In part 1 I covered the box score specifics of who scored when on the Cincinnati Bearcats In part 2, I go to the video of Presbyterian and every game since Georgia to find out exactly how the spotlighted players got their points. The things I'll be looking for are

1. Where on the court they scored
2. Time of basket
3. What type of play it was
4. Who was guarding them 

Let's do it. 

Khalid Mutakabbir - Presbyterian

1)
Where: Paint
Play: Drive by
Scored on: Kilpatrick 
Time: 16:52 -1

2)
Where: Just outside the elbow
Play: Pull up
Scored on: Kilpatrick
Time: 16:33 -1

3)
Where: Paint
Play: Drive
Scored on: Kilpatrick 
Time: 12:44 -1

4)
Where: Paint
Play: Fast break
Scored on: Break
Time: 11:23 -1

5)
Where: Elbow
Play: Pull up
Scored on: Kilpatrick
Time: 2:37 -1

6)
Where: Just inside FT line, paint
Play: Screen used, dribble lost, virtually 1 on 1
Scored on: Kilpatrick
Time: 11:33 -2

7)
Where: Just inside women's 3 point line
Play: Iso
Scored on: Kilpatrick
Time: 7:58 -2

8)
Where: left wing
Play: Fast break 3
Scored on: Break
Time: 7:16 -2

9)
Where: Paint
Play: Refused screen drive
Scored on: Kilpatrick
Time: 5:03 -2

10)
Where: Right wing
Play: High screen. Cash got caught on it
Scored on: Wright
Time: 1:15 -2

11)
Where: Left wing
Play: Transition 3. Cash didn't close
Scored on: Wright
Time: 7.6 -2

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Tomorrow at 6 pm, the Cincinnati Bearcats head back on the road to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. This is going to be a tricky game. We've seen Rutgers cut down some big time opponents at the RAC. They beat Florida, UConn, and Notre Dame there. They've also lost to DePaul and Princeton there. The Knights are coming off of the DePaul loss. That makes this game a little tougher to read. Going into a tough place a play at a weird east coast start time, seriously 6 pm?, means that weird stuff could be on the horizon. This is a take care of business and get the hell out of there trip for the Cats. A 3 game slide now would kind of hurt. This is one of those not a great win, but another bad loss games. Get out of there alive. By any means. 
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The other day I did a post about the perimeter defense against Syracuse. Matt from down the drive was nice enough to link to it, but said the following:

"In short, the perimeter defense is terrible. Or it was Monday. On the whole the defense this year has been about as I expected it. Teams are actually shooting at a slightly lower clip (eFG% allowed is identical 45.8, true shooting percentage defense is actually down this year to 48.3 from 49.9). But that isn't the issue. The issue was that on Monday UC had no answer for the combination of Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph. Joseph in particular was untouchable. I need to see more games like Monday's defensively for me to worry about this."

He is accurate about the whole team defense, but it seems he's putting me on front street in my claims about the perimeter defense. Challenge accepted.  

I've thrown out all season long that UC can't stop guards from scoring. To be completely fair to the guards, I'm going to post the season average in points and the shooting percentages (Season, 2 & 3) in parenthesis so we have a comparison to see how above or beyond they have been. Free throws will be judged on a case by case basis. 

This will be a 2 part series. The first part deconstructs the box scores. The second part will involve a video breakdown of the Presbyterian game, and every game from Georgia and on. I'll be breaking down the guard shooting from 2, 3 and the free throw line. I'm going with the full free throw shooting totals. There may be an amended free throw shooting part in the second piece looking at the context of the attempts, IE intentional fouling late in games. At the bottom of the post, you'll see the scoring for 2s, 3s and FTs on the season. In many cases multiple guards will be listed. Most teams play multiple guards For the sake of math, any season point average over .5 moves up, anything .5 or under down. So if Player X is averaging 2.6 points, his season averages moves up to 3 in the calculations below.

The format will be as followed:

Team

Player - Makes-Attempts, game % (season%), 2M- 2A, 2% (season 2%), 3M-3A, 3% (season 3%), FTM-FTA, FT%, (seasonFT) Points (season average) *denotes season high

Alabama State

Kendereck Washington - 7-16, 45% (45%) 4-8, 50% (52%), 3-8, 37% (37%), 1-2, 50% (62%) 18 points (14.1)

Note: Unsure to count Page. He was listed as a forward, so I did not.

---

Jacksonville State

Brian Williams - 7-15, 47% (38%), 6-9, 67% (40%) 1-6, 17% (34%), 1-2, 50% (66%) 16 points (12.1)

Mason Leggett - 8-15, 53% (38.5%), 8-14, 57% (40%) , 0-1,0%(31%), 0-0 FT 16 points (6.6)

---

Presbyterian 

Khalid Mutakabbir - 11-15, 73% (43%), 8-10, 80% (51%), 3-5, 60% (28%), 0-0 FT, 25 points* (14)

---

Northwestern State

Shamir Davis - 4-9, 44% (48.4%), 3-7, 43% (53%), 1-2, 50% (32%), 4-4, 100% (72%), 13 points (14.1)

---

Marshall

Damier Pitts - 6-16, 37.5% (38%), 2-7, 28.5% (46%), 4-9, 44% (33%), 3-4, 75% (65%), 19 points (12.9)

---

Miami

No one

---

Georgia

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - 6-14, 43% (41%), 5-8, 62.5% (52%), 1-6, 17% (32%), 3-5, 60% (63%), 16 points (14.4)

