, Fla. Five days later, the season will begin.

"You've got to get them comfortable (over there)," Cronin said. "For the next few weeks we'll do everything we can to get them comfortable."

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.