Woods wired for 2011

Offseason training readies senior wideout

By Hunter Tickel | News Record

D.J. Woods jolted onto the Cincinnati football scene in stride Sept. 25, 2010, hauling in a career-best 171 yards in front of 58,253 fans at Paul Brown Stadium.

But the infamous second still fresh in Woods' mind was when he was swiped from behind at Oklahoma's nine-yard line and lost the ball after a career-long 69-yard catch. Woods ended the game with two giveaways.

"Those mistakes are going to live with me forever," The Strongsville, Ohio, native says. "I'm probably my biggest critic. I thought I had a great game, but, at the same time, I fumbled twice, and that's the only thing I remember from the game."

At the beginning of last season, Woods was prone to dropping the ball, losing five fumbles in the opening four games. But despite his early season troubles, Woods closed the season with better hands, and lost just one fumble in the final eight games.

"It all comes back to consistency," says UC head coach Butch Jones. "[Woods] is as talented of a player as we have. He's extremely intelligent [and] he plays fast. Now it's just about consistency on a day-to-day basis."

In response to Jones' request, the senior wideout has put in the time off the field to correct his ball security during the spring offseason.

"The first thing [Woods] needed to do was get bigger and stronger in the weight room," Jones said. "He has embraced that challenge. He's done a great job. I think he has had a very productive offseason."

Woods approaches his senior campaign as the top-returning receiver, having hauled in a team-best 898 yards and eight touchdowns during his junior season — accolades earning him second team all-Big East honors.

"Every year is a learning experience," Woods says. "I'm trying to get my technique down, know what I'm doing on the ball and off the ball. I feel like right now everything is coming together."

As a three-time letter winner, Woods has honed his execution in running routes is considerably from last season.

"I know how to read defenses. I know how to read defensive backs. I know what to do in certain situations," Woods says.

With the graduation of top receiver Armon Binns last season, Woods figures he'll see more of the ball but trusts in the assembly of Cincinnati's wideout core.

"Every receiver wants to get touches, but we have great receivers," Woods said. "We have a whole bunch of people who need the ball in their hands."

The Bearcats will return to Paul Brown Stadium — the site of where Woods' talents were made apparent — Saturday, Oct. 15, against Louisville and Saturday, Nov. 12, against West Virginia, and Woods is keen on playing in the spotlight of a pro setting and capacity crowd once again.

"It's a lot different because you're really playing at the next stage," Woods says. "You kind of feel like how the Cincinnati Bengals do. It's a great place to play."

Madness ends on ugly note

Tickel your Fancy
By Hunter Tickel | Senior Reporter

When Shelvin Mack missed his first two layups and had his 3-pointer swatted, I knew Butler was in for an ominous night.

The lack of execution and shot-making from Connecticut and Butler made for one of the most unbearable championship games in the history of college basketball.

The Bulldogs shot worse than 19 percent in a game that was an indecent climax to the five-month season and elimination of 343 other teams.

Only Harvard in 1946 had a worse performance from the floor in a tournament contest. Butler became the first team to hit just three 2-point baskets in a postseason game.

Even CBS analyst Charles Barkley, who had been ill-informed for the entirety of the Big Dance, was spot on when he compared Butler's six first-half buckets to being as ugly as the girls he dated in high school.

Butler's malaise spread quickly to UConn, which managed 19 opening-half points and actually trailed at the break. The 41 combined first-half points had the look of a scene cut from "Hoosiers" and Milan High School's championship in the '50s.

Kemba Walker, the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, missed his first five shots before finishing 5 for 19 overall. The South Bronx native showed on the biggest stage that he is a dubious shooter.

Are the Huskies really the best team the nation has to offer? A squad that went .500 in the Big East only has one future NBA player and four underclassmen starters?

Monday night was evidence of one of the most talent-starved college seasons in recent memory. Only two players from the tournament finale — Walker, a lottery to mid-round pick, and Matt Howard, a late second rounder — will be drafted.

Mack would be wise to stay in school for another year after leaving much to be desired with his shot selection and ability to run an offense.

In a watered-down year for college hoops, the two teams left standing set a record for highest combined seed total (11) in a title game. The pair had 18 losses between them, another record high.

The tournament experienced its first Final Four without a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, which portrayed the mediocrity and lack of quality players in power conference programs.

There was not one single dominant team. Ohio State was the closest to it and they folded in the Sweet 16.

The Big East may have been deep, placing a record 11 teams in March Madness, but, besides Walker, it has zero players capable of playing at the next level.

The league rose to the occasion when many power conferences were in shambles. Take Southern California, which lost in the First Four, out of the equation and the PAC 10 matched the Colonial Athletic Association with three berths.

The Bulldogs garner elite status for posting back-to-back national title game appearances. The past two years, they have more NCAA tournament wins than any other program with 10, but have failed to deliver the fatal blow.

Monday, the Bulldogs appeared unaccustomed to the national spotlight as UConn flexed its muscles with 10 blocked shots and made it look like boys against men.

Coaches can't win championships, and the Bulldogs appeared to have had no business competing for the hardware.

In a fitting display of the thin line between the haves and have-nots, Pittsburgh guard Gilbert Brown missed his second free throw with 1.4 seconds remaining that would have squashed Butler's run in the second round.

The college game needs a restructuring if it's to keep up with the ranks of the pros.

One-and-done players are depleting top-level programs and veteran minnows raiding the Final Four are becoming less infrequent with the decline in quality college basketball.

Bearcats sweep Hoyas

UC snaps its losing streak

Bearcats Set Sail With Pirates

Women's basketball preview vs. Seton Hall

UC Basketball: Back in buisness?

Tickel yer Fancy
By Hunter Tickel | Senior Reporter

Following Cincinnati's dominating, 20-point blowout of rival Xavier, the question I found myself begging the answer for was: is Bearcats basketball back?