Gerald Robinson - 4-10, 40% (41.4%), 3-8, 37.5% (43%), 1-2, 50% (29%), 3-4, 75% (%), 12 points (13.4)

Note: They combined for 28 of the 51 Georgia points

---

Xavier

Mark Lyons - 6-11, 54.5% (47%), 3-6, 50% (48%), 3-5, 60% (46%), 4-4, 100% (77%), 19 points (17.2)

Tu Holloway - 5-10, 50% (41%), 4-5, 80% (46%), 1-5, 20% (30%), 6-6, 100% (86%), 17 points (16.1)

Dez Wells - 7-10, 70% (52%), 7-10, 70% (55%), 0-0 3s, 0-1, 0% (61%), 14 points (9.5)

---

Wright State

John Balwigaire - 4-6, 67% (37.5%), 2-4, 50% (42%), 2-2, 100% (33%), 1-2, 50% (%), 11 points (5.1)

Note: Balwigaire had 11 of the first 25, which is why he is on the list. 

---

Radford

Jareal Smith - 7-12, 58% (35%), 4-8, 50% (39%), 3-4, 75% (31%), 5-7, 71% (%), 22 points* (10.5)

---

Arkansas Pine Bluff

No one worth noting

---

Oklahoma

Held Steven Pledger to 4-12. Watched some of the game to see if Fitzgerald scored on the guards, but it was mainly zone and he was fronted by a big man. 

---

Pittsburgh 

Ashton Gibbs - 7-15, 47% (39%), 5-8, 62.5% (4204%), 2-7, 28.5% 35(%), 2-2, 100% (82.5%), 18 points (16.7)

---

Notre Dame

Jerian Grant - 5-12, 42% (43%), 3-4, 75% (48%), 2-8, 25% (37%), 5-5, 100% (79%), 17 points (12.8)

---

St John's

Moe Harkless - 6-15, 40% (46%), 5-12, 42% (54%), 1-3, 33% (24%), 1-1, 100% (65%), 14 points (16)

D'Angelo Harrison - 5-15, 33% (37%), 2-7, 28% (41%), 3-8, 37.5% (36%), 5-7, 71% (81%), 18 points (15.5)

Note: They scored 32 of 57 St John's points

---

Georgetown

Jason Clark - 6-7, 86% (50%), 6-6, 100% (61%), 0-1, 0% (36%), 2-3, 67% (%), 14 points (15.9)

Hollis Thompson - 5-6, 83% (5%), 1-2, 50% (52%), 4-4, 100% (50.6%), 0-0 FT, 14 points (14)

---

Villanova

Maalik Wayns - 12-22, 54.5% (42%), 6-9, 67% (49%), 6-13, 46% (29%), 9-10, 90% (89%), 39 points* (18.7)

Dominic Cheek - 6-16, 37.5% (38%), 1-3, 33% (52%), 5-13, 38% (28%), 2-2, 100% (81%), 19 points (12.2)

---

Connecticut 

Shabazz Napier - 10-19, 53% (43%), 7-11, 64% (48%), 3-8, 37.5% (37.5%), 4-5, 80% (74%), 27 points* (14.8)

Jeremy Lamb - 5-12, 42% (50%), 4-7, 57% (60%), 1-5, 20% (37%), 3-3, 100% (85%), 14 points (17.9)

---

West Virginia

Jabaire Hinds - 4-8, 50% (51%), 2-3, 67% (50%), 2-5, 40% (36.5%), 2-3, 67% (67%), 12 points (8.2)

Gary Browne - 5-10, 50% (44%), 4-7, 0% (50%), 1-3, 33% (28%), 2-3, 66% (58%), 13 points (6.5)

---

Syracuse

Scoop Jardine - 5-9, 56% (51%), 3-5, 60% (62%), 2-4, 50% (32%), 1-4, 25% (51%), 13 points (8.5)

Kris Joseph - 8-11, 72% (44%), 8-8, 100% (50%), 0-3, 0% (36%), 1-5, 20% (77%), 17 points (13.7)

Brandon Triche - 4-8, 50% (44%), 3-6, 50% (47%), 1-2, 50% (40%), 2-3, 67% (86%), 11 points (9.9)

--

Overall %: 175-344 - 50.87%

Overall 2%: 119-202 - 58.9%

Overall 3%: 50-142 - 35.2%

Overall FT%: 72-97 - 74.2%

Scoring average per counted player: 16.78 points 

Total points above season average: 128

Average points above average per: 4.57

What this tells us is pretty definitive. The UC guards give up a lot of points. If you can get to the basket, you have an excellent chance of scoring on them, because they are very weak defensively. They are also pretty poor at closing out on shooters, 35% from 3 is awfully high. The good news would be that UC doesn't put guys on the line. In some cases, like against Georgia and Georgetown, the Bearcats didn't give guys opportunity to get the ball to get chances to get shots off. This is why turnovers are so important. The guys need turnovers to get stops. 

Part 2 will be out sometime on Friday. 
 


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Yeah, I had nothing for a headline. I had a weird problem last night where I woke up at 6 am. Thinking the tv would soothe me back into slumber, I fired it up. The Federer/Nadal tennis match was on ESPN2. I ended up watching it for like half an hour. It was a fun match to watch, but at the same time, I was up at 6:30 watching tennis. Needless to say, that half hour really put me behind the 8 ball. Don't know why being behind cocaine is a statement for falling behind is a popular phrase. What's that? Being told off camera I have a special guest.

