College
Immaturity helps bury Bearcats
By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com Posted December 13, 2009 7:00 AM ET
With the game on the line, UC coach Mick Cronin put the ball in the hands of Lance Stephenson, his teenage phenom. Stephenson left a defender in his tracks for a layup that tied the Crosstown Shootout in the final minute of regulation and could easily be classified as his biggest in red and black.
That classification lasted a matter of seconds when he crossed over to drop the Musketeers defender to his behind in overtime and drained a smooth jumper for a four-point lead.
The kid who was "Born Ready" appeared to be delivering on the prophecy on
His response to many of them didn't.
Stephenson glared down the Xavier bench, repeatedly jawed with Musketeers players, found himself in the middle of an altercation and even spent time talking at Musketeers coach Chris Mack, at least according to XU coach.
"Yes he did," Mack said. "That's fine."
Stephenson was not the problem for UC in losing 83-79 in one of the greatest Shootouts in history and the first to go to double overtime. In fact, he's one of the primary reasons it would be classified as such.
In this game almost more than any other Stephenson asserted himself as the face of this Bearcats team. If so, his youthful look and emotional demeanor make him a fitting representative in more ways than one.
Talented but temperamental; electric but immature.
"True toughness is dealing with the environment and winning the game," Cronin said.
In the end, his team did neither.
"My guys lost our cool," Cronin said. "Our guys lost our cool. We were concerned about everything except execution. No doubt about it."
He was referring to the near-scuffle that charged life into the first-half of a rivalry some deemed lifeless this week. It also charged life into a Xavier team that used the incident to surge from a seven-point deficit to five-point halftime lead. Players like Rashad Bishop and Ibrahima Thomas were restrained from the fracas and came off looking like children only minutes after playing like men.
"You gotta walk away," Cronin said. "You shouldn't be starting it and if you are, walk away. We were worried about everything but winning the game."
But the Bearcats' inability to quarantine their emotions from the charged atmosphere during many critical stretches is the primary reason they now sit at 6-2 and losers of three consecutive games against Xavier.
If it wasn't fighting, it was loss of focus. In the last close game UC found itself in, against Gonzaga, it let a late lead slip away as well. This time UC relinquished a five-point overtime advantage in the final two minutes and shot 10 of 22 from the free throw line in the game.
Cronin accused his team of lazy defense through the final minutes of the game and called a three-point play being allowed with a late three-point lead "inexcusable."
He witnessed Stephenson beating himself up for not driving to the hole with a chance to win the game in overtime then walking with his head down again after committing an offensive foul in a tie game late in double OT.
"It was a competitive game," Stephenson said of his first Shootout. "I didn't know it was going to be this tough."
It was the first true test of the type of atmosphere that will define the Bearcats' Big East season. And the type of game they hope they will know how to salt away when that time comes when conference play begins against
"We have two losses and we didn't close either one out," said Cronin, now 1-3 against Xavier. "We got to learn how to close out a game when you have a lead. We have a lot of young guys out there, a lot of key guys that are young guys."
That is the clear story with this UC team, every game is a new learning experience. On Sunday, the Bearcats learned about composure. It's the latest badge on the way to team maturity.
"I got to do a better job, we all made mistakes in our locker room," Cronin said. "We make mistakes, we got to learn from it. We got a big game on Wednesday against UAB."
Categories: College, Featured Stories, Men's Basketball, News, University of Cincinnati Bearcats
Tags: Chris Mack, Cincinnati, Lance Stephenson, Mick Cronin
Comments (1)
I think Mick has done a great job digging out from what he started with. With that said, what is Jaquon Parker doing in the game with a 3 point lead and the cloack ticking down. More so, why is he guarding Holloway. Just don't see the logic in putting in a guy who has sat the entire game and then have him guard the hottest shooter.
Otherwise, a great game by both squads. I think at this point in the year, X needed it more than UC.
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