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College

X who? UC concerned with Miami

By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com Posted December 9, 2009 5:45 PM ET

Mick Cronin claims he lives in a capsule. He says all he does is watch film, coach his team and play with his daughter.

 

Even knowing that, nobody believed the Bearcats head coach when asked if his team would have trouble focusing on Thursday's game against Miami when the Crosstown Shootout looms on the horizon this Sunday.

 

"Who do we play?" Cronin said, feigning no knowledge of his future schedule. "We play Miami on Thursday, I am well aware of that, they are more than capable. They have got our total focus. We haven't addressed our next game, whoever that may be against."

 

The most anticipated non-Big East game of the season falls into a melting pot of distractions swirling around the windy UC campus on Wednesday. Practice time has been limited this week due to finals and passing exams has been the primary concern of a team that hasn't played a game in nine days.

 

The momentum the No. 19 Bearcats built during the Maui Invitational turned stale in the nearly two-week span since they beat ranked Vanderbilt and Maryland in back-to-back games.

 

"The nine-day layoff is a concern," Cronin said. "The fact we have been doing a lot of studying and test taking lately instead of running up and down the court and playing games. Everybody has to go to school and study. That is not going to be an excuse."

 

Cronin's more concerned the excuses will be about the play of the RedHawks (2-6), who were handled on Tuesday at home against Temple, 64-42. Only three weeks ago Miami pushed then No. 5 Kentucky to needing a John Wall buzzer-beater to avoid an upset.

 

"I am paranoid about everything, but most importantly Miami has a great coach in Charlie Coles and they didn't play particularly well against Temple and every great coach always has his team ready to bounce back after a tough night," Cronin said.

 

Temple ran off a 25-0 run against Miami on Tuesday and the RedHawks' only wins this year came against Nicholls State and Evansville.

 

As for what the difference was between the Miami team that put Kentucky into an 18-point hole and the one that suffered one of its worst home losses in recent history was clear for Cronin.

 

"Sometimes this game is simple," Cronin said. "They made shots against Kentucky, they did not make shots against Temple."

 

The Bearcats will try to avoid the upset at their home away from home at U.S. Bank Arena. They have won 14 consecutive games at their former home arena. Because of the graduation at Fifth Third Arena this weekend and the lure of the game being on national television on ESPN2, Cronin welcomed the game during the week of distractions. That includes the one he doesn't want to talk about coming on Sunday.

 

"In the Big East we play Saturday-Monday against ranked opponents on a regular basis," he said. "You have to worry about who you play first. I can assure you it won't be much fun preparing for our next opponent if we lose to Miami."

Categories: College, Featured Stories, Men's Basketball, News, University of Cincinnati Bearcats

Tags: Charlie Coles, Miami RedHawks, Mick Cronin, University of Cincinnati