The Cincinnati Bearcats (15-4, 5-1) continued their hot play by coming up a with a huge conference road win on Wednesday night at Connecticut, 70-67.  It was a huge win for Mick Cronin and his team and takes them to 5-1 inside the Big East for the first time since joining the conference.

“It’s a big win for us," Cronin said. "But you’ve got to win these kinds of games if you’re going to compete for the Big East championship.”

Next up the Bearcats is another road tilt at West Virginia on Saturday before they welcome top-ranked Syracuse to Fifth Third Arena in a Big Monday matchup.

Check out some of these developing trends for UC (courtesy Lance McAlister):

--UC has won 10 of last 11 overall
--5-1 Road
--UConn was 10-0 home this season
--Won 7 row on road in Big East
--Won 3 straight road vs Top 25 teams (1st x 1998-99)
--6-2 in last 8 vs Top 25
--5-1 Big East for first time since joining
--UC had 6 turnovers vs UConn
--Turnovers last eight games: 9,8,8,9,6,9,3,6  (Total: 58)
--Opp last eight games: 18,17,17,13,19,17,17,11 (Total: 129)

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from FOX19.com...

University of Cincinnati men's basketball head coach Mick Cronin has agreed to terms of a contract extension and will remain at the Bearcats helm. The new agreement will extend the term of Cronin's contract through the 2016-17 season. His guaranteed compensation will now be $1.25 million annually. The agreement is pending approval of the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustrees.

"I'm very happy to announce the news of this extension," said UC director of athletics Mike Thomas. "Mick Cronin has done an outstanding job over the past five years to rebuild the Bearcats program and return it to the NCAA tournament this year. I am excited about where he can take this program from here."

COMPLETE ARTICLE

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MY TAKE: Mick Cronin is not an elite coach, but considering the cards that were stacked against him upon his arrival to the position and what he has been able to accomplish playing in the best conference in the country definitely justifies the extension. Cincinnati is not an elite job and taking a chance on another unproven is something that just doesn't make sense. It will be to see how much further he can take the program with the extra time.

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I have been a bit skeptical of the Cincinnati Bearcats’ fast start to season. A weak schedule has raised questions about the team legitimacy as a contender in the tough Big East and its spot in the national rankings.

There have been some bright spots for sure to this point, but they still need that landmark win to get me to start taking them seriously.

One thing is for certain, Mick Cronin’s crew will certainly have their chance to prove themselves. At 16-1, with just 14 games remaining the Bearcats are on the brink of ending their NCAA tournament drought.
If they can just go .500 the rest of the way they would be locks.

Lance McAlister broke down the rest of the schedule on his blog:

RPI....record...opponent
2.... ...(17-0) @ Syracuse
14......(14-3) @ Notre Dame
15.... .(10-5) @ St. John's
97......(10-6) Rutgers
5........(16-1) @ Pittsburgh
244... (6-10) @ DePaul
15... .(10-5) St. John's
40.... (13-3) Louisville
94.... (11-6) @ Providence
7...... (12-5) @ Georgetown
16.... (10-4) West Virginia
6...... (13-2) Connecticut
75.....(12-5) @ Marquette
7...... (12-5) Georgetown

Combined record of remaining opponents: 166-60 (.735)

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Lance McAlister made some great points on his blog on why Cincinnati and Mick Cronin are on the hot seat:

*Bob Huggins, the man the university road out of town, is headed to the Final 4

*Frank Martin, a member of Huggins' UC staff just took Kansas St to the Elite 8 for first time since 1988

*Andy Kennedy, former UC interim coach, has Ole Miss in the NIT Final 4

*Crosstown rival Xavier is one of only two teams making the Sweet 16 the last three seasons

COMPLETE LIST

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Despite speculation to the contrary, Mick Cronin will return as the head basketball at the University of Cincinnati next season.

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Bill Koch wrote on his blog Friday that the athletic director Mike Thomas confirmed to him by phone that Cronin will be back next year.

“I’m an impatient person and I know the Bearcat Nation is impatient, but I think the needle is headed in the right direction,” Thomas told the paper.

Cronin, who has four years on his contract, is nearing the end of his fourth season as the team’s coach. The Bearcats have gone 56-63 in that span, including just a 25-33 mark inside the Big East, and have not made the NCAA Tournament during his tenure.

The reality of the situation is that the program simply does not have the money to buy him out and/or attract a big name coach. Needless to say, the pressure is mounting on Cronin. While he did get handed an empty closet, he’s had time to put his stamp on the program, but the team has yet to get over the hump.

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The Cincinnati Bearcats snapped its three-game losing streak and pulled to .500 inside Big East Conference with a 60-58 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Arena.

Yancey Gates, who finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bearcats, tipped in his own miss with just two seconds left in the game to secure the victory.

The Bearcats finished the contest with a commanding 50-31 rebounding advantage, including an 18-4 edge on the offensive boards.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was scrappy.  They didn’t dominate the game, but they did hold Notre Dame 20 points below their season average.

For the Bearcats and head coach Mick Cronin though it was a win and much-needed one at that.

While many fans are growing impatient with UC and wanting to win now, questions have risen whether or not Cronin is the answer.

People need to relax for a minute and remember how much this program was crippled during the Bob Huggins transition.

