Cronin believes that in itself has been worth at least five more wins than UC would have otherwise, and it’s a big reason why the Bearcats were able to finish the regular season 27-4 and ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25.
“I’ll stand outside a meeting for a minute or two, and the jokes that are flying in the meeting,” Cronin said. “The camaraderie of the players, the chemistry of this team, they have fun. That’s a huge thing in team sports because this day in age, there are so many people trying to pull your locker room apart, from outside sources. … It’s made it a great, fun year for the coaching staff, a stress-free year not having to deal with any chemistry issues at all. By far, the attitude and unselfishness and camaraderie of the team has been awesome this year.”
The sixth-seeded Bearcats will open play in the South Region on Friday in Sacramento, California against the winner of the Kansas State/Wake Forest game.
Here are five things to know as UC prepares for its seventh straight NCAA Tournament:
1. Team is “focused”
The Bearcats headed into the American Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed — behind regular-season champion SMU — having won five of their last six and 20 of their last 22 games. They went 18-0 at home and their 27 regular-season wins tied for second most in program history.
Needless to say, Cronin has been pleased with the season overall, but especially the focus down the stretch. He sees a team that is still peaking.
“I can see the interest,” Cronin said. “Once we got to March, which was obviously the Houston game, I felt for a couple weeks before that, our guys were ready for March to come around. I could see the mental focus of some guys, like, ‘It’s time.’”
Junior forward Gary Clark said the team feels the energy, too, and is motivated to finish strong. UC has made one Sweet 16 appearance under Cronin in 2012.
“With Kyle (Washington) going as far as he did with his previous team (to a Sweet 16 with N.C. State in 2015) and Troy (Caupain) and Kevin (Johnson) being their last year, we’re pretty motivated,” Clark said. “We know it’s time to hunker down.”
2. Breather came at good time
Earning a first-round bye gave UC a little time off between the March 5 regular-season finale and AAC quarterfinal Friday, which resulted in an 80-61 blowout of Tulsa.
Cronin said the break in the action gave his team time to prepare for what he hopes is a deep postseason run. Practices were lighter to help keep guys healthy but the Bearcats also made use of the time to address some different situations that are likely to happen during “March Madness.”
“As a coach you have to try to prepare yourself for March, close games, wild endings, situational stuff and get healthy so that’s the most important thing,” Cronin said.
3. Teams targeting UC?
After Clark took a nasty elbow to the face in the finale at UConn, Cronin called the league office to express his concern about why it wasn’t a Flagrant 1 foul call, at least.
Cronin teaches a physical brand of basketball but said opponent have been “targeting” his team and playing a little too rough against UC the last few weeks.
“We all do what we’ve got to do to win,” Cronin added. “And, I think we’ve been rebounding the ball extremely well on the offensive end and teams have guys geared up to block out and I understand that, but it was a point of emphasis you cannot face the man and block him out and when you go to do it, arms start to go up and you’re facing a guy. It starts to get above the shoulders and that’s when you have issues.”
UC ranked third in the conference in rebounding margin at plus-4.6. Clark averages 8.0 rebounds per game and Washington 7.1 per game. As a team, the Bearcats have 392 offensive rebounds, compared to 333 for their opponents.
4. Balanced offense
Cronin wasn’t disappointed none of his players made first team All-AAC because he thinks the selections are made by people just running down the list of top scorers in the conference.
Although UC led the AAC with 74.7 points per game during the regular season, Cronin’s team wouldn’t have anyone high enough on the individual scoring list to be recognized, if his logic is true, as the Bearcats feature a more balanced offense than many other teams.
Jacob Evans ranks 12th in the conference with 13.4 points per game, Kyle Washington is 14th at 13.3 points and Gary Clark 26th at 10.4 points. Troy Caupain adds 10.0 points and two others (Kevin Johnson and Jarron Cumberland) also average 7.8 points or more.
Caupain said the balance is in part a reflection of the chemistry of the team and players wanting to help the team.
“This is the closest team we’ve had in my four years,” he said. “We all get along and are comfortable playing together, and it’s been real fun. Everyone has a winning mentality, and I think that’s what’s been helping us. Everybody loves to compete and play hard, and that’s where it starts. It’s a pride thing.”
5. Stingy defense
UC ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense, while allowing opponents just 60.2 points per game, and sixth in field goal percentage defense (38.0).
The Bearcats seemed to be getting better in that regard as the regular-season wound down, which Cronin said was another sign the team is ready for the postseason.
“You see it in our defensive execution, our gameplan execution,” he said. “Our last three games (of the regular season) we’ve given up 53, 47 and 47. That takes effort and focus.”
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