 
GIFSoup

 Point taken. 

The most important news of the week is that Butch Jones' extension finally went through. He's gonna get paid. I like high end steak dinners for our imaginary dinner, Coach. I don't care if you only order a salad and water, I'll run up that bill and we aren't splitting the check. 

If you missed the happy hour ticket discount a couple weeks ago, UC is throwing another one at you tomorrow. From 9-5, UC is selling hoops tickets from as low as $13. You can get 4 game tickets plus parking for $59. Good stuff. 

 Andrea Alderson at ESPN graded the UC football season. I'm not going to post the whole thing because Andrea deserves your clicks, but here the part about the defense: 

 Defense: One of the biggest reasons the Bearcats won this season is because of their defensive turnaround. Total defense was right around the same as it was last year, but the biggest areas of improvement are among the most important to defensive success: rushing defense, sacks, tackles for loss and takeaways. Cincinnati ranked No. 1 in the Big East in sacks with 46 -- a whopping 20 more than last season. The Bearcats had 16 interceptions -- double what they had last year. Overall they had 33 takeaways -- 19 more than 2010. They also gave up an average of 40 yards fewer per game on the ground. Playing aggressive, opportunistic defense generally makes your team much better, and that is exactly what Cincinnati did in 2011. You can't overlook the contributions of Derek Wolfe and JK Schaffer, or the improvement of safety Drew Frey to this group. 

Grade: A.

Matt from DtD reviews the offensive line play. His result? It was good. Here is an excerpt:

Basically every ass

Racy stuff going on over there. 

AA hits what UC needs as they close out recruiting as well. 

UC got some recruiting help when Caleb Stacey dropped Michigan for UC. I don't care if it's old news. 

Isaiah Pead is at the Senior Bowl, Saturday at 4 or 4:30 on the NFL Network, turning heads and wetting beds. He's not doing the latter. The Kansas City Chiefs like him. Here are a couple of scouting reports about Pead, boom boom.

Bengals beat writer Joe Reedy talks about Pead's versatility. 

Derek Wolfe is also at the Senior Bowl. According to the Eagles website, he's moving up: 

Derek Wolfe/DT/Cincinnati: Wolfe is not flashy nor a defender that makes a lot of plays on the ball.  What he does so well is hold the point of attack and control blockers.  This allows his teammates to get to the action and make the play.  On more than one occasion Wolfe was double teamed by blockers yet did not give up an inch of room.  He’s going to make some defensive coordinator happy at the next level.

Former UC coach Mark Dantonio took part in 5 questions with Cincindotdot as no one calls it. It's good. 

Chris from Bearcats Nation has been breaking down the newcomers to the Big East. The latest is about UCF. 

The Bearcats were called out in this WaPo article about teams with poor conference SOS.  

The lady Bearcats dropped their 6th straight Tuesday night. They are 0-7 in the Big East. Keep grinding. 

UC swimmer Roberto Nevarez is training for the Big East title, but also the Olympics.  Good luck, homie. 

Ending on a positive note, Jasmine Cotten: Big East field athlete of the week. Call me, Jasmine. I mean, congratulations on your great work. 
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After Cincinnati lost to Syracuse Monday night, Mick Cronin said this “I thought that Scoop (Jardine) made one big shot and our defense was atrocious. They shot lay ups. I don’t care if we’re playing Syracuse or St. Ann’s, where I went to grade school. You let guys dribble in for lay ups, they are going to make them.” And "As a coach you have preparation and there are controllables," Cronin said. "Scoop (Jardine) or Kris Joseph making a tough one-on-one shot is not a controllable. Giving up layups on blown assignments because your head is somewhere else because you missed a shot or they made a tough shot or you're a little tired or I don't know why, that is inexcusable." 

That's quite the harsh statement. Like many of you, I want to see it for myself. That's why I fired up ESPN3, got the snipping tool ready and brought you this. 

We'll start things in the first half. Namely the 3 possessions where Syracuse took the 6 point lead. 

On this play we see an example of the screens Syracuse was running. Kris Joseph (white) starts on the left wing. Brandon Triche (red) sets a screen that gets James Southerland (yellow) to the right wing. UC was switching every screen. Dixon started on Triche, and gave him up to SK. Sanders is on Southerland.

 

Triche comes up to get the ball from Waiters. Joseph comes around to the right side. James Southerland crashes down and screens Dion Dixon. Joseph is wide open in part because Jermaine Sanders went back to the middle of the lane to stay on Southerland. 



Dixon flies out to try and get on Joseph. Kris steps up and buries an uncontested jumper. 


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Last night was a flashback kind of night. Cincinnati wore the uniforms from the 1961-62 season. Fifth third arena was rocking like it was still the Shoemaker Center. The Cincinnati Bearcats played one of the top teams in America and played them tough. Unfortunately the last flashback was of to the West Virginia game, where the Bearcats couldn't close out the last 5 minutes. There are a lot of positives to take away from the past week. We know that UC can hang with UConn, West Virginia and for the most part Syracuse. We've also seen that Cincinnati can not close out games against very good teams. Sean Kilpatrick saved the bacon against UConn, but Shabazz Napier still went bonkers from 3 and UC's guards went 2-4 down the stretch. Gary Browne put a 3 over Yancy Gates and Deniz Kilicli got a layup late. As I'll get into in a minute, Cincinnati hasn't handled the pressure of a good team making a run on them yet.

