Poll: Did Mick Cronin deserve a technical for berating an official?

Coach Mick Cronin of No. 11-ranked Cincinnati had a sideline meltdown Saturday when a call went against his Bearcats in a 51-44 loss to unranked Connecticut, but he didn’t receive a technical foul even after a heated exchange with referee Teddy Valentine.

A very animated Cronin appeared to be berating Valentine as he approached the sideline after giving possession of the ball to the Huskies following a scrum underneath the Bearcats’ basket. Cronin, who had to be restrained by players and eventually pulled away by an assistant coach, was most upset that Valentine had confronted him.

“I don’t appreciate people getting in my face,” Cronin told reporters after the game. “Where I come from, you don’t jump in somebody’s face. He apologized. He thought I was coming at him. I wasn’t. I’ve got nothing but respect for Ted. He’s a great official. I don’t see people doing that to Rick Pitino.”

In an interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz, Cronin went a little further.

“Am I allowed to T him?” he asked. “My beef with that is ... when nobody gets in Jim Boeheim’s face or Mike Krzyzewski’s face. I wasn’t going to get a technical, not in a close game like that. I wasn’t going to give two points away. If I get one, it’s because I want one or it’s uncalled for on an official’s part. So, it was much ado about nothing. They need to leave me alone. It’s not my first rodeo.”

Then again, Cronin hasn’t won national championships as Boeheim, Krzyzewski and Pitino have. And, by the way, Boeheim just got tossed from a game recently.

Which leads to the question, do you think Cronin deserved a technical?