CINCINNATI -- Saturday was the 31st anniversary of the infamous "Stall ball game" between the University of Cincinnati and Kentucky, when the Bearcats deliberately held on to the ball for extended periods of time in an effort to combat UK's superior everything. The final result was a 24-11 loss for UC.
In commemoration of that game, the Bearcats had their worst performance of the season on Saturday.
Virginia Commonwealth tied a UC record by making 15 3-pointers while holding the Bearcats to a season-low point total in a 68-47 win at Fifth Third Arena Saturday afternoon. It is the largest margin of defeat at home by UC in the Mick Cronin era, and happened on a day when Cronin wasn't on the sideline.
The Bearcats were without their head coach, who got word Saturday morning that he has an unruptured aneurysm in his brain. Doctors have told Cronin to stay away from coaching until further tests can be run and a treatment plan developed. Associate head coach Larry Davis took over for Cronin and will hold the position in the interim.
"I do want to say that our thoughts and prayers are with Mick Cronin," said VCU coach Shaka Smart. "He is a guy that obviously sets the personality for his team, so it was a tough situation for them without him. We wish him a very, very speedy recovery."
Cronin had been dealing with the headaches since last Saturday when the Bearcats lost in double overtime at Nebraska. He did not attend his normal post-game press conference after an overtime win against No. 19 San Diego State this past Wednesday. He is scheduled to undergo further testing, including an angiogram on Monday. His coaching status will be evaluated afterwards.
With or without Cronin, the Bearcats were in for a troublesome day against VCU. Much is made about VCU's Havoc defense and its potential to force turnovers but the style of play is as much about forcing poor shots and a general disruption of the opponent's offense as it is about turnovers. Still, the Rams are ranked in the top 15 of the country in steals and in turnovers forced per possession.
UC's season-long offensive struggles were only multiplied by Havoc. The Bearcats shot just 33.3 percent for the game (18 of 54) on field goals overall and made just three of the 15 3-pointers they attempted. UC turned the ball over 15 times while creating just nine assists. VCU shot 42.6 percent overall for the game but was better from behind the arc (15-of-31, 48.4 percent) than it was inside from 2-point range (11-of-30, 36.7 percent).
Six different Rams made 3-pointers. Guard Melvin Johnson led VCU with 18 points, all in the second half. He made four 3-pointers, as did guard Treveon Graham. VCU is the fifth opponent to make 15 3-pointers in a game against the Bearcats. Marquette was the last team to accomplish the feat, doing so on Jan. 4, 2009 in an 80-54 win over UC in Milwaukee.
"It was different, but that's not an excuse for the way we played today," said sophomore guard Troy Caupain of Cronin's absence. "All of our three coaches would probably have done the same thing he would've done. They know the scouting report. They know the plays. They know how to execute them and they know what calls to make. So, I don't really think that had anything to do with our play and without him is no excuse for the way we played."
VCU made five of its first 11 attempts from 3-point range in the first nine minutes of the game and had seven 3s as it built a 25-13 lead with 5:13 left in the first half.
Three of UC's starters -- guards Caupain and Kevin Johnson and forward Shaq Thomas -- didn't score in first half as the Bearcats trailed 34-21. VCU widened its lead by scoring the first seven points of the second half for a 41-21 advantage.
Davis pointed to the fact that UC had just five team fouls for the game as an indicator to their play. VCU attempted, and made, just one free throw.
"We had five team fouls and one of those was a late give-away foul," said Davis. "We had four team fouls for the game. We weren't our aggressive self, Cincinnati basketball self. Blame that on whatever you want to blame that on but if we're going to continue on and, whether Mick's going to be back the next game or it's three games from now, whenever he comes back, we've got to play Cincinnati basketball, which is aggressive defensive basketball. We've got to be better."
UC never led in the game. VCU took the lead on a 3-pointer by senior Briante Weber one minute and six seconds into the contest and never relinquished.
The largest previous losing margin at Fifth Third Arena under Cronin was 17 points against Syracuse on Feb. 7, 2010, when the Orange were ranked No. 3 in the country. VCU is unranked but improves to 8-3 on the season. The Rams are legitimately good and will contend for the Atlantic 10 title and another NCAA berth this season.
That didn't leave the Bearcats feeling any sort of consolation.
"We just didn't come out with a lot of intensity as a team," said Caupain. "You've got to give it to VCU. They played hard. We just didn't come out with energy like we did against San Diego State. We didn't come out with intensity we didn't have a lot of deflections or steals and it was just a low emotion game."