UC used a 3 blitz to get off to a 15-6 lead at the 15:39 mark. They scored 10 points the rest of the half. 2 long scoring droughts, 15:39-11:17 up 9 to tied, 8:52-3:58 up 5 to up 1, really hurt momentum. Syracuse closed with a bucket inside by Joseph, a Joseph dunk and a Waiters runner in the lane to take a 3 point halftime lead. That's a formula they would use for the second half. 

Last 11 minutes UC is up 3. Southerland dunk, Jardine 3, Triche 3, Joseph dunk, Jardine layup, Joseph layup, Jardine layup, Triche layup, Jardine 3. That's not how you execute down the stretch defensively. No one protected the paint. Scoop said after the game that Cuse ran Gates off of screens so he would get tired late and not be around the basket. It worked. Mick pulled Cashmere Wright (3:47-1:26), Sean Kilpatrick (4:51-2:58) and Dion Dixon (2:58-1:26) late because they couldn't stop guys from getting in the paint. Kris Joseph didn't miss a 2 point shot. He took 8. I love the guys that we have, but not having Rashad Bishop or Larry Davis really hurts. 

 One of the things I said I was worried about in the pregame was UC getting too locked into taking 3s that weren't falling. They fell early as UC went 4-5 in the first 4 minutes. They finished the game going 4-20. Dixon, Kilpatrick Parker and Davis were a combined 3-16. Only Cashmere Wright had the 3 ball really going. One of the 3s that fell came with UC down 9 and under a minute to go. Cash said after the game that Syracuse extended their defense after UC got so many looks early. UC took 2 the last 8 minutes of the first half. They went 2-8 from the 17 minute mark to the 10:30 mark, then didn't attempt another 3 until 3 minutes were left in the game. UC went from up 3 to down 3 to close the first half. They went from up 3 to down 8 the second. 

When the defense isn't getting steals, 3, or forcing turnovers, 8, they are bad. If Syracuse finishes the game better than 1-7 at the foul line, this is a double digit loss. 6 offensive rebounds off of 23 misses isn't horrible, but letting someone shoot 52% and hit 43% from 3 is. Yancy Gates not boxing out on a missed free throw late was horrible. Have a week to go to the drawing board. Iron this stuff out. 

Yancy Gates and Cheikh Mbodj were the only Bearcats who got to the foul line. Gates was the only Cat who went more than once. I don't like it.

The crowd was amazing. Look at this picture


The white out worked. It was great to have the building full of life and on fire again. Let's pack it for the rest of the season. I do have to say though, we need to chill on the big heads. I said this on twitter, but it bears repeating. It's like UC fans found out what big heads were last week, then busted out 75,000 of them. Some were obscure. Boeheim mustache was a winner. Justin Jackson mean face was a winner. We need a big head regulator. Call Nate Dogg and Warren G.

Before I talk about UC, let's talk about Syracuse real quick. They have so many guys to throw at you in any situation. Rakeem Christmas crushed the glass with 9 boards. You have 2 seniors who can carry scoring in Jardine and Joseph. Southerland can play. Triche can play. Dion Waiters got 12 minutes and was a non factor. That was the 2nd leading scorer. They aren't as good without Melo, but they are so talented that if he's out an extended period, they can make up for his loss and be fine. So many ways to hurt you. UC found a lot of them out. 



Yancy Gates had 8 points the first 5 minutes of the second half. He doesn't take a shot from about the 13 minute mark until 3:33 left. He doesn't even get a rebound. It looked like the second half gameplan was to get the ball in to Yancy. Once it was taken away, UC could not figure out what to do. Gates had a double double, 16-10, but like I said, he was a non-factor on the boards during the Syracuse run. He finished weak around the basket early, which was pretty big in hindsight. He was 7-12 and should have been better. Gates was horrible at the foul line, going 2-7. He played well, but he's got to play a little better. 

Justin Jackson learned a lesson during the second half. That lesson was that good teams aren't going to let him not shoot the ball and just make passes.  He had a turnover off a timeout that led to the Joseph breakaway dunk. He would use 4 of 7 possessions late. The turnover, a couple of misses and a layup that kept the lead at 6. That layup would be his only basket in 5 attempts the second half. He had 3 assists against 4 turnovers. I think it's hilarious when Justin Jackson thinks he's Magic Johnson, but he takes it overboard. He's just not comfortable with his offense. And 2 rebounds? No. He's too important to UC to be a turnover machine who doesn't rebound. 

Cash continued his hot streak from 3 by going 5-9. He continued his not hitting 2s by going 1-4. He had 4 boards, 4 assists and 2 turnovers. He didn't have a steal. He was kind of a non-factor after drilling 3 long 3s to start the game. Started off 3-3 and finished 2-6. He had to get the ball in the zone more. He's the point guard. It's his job. I'm going to say it until he does it, Cash needs to get to the foul line. 



Dion Dixon drilled a long 3 to put UC up 4 late in the first half and had the big breakaway dunk in the middle of the second. The rest were missed shots, 2-10, 1-6. Dixon hit the offensive glass like a mofo, getting 4 boards. He had 2 steals, 2 assists and a block. Second good all around game coupled with a poor shooting game. Dion Dixon, best friend, get to the foul line. 2 games without a free throw.

Sean Kilpatrick was pretty much a non-factor scoring wise. He was 3-8, 2-5, for 8 points. He dished out 4 assists and had 9 rebounds. If he couldn't deny Joseph the ball, he couldn't stop him. He did look hampered by the injuries. Still played 32 minutes. 