I’m not saying that Cronin is free of criticism, but I do believe he still hasn’t enough time to accurately assess his progress and ability to be a successful head coach at this level.

For now, memo to Bearcat fans enjoy the victory and take it one game at a time.

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New York high school basketball star Lance Stephenson shocked everyone and announced that he'll play basketball for the University of Cincinnati. The signing (which hasn't happened yet) will be the biggest deal for Mick Cronin. Cronin has taken heat for not turning around the Bearcat basketball program quicker.

Stephenson could be that piece he needed. And Stephenson fits the mold of the old Bearcat basketball program under Coach Bob Huggins; including a questionable and checkered past of Stephenson. He is still to stand trial for a sex allegation with a 17-year-old student. There were concerns about his family taking payments from Under Armor. In short, Stephenson is high on talent, but high on baggage. We've seen this before. 

These type of gifted players are what brought much success to Clifton with Huggins. It's also what gave him and the university a reputation for recruiting thugs. But the Clifton fans were happy because the program was winning.

Cronin had inherited an abandoned, wrecked program and then was directed to follow a path of the straight and narrow athlete. Focus on academics, instead of athletics is what Nancy Zimpher molded. Mick did. The Bearcats were mediocre. They almost overachieved themselves to 20 wins last year. Mick doesn't get the credit for that. He gets the blame for not getting the elite athletes.

So Bearcat fans can't have it both ways. Athletes like Stephenson aren't real interested in matriculating through a university. They're interested in promoting themselves, their highlight reels to an NBA career. As a Bearcat fan, I am ready to watch in excitement. I could care less if he graduates. I do want him to keep his nose clean while on campus. But mostly, I want to see what Mick can do with a group of talented athletes, instead of a group of student-athletes.

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press release from University of Cincinnati:

University of Cincinnati Director of Athletics Mike Thomas has announced a two-year contract extension for head men's basketball coach Mick Cronin, pending University of Cincinnati Board of Trustee approval. This is the first extension for Cronin, who was hired on March 23, 2006 to a six-year contract.

"Under Coach Cronin's leadership the past three years the men's basketball program has improved on the court and in the classroom," said Director of Athletics Mike Thomas. "I look forward to the continued development of the program to once again attain national prominence and compete for BIG EAST championships on an annual basis."

Cincinnati is coming off its first winning season under Cronin as the Bearcats posted an 18-14 record and finished tied for ninth in the BIG EAST. Junior guard Deonta Vaughn, who averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 assists per game, became the first UC basketball player to earn back-to-back all-BIG EAST honors as he was selected third team all-league by the coaches. Freshman Yancy Gates was named to the 2008-09 BIG EAST All-Rookie team, becoming the second player under Cronin to earn the honor in the last three years. Gates led the Bearcats in rebounding with 6.1 per contest and was second on the squad in scoring averaging 10.6 points.

Since Cronin took over the program in 2006-07, the Bearcats have shown improvement each year, progressing from 11 wins in his first season to 13 in 2007-08 to 18 this past season. This coming year, Cronin will have his most experienced team at UC as all but one regular from last year's squad returns and he adds four newcomers, including freshman point guard Cashmere Wright, who was considered one of the nation's Top 100 recruits in high school.

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GETSPORTSRADIO.COM: Hoop Scoop (mp3) - The guys chime off on UC's tank job and everything college hoops

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago there was talk that the Cincinnati Bearcats were actually a bubble team for the NCAA tournament. Especially after watching them totally fall flat in the opening round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday as they fell to the 16th seeded DePaul, 67-57.

How embarrassing is it? It's the first time ever in college basketball history (at least Division I) that a 16-seed won a tournament game. The Blue Demons did not win a Big East game all year (0-18).  They haven't won any game yet in 2009 (last win in December '08).

It's pretty freakin' terrible. To make matters worse UC blew a lead with less than 8 minutes only to lose.  Now after going 0-3 in the first week of March Cincinnati goes from a bubble team in the NCAA tournament to a fringe N.I.T. team

It was the biggest disappointment for UC fans in an opening round of a conference tournament since Kenyon Martin shattered his ankle nearly a decade ago.

The real problem is the effort and I think it starts at top. Mick Cronin failed for the third straight March to get a win and is now 0-10 in college hoops' magical month. They dropped four in a row to end this year and 6 of their last 7. The Bearcats dropped seven straight to end last year's campaign.

Have fun in the CBI again this year Bearcat fans, that's as good as it is going to get.

Some stats offered up by Nick Brunker on 1530Homer.com...

FT shooting last four games:
USF 6 of 11
Seton Hall 8 of 17
DePaul 4 of 10
Totals: 18 of 38 - 47%

FG shooting last four games
Syracuse 37%
South Florida 38%
Seton Hall 36%
DePaul 36%

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Syracuse is pounding UC by 20 points.

Yancey Gates is on the bench with two early fouls.

Alvin Mitchell makes no attempt to touch the ball on his extremely hard foul on a Syracuse player going up for a layup.  He knocks the guy out of bounds and then just walks away.

Mitchell was called for a flagrant foul and tossed out of the game.

What a classless act to not even try and help the guy up nor did Mick seem to have a problem with it.

Looks like Mick Cronin is falling right in line with Bob Huggins style of coaching.

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