TicketsALABAMA STATE (0-6) at No. 12/13 CINCINNATI (6-0)
SERIES INFO: Second meeting; Cincinnati leads 1-0 overall; UC leads 1-0 at home
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 65-40 on Nov. 13, 2011 at Fifth Third Arena
STREAK: Cincinnati - 1
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (243-135); 15th season overall (312-159)
Lewis Jackson is in his 13th season at Alabama State (179-201); 13th season overall (179-201)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (NOV. 20): Cincinnati (12/13); Alabama State (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPNU; Jordan Bernfield provides play-by-play with color analyst Brooke Weisbrod
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TICKETS: Start at $20; Available on BB&T Arena Website; TicketMaster by calling 1-800-745-3000;
Sold at BB&T Arena box office beginning two hours prior to the start (depending on availability)
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – Six games into the 2017-18 season, 10 University of Cincinnati basketball players have logged an average of at least 10 minutes per game, with two others averaging seven.
That kind of depth is not unusual this time of year when many teams play a lot of their reserves before shortening their bench when the competition gets a little tougher. But UC coach Mick Cronin says he has every intention of using as many players as he can as the season continues to unfold.
"If we shorten the bench shorter than 10, it'll be not because I want to, it'll be because I have to," Cronin said. "If we have to do that, it will not be good for us. For us to be who we want to be and who I think we need to be to get where we'd like to go at the end of the year, we need to be able to play 10 guys."
Cronin will probably not have any trouble going at least 10 deep Monday night when the 12th-ranked Bearcats (6-0) play Alabama State (0-6) at 7 o'clock at BB&T Arena. It will be their final tuneup before a four-game stretch that starts with the Crosstown Shootout against 15th-ranked Xavier next Saturday. Following the Shootout, UC plays No. 8 Florida on a neutral court, followed by Mississippi State at home and No. 23 UCLA on the road.
The Hornets, from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, will be playing their seventh consecutive road game. Their stops have included Mississippi State, Iowa, Oregon, San Diego State and Chattanooga. They lost by four points to Savannah State, a team the Bearcats beat, 107-77, in their season opener back on Nov. 10.
Cronin has been so focused on getting minutes for his younger players to prepare them for later in the season that he has had to be reminded by associate head coach Larry Davis to let the walk-ons play in the later stages of blowouts.
"If you get in a situation where it's pretty evident you're going to win, our situation with the freshmen especially is that every game is an opportunity," Cronin said. "It's like practice for me. So people see me up and they say, why is he upset? I go into a mode of coaching at practice trying to get them certain minutes and get them experience out there. I may be even more intense when I'm up 20 or 30 because I want to make sure they stay focused. We're trying to get guys minutes up until two minutes or one minute left in the game."
The Bearcats have been mentioned by some analysts as possible Final Four material. For that to happen, Cronin said, they'll need to display the kind of depth that allows them to play the running, pressing style he says makes them most effective. The key, he said, is the rapid development of freshman guards Keith Williams and Trevor Moore.
"I'm pretty confident in the point guard position and all the big guys," Cronin said. "Keith and Trevor are the guys because in our style of getting up and down you have to have rest. You can't play 35 minutes. Tre (Scott) and Nysier (Brooks) played last year and I think they're going to be all right. Eliel (Nsoseme) doesn't do things he can't do, so he doesn't play like a freshman for the most part. The three freshmen, Keith, Trevor and Mamoudou (Diarra) are very talented, but they're freshmen."
Diarra, who's from Mali, did not accompany the Bearcats to the Cayman Islands Classic last week because of concerns about his visa, which prevented him from possibly gaining three more games of experience, but Cronin said he'll be available to play against Alabama State.
"He's fine," Cronin said. "He's eligible to play and he's legally in our country. It was just getting his paperwork righted 100 percent before he was to leave the country. He didn't want to take the chance either with it, so he understands."
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.