Jeremiah Davis only got 5 minutes. He missed 3 shots and had a turnover. He got beat for the Triche 3 and that's the story of his 1 minute in the second half. 

Cheikh Mbodj didn't give great minutes. He played 7 with 3 fouls and a turnover. He hit a free throw. 

Ge'Lawn Guyn returned and played 8 minutes. He turned the ball over twice with an assist. He also got really mad at getting a foul called on him.

Jermaine Sanders had 2 assists in his 5 minutes. Good job, 15. 

Kelvin Gaines entered the game during the first half. By the time the "Oh my god, Kelvin Gaines is alive!" chatter died down, he was gone. 

JaQuon Parker had a rough shooting game. He was 1-7, 0-3 from distance in his 17 minutes. He had 4 boards, but 4 fouls. I honestly don't know what exactly his role is. I don't think Mick does either. He's too small to be in the block against teams that have size. It's killing UC. UC was -12 with him on the court last night. Cronin has to find a role for him. 

White out and Cashmere Wright pictures via Go Bearcats. Gates and Christmas via Cincinnati.com
Box score from Go Bearcats 
 

Official Basketball Box Score
Syracuse vs Cincinnati
01/23/12 7:00 p.m. at Cincinnati, Ohio (Fifth Third Arena)


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VISITORS: Syracuse 21-1, 8-1 BE
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 FAIR, C.J........... f  3-8    0-0    0-2    4  2  6   2   6  1  1  0  0  20
25 CHRISTMAS, Rakeem... f  2-4    0-0    0-0    4  5  9   3   4  2  2  3  0  27
32 JOSEPH, Kris........ f  8-11   0-3    1-5    1  5  6   2  17  0  0  1  0  35
11 JARDINE, Scoop...... g  5-9    2-4    1-4    0  2  2   0  13  6  0  0  0  30
20 TRICHE, Brandon..... g  4-8    1-2    2-3    1  2  3   1  11  3  2  0  4  35
01 CARTER-WILLIAMS, M..    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
03 WAITERS, Dion.......    1-5    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   1   2  0  1  0  1  12
12 KEITA, Baye.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  1  13
43 SOUTHERLAND, James..    3-10   0-3    1-1    1  6  7   2   7  0  2  2  0  25
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   26-56   3-12   5-15  13 27 40  12  60 12  8  6  6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4%   2nd Half: 14-27 51.9%   Game: 46.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-5   0.0%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-8  50.0%   2nd Half:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 33.3%    2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Cincinnati 15-6, 5-3 BE
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 Jackson, Justin..... f  2-7    0-0    0-0    2  0  2   2   4  3  4  1  1  27
34 Gates, Yancy........ f  7-12   0-0    2-7    1  9 10   2  16  0  1  0  0  31
01 Wright, Cashmere.... g  6-13   5-9    0-0    2  2  4   2  17  4  2  0  0  32
03 Dixon, Dion......... g  2-10   1-6    0-0    4  1  5   2   5  2  0  1  2  35
23 Kilpatrick, Sean.... g  3-8    2-5    0-0    2  7  9   3   8  4  0  0  0  32
00 Davis III, Jeremiah.    0-3    0-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   5
13 Mbodj, Cheikh.......    0-0    0-0    1-2    1  0  1   3   1  0  1  0  0   7
14 Guyn, Ge'Lawn.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  2  0  0   8
15 Sanders, Jermaine...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  2  0  0  0   5
24 Gaines, Kelvin......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
44 Parker, Jaquon......    1-7    0-3    0-0    1  3  4   4   2  0  0  0  0  17
   TEAM................                         2  3  5
   Totals..............   21-61   8-25   3-9   15 25 40  20  53 16 11  2  3 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-25 36.0%   2nd Half: 12-36 33.3%   Game: 34.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-11 45.5%   2nd Half:  3-14 21.4%   Game: 32.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-6  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-3  33.3%   Game: 33.3%    4


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Officials: Jim Burr, Roger Ayers, Michael Stephens
Technical fouls: Syracuse-None. Cincinnati-None.
Attendance: 13176
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Syracuse......................   28   32  -   60
Cincinnati....................   25   28  -   53

Points in the paint-SYR 36,CIN 24. Points off turnovers-SYR 14,CIN 10.
2nd chance points-SYR 7,CIN 7. Fast break points-SYR 10,CIN 7.
Bench points-SYR 9,CIN 3. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-SYR 2nd-01:53, CIN 2nd-00:26.
Largest lead-SYR by 11 2nd-01:53, CIN by 9 1st-15:39.

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I'm pumped. The crowd is pumped. Time to clobber. Live blog recap.

Same starting 5 for both teams that were covered in the pregame. Gates wins the tip. UC in the beautiful throwbacks. SK for 3. Bucket and a foul for Joseph. Foul on Gates. FT missed. Cash from the 5/3 logo! Christmas answers with a 2. Dixon 3 is no good. I think it was him. Triche misses, SK board. Jackson to Gates, who misses, but gets the board and fouled. FT miss and make. Dixon blocks Triche. Cash for 3. Triche drives for a layup. He feels he can take Dixon. He's right. Cash again. Fair has the ball stolen by Jackson. Foul on Fair. Gates has the ball knocked away. 15:57 to go in the half. 13-6 Cincinnati. 

