February 13, 2025 • 9 mins
Scott Springer of Cincinnati.com joined us to discuss UC's three-game winning streak, their NCAA Tournament chances, and much more.
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jim, and it's after three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty on mont Leger broadcasting today
from Jurthway Partner Racing and Gaming. U see when's a
third consecutive game. They take care of business in the
two games against teams from Utah that they lost to
on the road, not on the heels of beating UCF
last week. And they're playing well. They're playing well offensively.
(00:23):
They have a major test on Saturday with Iowa State.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
On the schedule next.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Scott Springer covers uc sports for the Cincinnati Inquirer and
Cincinnati dot Com.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
He was there last night. He's with us. Now, Hi, Scott,
what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I just finished my workout at the Beispont Racket Club
because you have to have sound mind and body to
do a Moager interview, and I'm not sure I have either,
but I'm ready. But yeah, more fun to hear the
place cheering, and like I've always said, my job's easier
when the Bearcats win. And they're certainly on a little
roll here, three game winnstaying three straight games over eighty points,
(01:02):
which you would have never bet on that about two
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, I mean, what a difference nine days make right.
I mean, that game against West Virginia made everybody angry
because of the loss, but I think more than anything,
the effort, the offensive stagnancy, if that's the right word,
the inability over a long stretch of time to get
anything going shooting the basketball. To go from that in
less than two weeks to what we're seeing now offensively
(01:28):
is really one of the more remarkable, very quick in
season makeovers I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, and he doesn't want to talk about the dodgeball,
but you know, I kind of knew about it. I
had talked with Terry Nelson before the game and I
did a little video and I said, you see, lightened
it up. I didn't mention dodgeball because my fear was, Okay,
if I say dodgeball and UCF plaster them, clasters them,
then everyone's mad at me because I brought up dodgeball.
So I try to keep the piece as I can.
(01:56):
And then Wes brought it up on the postgame show.
So yeah, this is the season right now with patches
of Hulahan and Bob Huggins at UCF getting the boys gone.
And you know what, Wes made a great point though
all he did was he took him down to the
practice gym kind of the dungeon down there, and they
let him down there on the Monday after the West
(02:17):
Virginia game, and the guys all thought, well, this is
going to be a torturist practice, or we're going to
go up and down. And then they got out the dodgeballs,
and the staff and the coaches played and they were
like kids. And so he's been able to get that
in their heads. Play like kids, you know, play care
free and loose. I like Day Day Thomas starting. I
thought that the team has always ran a little bit
(02:38):
better with him to make it crazy on some plays,
but it'll do some plays that are just you know.
And even Craig Smith, the Utah coach, last night, he said,
they have better playmakers.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
We don't have a Day Day Thomas or Agisel James
that can come down and do what they do well.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And if you would have told me that they're going
to turn this season around, I would have said, those
two guys have to be involved, right. It's hard to
imagine this thing getting set straight without those two guys
playing better. I don't think I had Josh Reed in
consecutive games making the plays he's made on my bingo guard.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Well, no, I mean who did Let's face it. Early
in the season, if you saw number ten came in
and you're a fan, you're probably going, why is he
putting him in?
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Why does he keep putting him in?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And I'll give you a very dated reference because I'm
good at those, but a very dated baseball reference. You
remember Corey Patterson that played for the Red Yeah, and
Dussy Becker would continually play him and everyone said, why
is he putting him in all the time?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Is that his son? What's up with that? But Josh Reid.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Has surpassed Corey Patterson and Josh Reid is a major contributor,
and you know, you have to believe West now, it's
like this is what they've been seeing. So maybe this
is all he needed was a bunch of confidence. But
you know, he comes in and he wants to be
there and he gives you the efforts. Same with Ravon Griffith.
Just minuscule, mam, but he really wants to be a bearcat.
(04:02):
And that's who you need on the floor. The guys
that are hungry and the guys that aren't hungry are
gonna have to sit and wait until they decide they're hungry.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yet they've transformed themselves offensively. It feels like it's come
at the expense a little bit of what they do
on the defensive side of the floor. So I guess
what I'm wondering is, maybe specifically on Saturday, are are
they going to be able to get stops when the
shots don't fall?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Well, they're gonna need to. Let's face it, this is
a massive undertaking. Saturday, I always say, is extremely good.
The players back, I'm gonna butcher his names, mam Silovich
maybe something like that. You know, I'm talking about good
three point shooter. But they were not the same without him.