Throughout the course of the past three seasons, UC has been in a college basketball abyss, failing to even reach the conversation for garnering an NCAA tournament berth since the departure of former head coach Bob Huggins.

Meanwhile, less than five miles from the UC campus, a blue empire was born — Xavier, Cincinnati's most-despised rival. The Musketeers have reached three consecutive Sweet 16's at the tournament and qualified for the big dance five consecutive years.

Times have been hard for the UC fan base to say the least; Thursday's win eased some of the pain.

The victory shed light on one distinctive advantage Cincinnati had throughout the Shootout: depth. This was typically an Achilles' heel for the Bearcats in recent seasons while head coach Mick Cronin was rebuilding the program.

"Like coach [Cronin] says, ‘We've got a lot of players on the bench that could be somewhere else and start,' " said senior forward Darnell Wilks. "With the talent we have coming off the bench, it's hard for other teams to compete with."

Xavier's Tu Holloway entered the rivalry game pacing Xavier with 21.3 points per game and drawing comparisons to one of college basketball's leading scorers.

"Holloway is playing as good as anybody in America not named Kemba Walker," Cronin said.

But after 2-of-13 shooting and a five-point effort against UC, he might be regarded as one of the biggest choke artists in college basketball.

Cincinnati wore him down with size, physicality and depth on defense. Guards Dion Dixon, Larry Davis and Sean Kilpatrick all have at least three inches on Holloway and took turns putting a hand in his face.

Sunday's 72-61 loss at No. 7 Villanova might elicit a blunt "no" to my opening question, but that's illogical to me.

The Bearcats fell behind by 21 points in the second half against the Wildcats while facing the fiercest full-court pressure they have seen to this point in the season. They also had to deal with poor officiating.

Despite all the adversity for the then-undefeated Bearcats, they managed to fight and claw their way back into the game, trimming the deficit to seven points before falling short.

"Nobody was giving up on each other," Wilks said. "We still have fight. There was a time in my freshman year when that lead could have kept building and building."

The current squad has an X factor that Cronin's teams have lacked up to this point in his five-year tenure: heart.

No Cincinnati team since the Huggins era has played with as much grit and dedication as this season's group.

The main factor for this is the veteran leadership the Bearcats have this season. With rebuilding the program like he has had to, Cronin has yet to have that before this year.

Six seniors and two juniors provide the glue for Cincinnati. Two of those seniors, Wilks and Davis, have humbly and willingly welcomed coming off the bench to provide a spark.

"Me and Larry, being seniors, we know our roles," Wilks said. "We accepted that. Personally, it really doesn't matter to me as long as I can come in and contribute mostly defensively and rebounding."

These Bearcats are the most unselfish team I've seen in years. They all know their duties and are content regardless of how much playing time they receive. They fully grasp just how scarce minutes are on this talented team.

Only the rigors of the upcoming daunting Big East schedule will determine if Cincinnati garners elite status in the nation's best and deepest conference.

Bearcats Clip Redhawks

Dixon Leads UC to Win over Miami

Rough start

Cats crushed in conference opener

By Hunter Tickel | Senior Reporter

If Tuesday's Big East opener for the Cincinnati women's basketball is an indication of what awaits them in conference play, the Bearcats are in for a long season.

Projected to finish 15th in the Big East this season, the Bearcats were bested in every facet of the game by the Cardinals: fundamentals, style, athleticism and cohesion as they lost 78-40 at Fifth Third Arena.

"We wasted people's times today, said head coach Jamelle Elliott. "We wasted the [referee's] time, we wasted the fans' time and we wasted Louisville's time. We didn't show up today. We might as well have stayed in the locker room with the performance we put on today."

UC committed a season-high 31 turnovers and shot worse than 32 percent from the floor.

A reoccurring theme throughout the night was Cincinnati settling for jump shots or giving the ball away, while the Cardinals took high-percentage shots and scored 38 points in the paint to the Bearcats 12.

"We need a post player," said freshman guard Kayla Cook. "When we get in the Big East, we are going to be facing 6-4, 6-5 and our tallest player is barely pushing 6-1. They don't have any experience in the Big East either, so I think we are slacking in the post."

Point guard Shareese Ulis is the only returning player that garnered significant playing time from last year's squad that finished 4-12 in the league. UC is inexperienced, returning just 27 percent of minutes played and 28 percent of scoring from last season.

"I just told them when I walked into the locker room, ‘Welcome to the Big East,' " Elliott said. "That's what they signed up for. They came to Cincinnati to play against these teams. I've got to hope that they are ready to do that."

The Bearcats appeared rusty after having ten days off as they prepared for their exams last week.

"[I told them] you guys have five minutes to get that out of your system and then we have to be ready to play," Elliott said. "Five minutes turned into 40 minutes. It's just one of those games where nothing went our way."

Ulis entered the night averaging a team-leading 15.7 points per game. She drew double teams on the perimeter from the outset and never found a comfortable flow against UL. The senior finished with 14 points and just two assists.

"I feel like I have to get these guys involved in order for us to be a great team," Ulis said. "If I can't get them to be with me, we don't have a chance at winning. Tonight I didn't play as good as I normally do and it carried over to everyone else."

Ulis scored the team's first basket after nearly eight minutes had surpassed as they struggled in their half-court sets.

By the midpoint of the first half, the contest was all but finished with UC falling behind 21-2. The Bearcats got on the score sheet for a second time with 8:06 remaining in the opening half.

The Bearcats totaled a season-low 40 points and allowed the Cardinals to shot better than 58 percent as they scored 18 points in transition.

After its Big East opener, the Bearcats step out of conference play again at 2 p.m. Saturday against Wright State at Fifth Third Arena.