UC inbounds and works the ball around the zone. Gates puts it on the floor, misses but a tip in by Jackson. Fair is fouled by Jackson on the block. Scoop misses, Fair misses but Syracuse gets the board. Offensive foul on Christmas for a screen that was bad. Gates misses again inside. Foul on Syracuse. Scoop tips away the inbound and a dunk. No one got back. Jackson spin move tough shot missed. Jardine is fouled by Dixon on a shot. Barely draws iron the FT. Long on the second. Rebound and then an and 1 by Southerland. Foul on Mbodj. FT good. Guyn is in. Parker corner 3 is long. Fair saved it to UC. Offensive foul on Mbodj. Dropped the shoulder on that one. Fair from the baseline. Guyn drives and turns it over. Fair turner no good. Wrestlemania under the basket. Christmas gets the ball and scores. Tie game. SK long on a 3 in the corner. Southerland another board. Miss. Uc blows the break. SK shot is goaltended. 17-15 at the under 12. 
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Tonight at 7 on ESPN, Fifth Third Arena will be rocking and rolling with or without George Clooney, as the Cincinnati Bearcats host the 3/4 ranked Syracuse Orange. It's Big Monday. There will be Raftery, Bilas and McDonough. There will be big heads in the stands. It's going to be loud. It's going to be awesome. Both teams are coming off tough losses. I covered the West Virginia heart breaker earlier today. My friend Brian from Orange 44 covered the Syracuse loss a little bit ago. I can not wait. This is what Big East basketball is all about. Let's tip this baby off now. 

All player stats are conference stats, unless noted. BE stands for Big East. 



Record: 15-5, 5-2
Coach: Mick Cronin 102-82, 1-4 vs Syracuse
Vs Syracuse: 2-6
In Cincinnati: 1-2
Last Meeting: 52-67 January 15, 2011
Last Home Win vs Top 5: Feb 23, 2003 vs 4) Louisville
Last Win vs #3: 1963 vs Illinois
Vs Ranked Teams This Season: 3-1
Home: 9-3
RPI: 90
SOS: 171
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It's Syracuse day. That means it's time to talk to everyone's favorite Syracuse writer named Brian, Orange 44's Brian Harrison. He's great. Tweet him insulting things before the game, during the game and after the game. Here we talk Syracuse, free throw shooting, Chopped, announce teams, and what Brian did in law school. I can smell your interest from here. Questions in bold. 

Don't know if you know this or not, but Syracuse lost for the first time this year on Saturday. Can you give a quick recap?

Notre Dame shot the ball really well. Syracuse got off to a slow start and never could get on a big enough run in the second half to take the lead. Not having Fab Melo in the middle on defense did hurt as well. And Tim Higgins still doesn't know the difference between a block and a charge. Either way, Syracuse was going to lose at some point and everything went right for Notre Dame and not much did for Syracuse.

Fab Melo didn't make the trip. What is Syracuse losing?

A big defensive presence in the middle of the zone. Seven feet cannot be ignored. He also blocks shots. And obviously his offense has improved miles from last season. Really, it’s the defense and the new ability to draw charges.

Kris Joseph is the 'star' player for the second year in a row. How has his game evolved?

He can create his own shot more, using a fade away, and he has also improved his drive and kick ability. Other than that he is just as dynamic of a player now as he was last year and when he came in off the bench and was Sixth Man of the Year. He needs to improve his dribbling though.

Speaking of evolving, Dion Waiters has become the man. What has been key in his step up?

Jim Boeheim. It was simple in that he got Waiters to buy into his role as a key bench player and the first option to come into a game for an instant offensive spark. By simple, I mean it took some convincing, but he is a veteran coach and got a player to not only stay but be productive.

What happened to Scoop Jardine at the foul line? 54%?

I’ve said for years you have no excuse missing free throws when you are a guard. Especially a shooting guard. Now Scoop is a point guard, but either way he should be making at least 80%. Why he’s missing them now... I have no idea.

Syracuse runs at least 8 deep. Is there any combination that you don't trust on the court?

There honestly are no combinations that I don’t trust. I prefer a bigger lineup over the smaller, quick lineup that they sometimes run with Fab out and Christmas or Keita in the middle, but that is just a preference and not as potent of an offensive or rebounding threat as the team could be.

You've been unbelievably accurate picking final scores of Cincinnati/Syracuse games. What's the call for tonight?

This is a tough one. I definitely like Syracuse to win just because I think the pressure of being #1 will be gone and the will just not have as bad of  a night offensively as they did in South Bend. Syracuse has played well against Cincinnati as of late, and they are still playing 8-9 players that can score over the six dependable scorers that Cincy runs. I’m still picking Syracuse because of history and the fact that they will play better offensively in this game than Saturday. I’ll take the Orange by 8.

Bilas/Raftery/Sean are the best announce team going, right?

Easy question. Clearly yes. And they are simply masterful when they get to New York for the Big East Tournament. But they are the reason Big Monday is what it is. And honestly it will be one of the biggest things I will miss when Syracuse heads to the ACC. Mike Patrick needs to just retire.

Could you not lose your shit if you were a contestant on Chopped and they were overly critical of your dish for a very cheap reason and you got chopped over some stupid jerk who's fish was a little raw?

I would keep it cool on camera, but I would be absolutely belligerent outside or in my car after the fact. Those judges are really unpredictable on those shows. But it’s not like we can taste the food so I guess you just have to trust them.

How did you start watching cooking competition shows? I remember I started watching Chopped because 90 episodes in a row came on one day.