They were three and four without him, and they had,
(04:51):
you know, a major losing streak. So he's back and
they beat UCF down there. Well you know u c
F beat or u SEV. You see F down there.
So the problem is Hilton Coliseum. They won all their
games there last year eighteen and the streak was at
twenty nine until Kansas State stopped them earlier this year
(05:13):
and everyone said, well that was a major upset. Well
maybe not, because Kansas State's now playing like the Kansas
State that they thought that they bought. And that's not
a slam at them, but they spent a lot of money.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
On that team.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
And when I was there with UC and they lost
to Kansas State, the complaint was, well the Wildcats, you know,
they've had.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
All this money and they're not getting much.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, the Wildcats looked good that night, beat UC by three,
and now the Wildcats are looking pretty good and knocking
people off. You know, beating Arizona's a pretty good win.
So you know, if you want to talk about a
good loss, I don't believe that. But Kansas State is
better now than they were. And you know, Kansas State
went in and bet Iowa State, so to beat them
(05:56):
at Hilton Coliseum, I mean that was a twenty nine
game win streak, think overall over two seasons.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
It was snapped.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And then they're back and they've got one of their
better players back. So the odds are big time against
the Bearcats. But you know, if you can go back
to the dodgeball, thinking it's like, okay, they got five guys,
we got five guys, and here's the ball that let's go.
And if you can think like that, these guys have
all played top level AAU games.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
If they can get that in their head, maybe they
have a chance.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I know you're not a bracketologist. Most of us have
simplified this and said, get to.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Do a lot of them on the X though that
I find.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Oh, I've noticed, I've noticed. I'm not a bracketologist. I
don't believe you are. But I think most of us
have said, Okay, get to ten even before the season started.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Get to ten and ten of the Big twelve and
they're in.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I have a hard time believing that a team that
wins half of its games in this league doesn't have
its name on the screen on Selection Sunday if they're
shy of that. And I'm not talking about you know,
finishing with seven league wins, but if you know, they
go nine and eleven, can they still make the NCAA Tournament.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
It just depends on how the tea leaves fall with
everybody else. You know, there's just so much basketball to
be played between now and then. So right now, yeah, today,
I'm with you. I say, if you get to ten
and ten, to me, you're in, because it's that good
of e league. And I had to point out to
somebody that you know, last year every team that finished
five hundred or above. And remember it was an eighteen
game season, but all the nine and nine they all
(07:28):
made it. Now, maybe the nets were different, I don't know,
but right now, ten wins in the Big Twelve is
quite an accomplishment in my book, and I don't see
how you wouldn't get in. But you know, I'm not
on the phone with Jim Nantz or Lenardi or any
of those guys late in March, and so that's just
(07:50):
my guess. All I know is what I see and
what I've observed over the years, and I think you
get a pretty solid argument if.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
You have ten Big Twelve wins. And right now that's
not easy.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
You know, you're at five and eight, so you're five
and two is not particularly easy. You know, everyone's you're
you know, your average fan is writing off Houston and
Iowa State and then you're just shrugging your shoulders and oh,
well yeah they'll beat Baylor, Oh Willie with Kansas State's
pretty good. You know, look at Kansas State's doing. Oklahoma
State is down there at their place. Not a pushover
(08:22):
West Virginia at their place, not a pushover. B Yu
had to fight to beat them last night. So none
of the games are easy. Anything's possible, and you know,
for me to predict anything, you know, maybe I get
some hits out of that.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
I'm not smart enough to do that.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
I'm just telling you what I think, and I can't
positively say yeah, they're in with ten or no they're
not with ten. Gut feeling yeah, if they get ten wins,
I think they're in.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm with you, all right, Well, great minds, think alike,
enjoy Iowa.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Thank you as always.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
There's a lot to do there in names, and I'll
include it in my five star travel.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Guid I look forward to reading that at the end
of the season.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Scott Springer covering UC basketball for The Inquirer and Cincinnati
dot Com. You See is an Iowa state Saturday at
four o'clock.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Sports headlines are next.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
We're at Turfway Park, racing and gaming on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
For more than two hundred years, the experts at you
See Health have been giving heart patients a chance at
better outcomes.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
That's boundless care.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
You can trust, expect more at uchelp dot com. Southbound
seventy five accident cleared away between Paddock Road and Town Street.
