Cincinnati is having another great season after winning 30 games a year ago and making its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, but the Bearcats have lost two of their last four games after winning 16 straight prior to that. Poor defense has been one of the reasons for the slip, but head coach Mick Cronin doesn’t seem to want to hear it.
As his team prepares for yet another tourney run, Cronin was asked if he is concerned about Cincinnati’s defense after Sunday’s 82-74 win over Tulsa. Ironically, the coach got incredibly defensive over a question about defense.
Cronin response to DEFENSE slipping the last few games: "I don't know what people expect. I'm allowed to answer you however I want and I'm going to give you a stat. Kentucky, Indiana and Louisville this year combined for 32 losses. Tell me how long it's taken us to lose 32 games" pic.twitter.com/MBv9ERvWQ3
— Mark Slaughter (@MarkVSlaughter) February 25, 2018
If you’re wondering how the total amount of losses between three teams combined has anything to do with how many games Cincinnati has lost, you’re not alone. Not to mention, all of the teams Cronin mentioned play in much tougher conferences that will have many more tournament representatives than the AAC.
Cincinnati has done extremely well since the AAC was formed five years ago, but they have not made it past the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament since. Regular season success is fine, but it’s really nothing to brag about if you can’t make a deep tourney run. We saw an example of how passionate Cronin can be earlier this season, so it’s no surprise Sunday’s question seemed to irritate him.