I think it honestly started when I was in law school and had BBC America and first was exposed to Gordon Ramsay with Kitchen Nightmares. Then when Hell’s Kitchen started I watched that and it branched out to Top Chef and all the stuff on the food network. Chopped is really solid. I still like all the Ramsay shows. And Restaurant Impossible I really enjoy as of late as well.

Giant thanks to Brian. Ever since I've been doing the blog, he's been a person who supports it. He's always up for anything, including 50,000 word conversations about Hell's Kitchen. He's great. Support him. Thanks again, Brian.  

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The Cincinnati Bearcats took a fall from the second place spot in the Big East standings on Saturday. They hit every branch down on the way to a painful 77-74 loss to West Virginia. It seemed like a lot of people were either quick to blow off the loss and say "you can't win 'em all," or go to the sky is falling lengths. There is a middle in there. The middle is that this loss sucked very much. The good news, no, the great news is that we get the rare opportunity to break it down and move on to another one tonight. Use the pain to fuel the fire. Let's get to the recap. 

 UC came out of the gate rather flat. They missed a lot of shots early. They gave up 10 offensive rebounds in the first 16 minutes of the half. They did a horrible job limiting the West Virginia offense. They did a worse job getting good looks on the offensive end. Just because you are in the pain doesn't make it a good shot. Cincinnati would get down as much as 9 going into the final four minutes with Yancy Gates and Justin Jackson both on the bench with 2 fouls. 

A big momentum changer occurred when Kevin Jones was whistled for his second foul at the 3:52 mark. West Virginia scored 2 points with him out. They got 1 rebound. Cheik Mbodj dominated inside. UC scored in the lane with Mbodj and JaQuon Parker almost at will. 13 made a layup with 6 seconds left in the half to put UC in front. Just like they have done at the end of games, the Bearcats stole the final segment from WVU. 

The second half was Big East basketball. Neither team had a lead bigger than 5. Both teams answered. Both teams got stops. Unfortunately for the Cats, they couldn't close out for the second straight game defensively. Cash put UC up 1 with 1:33 left, then made 2 free throws with 28 seconds left. JaQuon Parker got stuck behind a great screen by Deniz Kilicli, allowing Gary Browne to get a great look at a 3 before Yancy Gates could close out on him. The shot went in. After that, chaos ensued and bone head plays ruled the day. 

UC has the ball for the last shot. Dion Dixon races up the floor. Take a look at this. 

 

That's Dixon driving with a man open on the wing. Instead, he puts up a horrible shot that line drives off the front of the rim. Gotta have your eyes moving, 3. The ensuing rebound saw insanity happen. The ball goes on the floor. Mass confusion happens.

 

There's a tie up on the floor. The game clock stops at 2.1 as soon as people hit the deck. Kevin Jones calls timeout, which West Virginia doesn't have before the officials whistled a tie up. They looked at the replay with a stop watch to determine that the game ended. It was insane. I don't want West Virginia to leave the Big East, but I'll be glad when Morgantown doesn't host conference games. 

Once in overtime, West Virginia scored the first 4 points. Sean Kilpatrick answered with a 3. Then Dion Dixon made a risky inbound from a tough spot on the court. 

 

Nearly stolen by Kilicli. Then Dion did this:



Which turned into a West Virginia layup. Dion is like, what. UC got the points back with a Parker tip. Kilicli got a shot in the paint to put WV up 3 again. SK missed a 3, but for some reason Truck Bryant threw the rebound down the floor, where Cash murdered someone to get the steal with 11 seconds left. It made Bob Huggins do this. 



Once again the ball was in Dixon's hands. 

 

I know Mick probably told him to get a layup if he could. I know he had a lane, but holy shit was Jeremiah Davis wide open nearly the entire time. 

It really seems like I'm killing Dion Dixon. But ya know, I hold him to a high standard. He's a senior. The ball was in his hands. He's got to make plays. He's won games in the past. He had a great game. He just made a couple of bad decisions late that stand out. It's not his fault at all UC lost. I'm just pointing out these plays. He's my best friend. I got your back, Dion. 

 The rebounding Saturday was pretty fantastic. UC gave up 14 rebounds for the game. 2 were deadballs. They cut off the West Virginia offensive board attack. Yancy Gates once again cleaned the glass like it was his job. The man wants to dance. 

The defense was not great. West Virginia missed 13 times in the second half and OT, getting 3 of those misses. The defense only had 5 steals and forced 8 turnovers. First time those have been in single digits in ages. The 5 steals is a season low. Only 6 points off turnovers. 

On top of that, UC was uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball the first half, turning the ball over 7 times. They turned it over 2 times the rest of the game. WV got 14 points off the turnovers. That was a difference maker. 

Before we hit the Bearcats, let's talk about Kevin Jones. Holy hell that dude can play. 26-13, 2 assists, 1 block, 0 turnovers in 41 minutes. He did that on 11-15 shooting. He was double teamed a whole lot. Triple teamed even. Jones got pretty much any look he wanted. Stay healthy. We'll see you in New York. 

 
Justin Jackson scored 4 points kind of early and had a couple of assists in the first half. Once he hit the bench, he didn't do much when he returned. He couldn't stay with Kevin Jones. It wasn't his best game. The Dennis Rodman of the Bearcats had 3 rebounds. I don't know when he turned into someone who wouldn't rebound hard, but he is wearing the collar now. 

Dickie Simpkins is the worst. 

Yancy Gates had another double double, going for 10-13. He was 4-10 from the field. Gates is playing very hard. He's the only one rebounding. He's gotta stay out of foul trouble. We need everything we can get from you, Yancy. 