Looking at a minute or two worth of delays still
in that area on Highland Avenue and accidents south of
Martin Luther King Drive and another accident blue Rock Road
over at Cheviot Road.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I'm at Ezelk with traffic
Jim, and it's after three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty on mont Leger broadcasting today
from Jurthway Partner Racing and Gaming. U see when's a
third consecutive game. They take care of business in the
two games against teams from Utah that they lost to
on the road, not on the heels of beating UCF
last week. And they're playing well. They're playing well offensively.
(00:23):
They have a major test on Saturday with Iowa State.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
On the schedule next.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Scott Springer covers uc sports for the Cincinnati Inquirer and
Cincinnati dot Com.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
He was there last night. He's with us. Now, Hi, Scott,
what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I just finished my workout at the Beispont Racket Club
because you have to have sound mind and body to
do a Moager interview, and I'm not sure I have either,
but I'm ready. But yeah, more fun to hear the
place cheering, and like I've always said, my job's easier
when the Bearcats win. And they're certainly on a little
roll here, three game winnstaying three straight games over eighty points,
(01:02):
which you would have never bet on that about two
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, I mean, what a difference nine days make right.
I mean, that game against West Virginia made everybody angry
because of the loss, but I think more than anything,
the effort, the offensive stagnancy, if that's the right word,
the inability over a long stretch of time to get
anything going shooting the basketball. To go from that in
less than two weeks to what we're seeing now offensively
(01:28):
is really one of the more remarkable, very quick in
season makeovers I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, and he doesn't want to talk about the dodgeball,
but you know, I kind of knew about it. I
had talked with Terry Nelson before the game and I
did a little video and I said, you see, lightened
it up. I didn't mention dodgeball because my fear was, Okay,
if I say dodgeball and UCF plaster them, clasters them,
then everyone's mad at me because I brought up dodgeball.
So I try to keep the piece as I can.
(01:56):
And then Wes brought it up on the postgame show.
So yeah, this is the season right now with patches
of Hulahan and Bob Huggins at UCF getting the boys gone.
And you know what, Wes made a great point though
all he did was he took him down to the
practice gym kind of the dungeon down there, and they
let him down there on the Monday after the West
(02:17):
Virginia game, and the guys all thought, well, this is
going to be a torturist practice, or we're going to
go up and down. And then they got out the dodgeballs,
and the staff and the coaches played and they were
like kids. And so he's been able to get that
in their heads. Play like kids, you know, play care
free and loose. I like Day Day Thomas starting. I
thought that the team has always ran a little bit
(02:38):
better with him to make it crazy on some plays,
but it'll do some plays that are just you know.
And even Craig Smith, the Utah coach, last night, he said,
they have better playmakers.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
We don't have a Day Day Thomas or Agisel James
that can come down and do what they do well.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And if you would have told me that they're going
to turn this season around, I would have said, those
two guys have to be involved, right. It's hard to
imagine this thing getting set straight without those two guys
playing better. I don't think I had Josh Reed in
consecutive games making the plays he's made on my bingo guard.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Well, no, I mean who did Let's face it. Early
in the season, if you saw number ten came in
and you're a fan, you're probably going, why is he
putting him in?
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Why does he keep putting him in?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And I'll give you a very dated reference because I'm
good at those, but a very dated baseball reference. You
remember Corey Patterson that played for the Red Yeah, and
Dussy Becker would continually play him and everyone said, why
is he putting him in all the time?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Is that his son? What's up with that? But Josh Reid.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Has surpassed Corey Patterson and Josh Reid is a major contributor,
and you know, you have to believe West now, it's
like this is what they've been seeing. So maybe this
is all he needed was a bunch of confidence. But
you know, he comes in and he wants to be
there and he gives you the efforts. Same with Ravon Griffith.
Just minuscule, mam, but he really wants to be a bearcat.
(04:02):
And that's who you need on the floor. The guys
that are hungry and the guys that aren't hungry are
gonna have to sit and wait until they decide they're hungry.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yet they've transformed themselves offensively. It feels like it's come
at the expense a little bit of what they do
on the defensive side of the floor. So I guess
what I'm wondering is, maybe specifically on Saturday, are are
they going to be able to get stops when the
shots don't fall?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Well, they're gonna need to. Let's face it, this is
a massive undertaking. Saturday, I always say, is extremely good.
The players back, I'm gonna butcher his names, mam Silovich
maybe something like that. You know, I'm talking about good
three point shooter. But they were not the same without him.
They were three and four without him, and they had,
(04:51):
you know, a major losing streak. So he's back and
they beat UCF down there. Well you know u c
F beat or u SEV. You see F down there.
