A Little Less "Cross" and not much of a "Shootout" - Bearcats Snap 3-Game Skid in Crosstown Shootout

Save for a semi-flagrant Tu Holloway elbow, this year's Crosstown Shootout between Xavier and Cincinnati was pretty tame by recent standards.  There were no fights.  No need for teams to be separated in warm-ups, during the game, or even after it.  And unlike 2007, no one was taken off the court on a stretcher.

No, tonight the only thing on a stretcher was the Xavier offense.  Full disclosure, I am a die-hard Xavier fan.  As a matter of fact until this season when my alma matter UCF suddenly and bizarrely became relevant, I rooted for the Muskies above all other and literally ached when the season ended after an inevitably heartbreaking NCAA Tourney loss.  (Greg Oden - I still hate you almost enough to chuckle at your injury-riddled NBA career...) But let's be honest...

This Xavier team is the worst they've fielded in a decade.  They made the 14-0 UC Bearcats LOOK like a legitimate 14-0 team rather than the creampuff eating NCAA bubble team they are.

It's not sour grapes, it's honest analysis.  Xavier is not an NCAA Tournament team this year, yet it is easily one of Cincinnati's two best wins this season (the other is Dayton, also at home).  Tonight Xavier turned in as poor of an offensive performance as you will see this season, shooting 39% from the floor and turning the ball over a pathetic 17 times.  In reality, they shot even worse than the numbers indicate as many of their buckets came on scrappy put backs and scramble buckets by Jamel McLean and Kenny Frease.  Eliminate the stickbacks and their shooting percentage dips down near 25%.

For the Bearcats, as sloppy as the win might have been, it was still a dominating performance.  They simply out-toughed and out-worked the Musketeers all over the floor.  It was the kind of gritty, scrapping effort not seen in the Shoemaker Center since the ouster of Bobby Huggins.  This is first team that has a shot at going to the Tourney since the aforementioned ouster as well.

Notice I said, "a shot."  At 14-0, one would think they are on pretty safe footing, but their real schedule begins Saturday.  Don't be surprised if the Bearcats lose five of their next eight as they have trips to Villanova, Syracuse, Notre Dame, St. John's, and Pitt coming up over the next three weeks.  That's brutal for any team, not just one with a slightly inflated record and glaring offensive deficiencies in the shooting and point guard play departments.

The Big East is a gauntlet, but it is one that both chews up and nurtures the weak.  While the top seven or eight teams are as good as any league in the country, the bottom provides fodder for middling teams to fatten on; DePaul, Providence, Rutgers, USF.  Here's an interesting statistic; the Bearcats could get to 20-10 (assuming a second round loss in the BEast Tourney), playing in one of the premier conferences in the country, and STILL not have beaten a single team that will be in the NCAA field.

I agree Mick, why schedule tougher?

The more realistic situation is that they jump up and pick off one or two big guys, maybe one of the lesser giants, Marquette or Louisville (neither are NCAA-locks, by the way), or earn a split with St. John's.  Assuming they suffer no more than one "bad" loss, you could be looking at 22-8 or 23-7 and a sure-fire NCAA tourney bid.  This begs the obvious question; why NOT schedule like Cincinnati if you are fourth-year floundering coach Mick Cronin??

The best litmus test of how far the once-dominant Cincinnati program has slid came in a derisive chant from the student section as UC was roaring out to a big lead midway through the second half; "OVER-RATED!  OVER-RATED!!"

Really?  Overrated?  The Muskies came into the game 8-4, and have received nary a vote in the polls the past three weeks.  Overrated?  Cincinnati was a nine-point favorite for crying out loud.  Sounds like someone has developed an inferiority complex...

Ten years ago, it was the Xavier fans who would employ such a cheer as their plucky mid-major Muskies played over their heads for one magical evening to jump up biting at big brother's heel before occasionally felling the Giant.  Today?  It's the Big East's Bearcat fans bringing their slingshots to the Shootout, hoping to knock off Mighty X in an injury-ridden down year, fresh off losing their Coach and two early entrants to the NBA draft over the past two seasons.

Overrated?  Not the Muskies, but by the time the season ends Mick Cronin's mirror might be reflecting the same message as the shine of a perfect 14-0 fades to Big East attrition.

Look, winning the Shootout is always going to be special, and it should be.  It's what great rivalries are bred of, and this game takes a backseat to very few college basketball rivalries.  For tonight, the Bearcats are once again Kings of the Queen City, and nothing about that is over-rated.  I just remember a time no so long ago when this one game wasn't what crowned them.

Rocking the Garden - St. John's Moves to 3-0 Downing Georgetown 61-58

Jan 3rd -- MSG, New York, New York 

With all due respect to the Amar'e Stoudemire MSG Revival Tour, the Knicks aren't the only ones electrifying the Garden these days.  The Garden sizzled like it was 1985 when the #13 Georgetown Hoyas came to New York to tussle with St. John's.  No offense to Ron-Ron, but it's been nearly two decades since the classic Hoya/Johnnie matchup felt like it did tonight.  Since the great Lou Carnesecca resigned St. John's has been searching for someone to bring back the magic.  It looks like they finally found him.

A few weeks ago one would have been hard pressed to predict this outcome.  The Johnnies suffered a few disturbing early losses; at St. Mary's was excusable, but back-to-back losses to Fordham and St. Bonneventure would get A-10 coaches on the hot seat, let alone Big East coaches.  It appeared that Lavin wasn't the "quick-fix" their fan base was hoping for.  What a difference a few weeks make.

Once Big East play heated up, it sure didn't long for Steve Lavin to bring some magic back to the Mecca.
 At 3-0 in BEast play with wins over Georgetown and at West Virginia (five straight overall with a convincing win over Northwestern as well) they have sufficiently erased the sting of an early two-game disaster.

However, as is frequently the case in BEast play, there is little time to stand and admire the progress.  The next seven games are a brutal stretch that will go a long way to determining if St. John's is truly tourney-ready.  Tomorrow, it's right back to the practice court, scheming up way to tackle Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati and Duke.  But for tonight, Lavin and company get to enjoy something that has long been absent,  the bright lights on the biggest basketball stage in the world with a smile.