Cashmere Wright has found his 3 point range again, 3-5. He was 3-9 from 2 though. He finished with a team high 17. He continues to make big baskets for this team. His knee looked to be more bandaged than normal, and I had people ask me about it on twitter.  He had 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. 2 turnovers. He looks like he's getting away from the slump. Let's hope so. 

Dion Dixon had a very solid game. He set a career high with 9 assists. That's what makes him not passing out stand out some. He had 3 boards and 2 steals. He took a lot of shots though, 18. He took way too many 3s with 9. His game is to not shoot 3s. I'm sorry, you aren't good at it. Any more than 5 is a bad thing unless you are going Tony Bobbitt crazy. 12 points, 9 assists is great, some moderation would be better. 

Sean Kilpatick was 4-11, 2-7 from deep with a pair of free throws for his 12 points. He picked up the board game with 5. He was very loose with the ball, getting picked easily twice for layups. He also landed like this 

 

Which has his status for tonight up in the air. He'll play. He's a trooper.

Cheikh Mbodj played some great minutes in the first half. 3-4, 6 points, 5 rebounds. 4 of those rebounds came in the last 3 minutes. He only played during the first half. Baffling decision by Mick. 

 

JaQuon Parker off the bench is a blessing. He gave 7 points in the first half when the team needed a boost. He made a huge put back in OT. He gave 26 minutes of 9 point, 4 rebound basketball. Mick has to figure out a way that Parker doesn't end up on the block against a power forward though. Everyone goes right at him and he can't defend. Get him on the wing or something. 

Jeremiah Davis with 2 points, 2 boards, 1 assist. Professional minutes.  

We've lived this one. Still 15-5, 5-2. Beat Syracuse. 

Browne photo from timeswv.com. Jones photo from wvgatzette.com. Mbodj picture from GoBearcats.com. Other photos from espn3.com.
Box score from Go Bearcats. 
 

Official Basketball Box Score
Cincinnati vs West Virginia
1/21/12 3:00 p.m at WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, W.Va.


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VISITORS: Cincinnati 15-5/5-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 Jackson, Justin..... f  3-5    0-0    0-0    2  1  3   4   6  3  0  0  0  25
34 Gates, Yancy........ f  4-10   0-0    2-4    4  9 13   3  10  0  1  1  0  35
01 Wright, Cashmere.... g  6-14   3-5    2-2    2  5  7   1  17  4  2  1  2  39
03 Dixon, Dion......... g  5-18   2-9    0-0    2  1  3   1  12  9  2  0  2  43
23 Kilpatrick, Sean.... g  4-11   2-7    2-3    1  4  5   0  12  1  3  0  0  36
00 Davis III, Jeremiah.    1-3    0-1    0-1    0  2  2   2   2  1  0  0  0  11
13 Mbodj, Cheikh.......    3-4    0-0    0-0    1  4  5   2   6  0  0  0  0  10
44 Parker, Jaquon......    3-7    0-1    3-5    2  2  4   3   9  0  1  0  1  26
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   29-72   7-23   9-15  14 29 43  16  74 18  9  2  5 225


TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3%   2nd Half: 14-32 43.8%   OT:  2-10 20.0%   Game: 40.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-9  22.2%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   OT:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 30.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-8  62.5%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   OT:  0-0   0.0%   Game: 60.0%    3



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HOME TEAM: West Virginia 15-5/5-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 JONES, Kevin........ f 11-15   2-2    2-2    2 11 13   2  26  2  0  1  0  41
13 KILICLI, Deniz...... f  6-11   0-0    1-2    3  4  7   1  13  5  3  0  0  38
55 MILES, Keaton....... f  0-1    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   0  5  1  2  1  12
04 HINDS, Jabarie...... g  4-8    2-5    2-3    0  5  5   4  12  4  2  0  3  40-
25 BRYANT, Darryl...... g  2-16   0-8    2-2    1  1  2   1   6  3  2  0  0  44
12 BROWN, Aaron........    2-9    1-5    0-0    1  3  4   1   5  0  0  0  1  14
14 BROWNE, Gary........    5-10   1-3    2-3    4  5  9   2  13  0  0  0  2  28
34 NOREEN, Kevin.......    1-1    0-0    0-1    1  0  1   3   2  0  0  0  0   8
   TEAM................                         2  1  3
   Totals..............   31-71   6-23   9-13  14 32 46  14  77 19  8  3  7 225


TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-40 32.5%   2nd Half: 16-26 61.5%   OT:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 43.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-12 16.7%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   OT:  0-1   0.0%   Game: 26.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  4-5  80.0%   2nd Half:  1-3  33.3%   OT:  4-5  80.0%   Game: 69.2%    1



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Officials: John Cahill, Bryan Kersey, Gary Prager
Technical fouls: Cincinnati-None. West Virginia-None.
Attendance: 14070
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   OT   Total
Cincinnati....................   33   36    5  -   74
West Virginia.................   32   37    8  -   77
id-1040161

Points in the paint-CIN 42,WVU 40. Points off turnovers-CIN 6,WVU 14.
2nd chance points-CIN 17,WVU 11. Fast break points-CIN 4,WVU 6.
Bench points-CIN 17,WVU 20. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-12 times.
Last FG-CIN OT-00:59, WVU OT-00:31.
Largest lead-CIN by 5 2nd-05:41, WVU by 9 1st-04:58.

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