TicketsCINCINNATI GAME NOTES
2017-18 SCHEDULE
CINCINNATI AT BELLARMINE AT A GLANCE
SERIES INFO: Cincinnati leads the regular-season series 2-0. Eighth exhibition meeting in series history.
UC leads 7-0 in exhibition games. All previous games have been played in Cincinnati.
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 64-55 on Nov. 1, 2016 at Fifth Third Arena.
STREAK: Cincinnati - 7 (exhibition meetings)
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (237-135); 15th season overall (306-159)
Scott Davenport is in his 13th season at Bellarmine (287-93); 13th season overall (287-93)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (PRESEASON): Cincinnati (TBA/13); Bellarmine (6*) * - Ranking by Division II Bulletin
RADIO: None
TV: None
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – During a normal season, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats would play their annual exhibition game against Division II power Bellarmine at Fifth Third Arena as they have every year since 2012.
Instead, because UC is using Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena as their home court this season while Fifth Third is being renovated, the Bearcats will play the Knights in Louisville on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET, with the added twist of playing not in Bellarmine's on-campus, 2,196-seat Knights Hall, but at Freedom Hall, the long-time former home of the Louisville Cardinals.
According to UC coach Mick Cronin, the two schools simply couldn't come up with a date that would work for not only UC and Bellarmine, but also for NKU. The NCAA normally requires these exhibition games to be played on the Division I school's home court, but granted a waiver in this case due to the unusual circumstances.
"The nights Bellarmine could have played us at NKU the arena weren't available," Cronin said. "So, it just made it a lot easier to go play them down there. We had to get a waiver. Once the NCAA saw that we've got arena issues and there's finances involved, plus finding the right night, they figured we play every year anyway. The side effect is we get to play a road game, which is much more difficult for your team to win."
Bellarmine is coached by Scott Davenport, who served with Cronin on Rick Pitino's staff at Louisville from 2001 to 2003. The Knights return 11 lettermen from a team that went 32-4 last year and advanced to the Division II Final Four. Bellarmine is ranked sixth nationally by D-II Bulletin, fourth by The Sporting News. The Knights' top player is junior forward Adam Eberhand, who was named the preseason Player of the Year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and a Super 16 All-American by D-II Bulletin. Eberhand averaged 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds last season.
Former Cincinnati La Salle star C.J. Fleming, a three-time player of the year in the Greater Catholic League South, is a freshman guard for the Knights.
"Nobody passes the ball better than Bellarmine, so they're great to practice against," Cronin said.
It was Bellarmine's idea to move the game to Freedom Hall. According to Bellarmine sports information director John Spugnardi, the Knights have sold more than 3,500 tickets, but Spugnardi said Bellarmine officials are hoping for heavy walk-up sales, with tickets going for as little as $5.
According to Spugnardi, the last college basketball game played at Freedom Hall was in 2013 when the building was the site of the Division II national semifinals between Drury and Western Washington.
UC, which won the 1962 national championship at Freedom Hall, last played there against Louisville on Jan. 24, 2010. The Cardinals played their home games at Freedom Hall from 1957-58 until 2010-11 when they moved to the Yum! Center in downtown Louisville.
The Bearcats played an intra-squad scrimmage Saturday at BB&T Arena as a tune-up for the Bellarmine game.
"It was good for the players, a learning experience for the freshmen," Cronin said. "We needed to play a game. I didn't want being on the road at Bellarmine to be our first game. That would have been a recipe for disaster. We really needed to get some stuff on film to get it cleaned up. There was just a lot of lack of execution, a lot of not boxing out, a lot of bad transition defense, a lot of bad shot selection. There were just too many mistakes, but obviously there were gonna be mistakes. We're gonna find out the truth on Wednesday about where we're at. In my mind, we're gonna have to go all out to win Wednesday."
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.
2017-18 SCHEDULE
CINCINNATI AT BELLARMINE AT A GLANCE
SERIES INFO: Cincinnati leads the regular-season series 2-0. Eighth exhibition meeting in series history.
UC leads 7-0 in exhibition games. All previous games have been played in Cincinnati.
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 64-55 on Nov. 1, 2016 at Fifth Third Arena.
STREAK: Cincinnati - 7 (exhibition meetings)
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (237-135); 15th season overall (306-159)
Scott Davenport is in his 13th season at Bellarmine (287-93); 13th season overall (287-93)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (PRESEASON): Cincinnati (TBA/13); Bellarmine (6*) * - Ranking by Division II Bulletin
RADIO: None
TV: None
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – During a normal season, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats would play their annual exhibition game against Division II power Bellarmine at Fifth Third Arena as they have every year since 2012.
Instead, because UC is using Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena as their home court this season while Fifth Third is being renovated, the Bearcats will play the Knights in Louisville on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET, with the added twist of playing not in Bellarmine's on-campus, 2,196-seat Knights Hall, but at Freedom Hall, the long-time former home of the Louisville Cardinals.
According to UC coach Mick Cronin, the two schools simply couldn't come up with a date that would work for not only UC and Bellarmine, but also for NKU. The NCAA normally requires these exhibition games to be played on the Division I school's home court, but granted a waiver in this case due to the unusual circumstances.
"The nights Bellarmine could have played us at NKU the arena weren't available," Cronin said. "So, it just made it a lot easier to go play them down there. We had to get a waiver. Once the NCAA saw that we've got arena issues and there's finances involved, plus finding the right night, they figured we play every year anyway. The side effect is we get to play a road game, which is much more difficult for your team to win."
Bellarmine is coached by Scott Davenport, who served with Cronin on Rick Pitino's staff at Louisville from 2001 to 2003. The Knights return 11 lettermen from a team that went 32-4 last year and advanced to the Division II Final Four. Bellarmine is ranked sixth nationally by D-II Bulletin, fourth by The Sporting News. The Knights' top player is junior forward Adam Eberhand, who was named the preseason Player of the Year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and a Super 16 All-American by D-II Bulletin. Eberhand averaged 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds last season.
Former Cincinnati La Salle star C.J. Fleming, a three-time player of the year in the Greater Catholic League South, is a freshman guard for the Knights.
"Nobody passes the ball better than Bellarmine, so they're great to practice against," Cronin said.
It was Bellarmine's idea to move the game to Freedom Hall. According to Bellarmine sports information director John Spugnardi, the Knights have sold more than 3,500 tickets, but Spugnardi said Bellarmine officials are hoping for heavy walk-up sales, with tickets going for as little as $5.
According to Spugnardi, the last college basketball game played at Freedom Hall was in 2013 when the building was the site of the Division II national semifinals between Drury and Western Washington.
UC, which won the 1962 national championship at Freedom Hall, last played there against Louisville on Jan. 24, 2010. The Cardinals played their home games at Freedom Hall from 1957-58 until 2010-11 when they moved to the Yum! Center in downtown Louisville.
The Bearcats played an intra-squad scrimmage Saturday at BB&T Arena as a tune-up for the Bellarmine game.
"It was good for the players, a learning experience for the freshmen," Cronin said. "We needed to play a game. I didn't want being on the road at Bellarmine to be our first game. That would have been a recipe for disaster. We really needed to get some stuff on film to get it cleaned up. There was just a lot of lack of execution, a lot of not boxing out, a lot of bad transition defense, a lot of bad shot selection. There were just too many mistakes, but obviously there were gonna be mistakes. We're gonna find out the truth on Wednesday about where we're at. In my mind, we're gonna have to go all out to win Wednesday."
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.