TicketsNCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
No. 2 seed CINCINNATI (30-4) vs. No. 15 seed GEORGIA STATE (24-10)
SERIES INFO: First meeting in series history
STREAK: N/A
2017-18 MEETINGS: N/A
Ron Hunter is in his seventh season at Georgia State (147-84); 24th season overall (421-294)
Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (267-139); 15th season overall (336-163)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (MARCH 12): Cincinnati (6/10); Georgia State (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: TBS; Andrew Catalon provides play-by-play with color analyst Steve Lappas. Jamie Erdahl reports
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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
NASHVILLE – The University of Cincinnati Bearcats have been anxiously waiting to get back to the NCAA Tournament ever since they were eliminated by UCLA in the second round of the South Regional a year ago in Sacramento.
After that loss, UC coach Mick Cronin worked to improve his team's depth and its offensive firepower so the Bearcats would be better equipped to play the nation's elite teams and to raise the level of their play at crucial junctures, which they failed to do when the Bruins turned up the heat. UC, which led by three at halftime, was outscored by 15 in the second half.
"It takes a while to get rid of that one," said senior forward Gary Clark. "To play so well in the first half and then run out of gas in the second half, I think it taught us how to win."
The Bearcats responded with their second straight 30-win season, plus an American Athletic Conference regular-season championship and a conference tournament title, all of which added up to a No. 2 seed, UC's highest since 2002. Perhaps for the first time since Cronin took over a decimated UC program in 2006, they have a legitimate chance to advance to the Final Four and compete for a national championship.
The Bearcats (30-4) are determined to make their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2012 and then hope to keep on chugging into the deeper reaches of the tournament. Their quest beings at 2 p.m. Friday against No. 15 seed Georgia State (24-10) in the first round of the South Regional at Bridgestone Arena.
"We practiced all summer on being in better shape and try to be a better transition team," Cronin said. "When you get into a high-level game you've got to be able to keep pace with another team when they're making those kind of shots because everybody's capable."
Cronin has not discounted the possibility that Georgia State, despite being a No. 15 seed, could be part of such a high-level game, especially with its ability to score from beyond the 3-point line.
The Panthers, who won the Sun Belt Conference tournament, are coached by former Miami (Ohio) player Ron Hunter, who in 2015 coached the Panthers to a 57-56 upset as a No. 14 seed over No. 3 seed Clemson. With that recent history in hand, he has the bona fides to convince his players their seed is immaterial.
"They're physical, they're well-coached, they have no flaws," Hunter said of the Bearcats. "If they beat us, they're a team that can advance. But I don't want to tell my guys how good somebody else is. We talk about us. If we do what we're capable of doing and we do it a high rate and you beat us, so be it."
What Georgia State is capable of is spreading its opponents with 3-point shooting. The Panthers have launched 812 of them and made 315 for 38.8 percent. UC is 248-for-695 for 35.7 percent. And although UC has the second-best defense in the country statistically, Georgia State is not far behind, ranking sixth in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot only 39.3 percent from the field.
The Bearcats have won seven straight games since their loss to Wichita State on Feb. 18. But they've not been as potent offensively in recent games as they were earlier in the season, averaging only 62.3 points in their three AAC tournament games, well below their season average of 74.5. UC, which shot 45.3 percent for the season, shot only 42 percent in the conference tournament.
The dip in scoring and shooting percentage might simply be the result of facing league teams that know their tendencies well after having already played them twice this season. Or it could be that UC's execution has left something to be desired.
"We're back to the basics, taking our time," said junior swingman Jacob Evans III, "just making sure we're reading the defense the right way, trying to stay away from hard, contested shots and moving the ball. We have enough talent on this team that when we share the ball we can score."
Evans, who leads the Bearcats with a 13.4-point average, slipped to 7.0 in the conference tournament, where he was 1-for-14 from 3-point range. He knows UC needs more from him.
"I've got to stay confident and make sure I know the next one's going in," Evans said. "I know in this tournament I have to stay focused and stay confident and worry about defense and rebounding. I have confidence in myself that my shots will fall."
The Panthers have forced their opponents into 14.5 turnovers per game, which helps to offset their rebounding deficiencies. But their biggest advantage is sophomore guard D'Marcus Simonds, the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year who averages 21.1 points per game.
"It all starts with him," Cronin said, "because if he gets one-on-one coverage, he scores, he gets fouled, he gets layups. Then you start to leave their shooters and he finds their shooters. He's as good as anybody we've played against probably since (Xavier's) Trevon Bluiett."
Hunter delighted the media Thursday with his good-natured humor. "I'm going to ask my guys if they want to play, they've got to give me (the names of) three country singers since we're in Nashville," he said. "At least give me one. I didn't even have one."
As Cronin said, "He's good with the mic."
But Cronin also knows that Hunter can coach. They go way back. In fact, Cronin recruited Hunter's son, R.J., who hit the 3-point game-winning shot in the upset of Clemson. "My son wanted to go to Cincinnati, so I had to hate Mick in my household until R.J. actually committed to me," Hunter said.
The UC players also handled themselves well, smiling and appearing confident that they're ready to make a run in the tournament. If they do, last year's loss to UCLA, so painful at the time, might have a lot to do with it.
"UCLA took it to a new level," Cronin said. "We didn't go up there with them. Fatigue was part of it. That's why I wanted to schedule them this year and then talk about it all summer. The focus wasn't just on that game. It was about what we need to be able to do to be a high-level team."
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.