So the problem is Hilton Coliseum. They won all their
games there last year eighteen and the streak was at
twenty nine until Kansas State stopped them earlier this year
(05:13):
and everyone said, well that was a major upset. Well
maybe not, because Kansas State's now playing like the Kansas
State that they thought that they bought. And that's not
a slam at them, but they spent a lot of money.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
On that team.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
And when I was there with UC and they lost
to Kansas State, the complaint was, well the Wildcats, you know,
they've had.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
All this money and they're not getting much.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, the Wildcats looked good that night, beat UC by three,
and now the Wildcats are looking pretty good and knocking
people off. You know, beating Arizona's a pretty good win.
So you know, if you want to talk about a
good loss, I don't believe that. But Kansas State is
better now than they were. And you know, Kansas State
went in and bet Iowa State, so to beat them
(05:56):
at Hilton Coliseum, I mean that was a twenty nine
game win streak, think overall over two seasons.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
It was snapped.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And then they're back and they've got one of their
better players back. So the odds are big time against
the Bearcats. But you know, if you can go back
to the dodgeball, thinking it's like, okay, they got five guys,
we got five guys, and here's the ball that let's go.
And if you can think like that, these guys have
all played top level AAU games.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
If they can get that in their head, maybe they
have a chance.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I know you're not a bracketologist. Most of us have
simplified this and said, get to.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Do a lot of them on the X though that
I find.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Oh, I've noticed, I've noticed. I'm not a bracketologist. I
don't believe you are. But I think most of us
have said, Okay, get to ten even before the season started.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Get to ten and ten of the Big twelve and
they're in.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I have a hard time believing that a team that
wins half of its games in this league doesn't have
its name on the screen on Selection Sunday if they're
shy of that. And I'm not talking about you know,
finishing with seven league wins, but if you know, they
go nine and eleven, can they still make the NCAA Tournament.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
It just depends on how the tea leaves fall with
everybody else. You know, there's just so much basketball to
be played between now and then. So right now, yeah, today,
I'm with you. I say, if you get to ten
and ten, to me, you're in, because it's that good
of e league. And I had to point out to
somebody that you know, last year every team that finished
five hundred or above. And remember it was an eighteen
game season, but all the nine and nine they all
(07:28):
made it. Now, maybe the nets were different, I don't know,
but right now, ten wins in the Big Twelve is
quite an accomplishment in my book, and I don't see
how you wouldn't get in. But you know, I'm not
on the phone with Jim Nantz or Lenardi or any
of those guys late in March, and so that's just
(07:50):
my guess. All I know is what I see and
what I've observed over the years, and I think you
get a pretty solid argument if.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
You have ten Big Twelve wins. And right now that's
not easy.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
You know, you're at five and eight, so you're five
and two is not particularly easy. You know, everyone's you're
you know, your average fan is writing off Houston and
Iowa State and then you're just shrugging your shoulders and oh,
well yeah they'll beat Baylor, Oh Willie with Kansas State's
pretty good. You know, look at Kansas State's doing. Oklahoma
State is down there at their place. Not a pushover
(08:22):
West Virginia at their place, not a pushover. B Yu
had to fight to beat them last night. So none
of the games are easy. Anything's possible, and you know,
for me to predict anything, you know, maybe I get
some hits out of that.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
I'm not smart enough to do that.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
I'm just telling you what I think, and I can't
positively say yeah, they're in with ten or no they're
not with ten. Gut feeling yeah, if they get ten wins,
I think they're in.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm with you, all right, Well, great minds, think alike,
enjoy Iowa.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Thank you as always.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
There's a lot to do there in names, and I'll
include it in my five star travel.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Guid I look forward to reading that at the end
of the season.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Scott Springer covering UC basketball for The Inquirer and Cincinnati
dot Com. You See is an Iowa state Saturday at
four o'clock.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Sports headlines are next.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
We're at Turfway Park, racing and gaming on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
For more than two hundred years, the experts at you
See Health have been giving heart patients a chance at
better outcomes.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
That's boundless care.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
You can trust, expect more at uchelp dot com. Southbound
seventy five accident cleared away between Paddock Road and Town Street.
Looking at a minute or two worth of delays still
in that area on Highland Avenue and accidents south of
Martin Luther King Drive and another accident blue Rock Road
over at Cheviot Road.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I'm at Ezelk with traffic
Mo Egger News
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.