Cincinnati-WVU: Mick Cronin Teaches Bob Huggins About Toughness

During a matchup against the school he took to the Final Four—the first since being forced out in 2005—Bob Huggins, wearing a mustard colored suit and matching shoes, witnessed a game like none he has coached.

Mick Cronin’s Bearcats, who just suffered two losses by a combined four points, came right out and punched Huggins' “not tough enough” Mountaineers in the face.

Led by the team’s only double figure scorer, sophomore guard/fullback Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati (10-11, 5-4) jumped out to a 21-7 lead and never looked back.

Two stats from Wednesday’s game in Morgantown leap out and slap you in the face.  First, West Virginia (15-6, 4-4) shot 10-50 from the floor. The 20 percent field goal shooting is the worst performance in school history.

Ten field goals. For an entire game...Yikes.

The other statistic that will shock the hell out of you—especially if you’re at all familiar with Bob Huggins’ coaching style—the Bearcats snatched 21 more rebounds than the Mountaineers.

Twenty-one more. The ESPN box score gives UC a 15-rebound advantage, but no matter what, that is seriously alarming. It was alarming to Huggins especially.

“It was like men playing against boys out there,” he said.

The final result was an embarrassing 62-39 beat down for the rattled Mountaineers, suffered in their home arena.

This is the same arena in which West Virginia had won 15 straight games before a controversial one-point loss to No. 6 Georgetown over the weekend.

For Cincinnati, it was another benchmark victory in what has become an astonishingly entertaining season.

For Cronin, it was another road win against another mentor. UC upset Rick Pitino and Louisville 58-57 on New Year’s Day. (Strangely enough, those are Cronin's only two Big East road victories since taking over at Cincinnati.)

Halfway through the Big East slate, the Bearcats are tied for the second most wins in conference play. Amazing, if not stunning, for a team that finished dead last at 2-14 last season.

To add to Cronin’s impressive accomplishments—and most Big East coaches say he is the current front-runner for Big East Coach of the Year—consider this:

1) Every team in the Big East, besides St. John’s and Cincinnati, has at least three players averaging double figures. St John’s has two, and is in dead last. UC only has ONE and is a half game out of third!

2) The Bearcats have been without the services of former McDonald’s All-American forward Mike Williams, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury during preseason conditioning. Cronin calls him his best player.

3) Nobody on the current roster has been in the program for more than two years.

I think it’s safe to say Cronin has this program headed in the right direction. It should be interesting down the stretch, as UC will play five of the bottom six teams in the league (four at home).

Will Cronin shock the world and lead Cincinnati to the postseason?

Stay tuned.