By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin believes UCLA has the right tools in place to make a run at the national title. The Cincinnati coach came away impressed with the Bruins following a 79-67 loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday night.
Even though UCLA coach Steve Alford has been mentioned as a possible successor to Tom Crean at Indiana, Cronin thinks the Bruins coach has a shot of claiming the school’s 12th NCAA championship, starting with Friday’s game against second-seeded Kentucky in a South Region semifinal game at 9:40 p.m. Friday night in Memphis.
Malik Monk and the Wildcats take on UCLA at 9:40 p.m. Friday in Memphis (Keith Taylor Photo)
“I told him (Alford) they got a chance to win the whole thing,” Cronin said. “I wished him luck. He’s got a very tough job coaching that team with the expectations at his school. I told him I’m rooting for him.”
Although Cronin is pulling for UCLA, the Wildcats (31-5) enter the Sweet Sixteen as one of the hottest teams in the nation. Kentucky has won 13-straight going into the highly-anticipated showdown between the two college giants. Kentucky defeated Northern Kentucky in the tournament opener before two defensive plays down the stretch enabled the Wildcats to ease past upset-minded Wichita State, 65-62 in Indianapolis.
Although winning was a struggle in the first two rounds, Kentucky’s players remained confident they would be playing past the first weekend and one of three Southeastern Conference schools to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Kentucky senior Dominique Hawkins had no doubt the Wildcats would defeat the Shockers for the second time in four years in the tourney.
“My mindset was we were going to win the game the whole time,” Hawkins said. “I never thought about losing. I just know there was a big play that needed to be made and Malik (Monk) made a big play.”
Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox has been a driving force for the Wildcats during the team’s string of five straight postseason victories. Fox is averaging 20 points per game and scored a career-high 28 points in an SEC Tournament semifinal win over Alabama. During that same span, Fox has committed 17 turnovers, including six against Northern Kentucky in the NCAA opener.
Read More at Keith’s Blog: Out of the Blue
The Wildcats had just seven miscues — two by Fox — in the win over the Shockers.
“When I cut down my turnovers, I feel like we have a greater chance of success,” Fox said. “And that’s just with any player on the team if we’re not turning the ball over. We’re getting more shots, have more opportunities to make shots, more opportunities to get offensive rebounds and get second chances.”
More than his scoring contributions, Fox is getting a feel for running the team, an adjustment for the freshman point guard early in the season.
“I didn’t know much about it, how to run a team just yet,” Fox said. “But as the season’s gone by, I’ve learned. I’ve learned a lot of things. And being a freshman isn’t an excuse anymore. Like you said, we’re basically sophomores now. We’ve got to go out and play.”
Wichita State was impressed with the way Fox and the rest of Kentucky’s backcourt performed Sunday.
“He’s an NBA guard,” Wichita State guard Landry Shamet said. “They’ve got a couple of them. He’s pretty versatile. … He’s really quick. He’s like a bigger, stronger Paris Lee, a good, heady player.”
The recent surge by Fox has helped carry the load, especially offensively, as leading scorer Monk tries to regain his form, especially behind the arc. Monk, the SEC Player of the Year, has made just five 3-pointers on 22 attempts since postseason play began nearly three weeks ago.
Monk admitted the Wildcats are nearly unbeatable when he’s hitting shots, but added he’s not worried about the recent slump.
“It’s pretty hard to guard us anyway,” Monk said. “But just with all of us producing, it’s going to be hard. But, I mean, we’ve got to play basketball and just worry about Kentucky and we’ll be fine.”
Gametracker: Kentucky vs. UCLA, 9:40 p.m., Friday. TV/Radio: CBS, 98.1 WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter
