Bearcats Rally Comes Up Short

The St John's Red Storm returned the favor against the Bearcats this afternoon, by coming into Cincinnati and pulling out a close win late. The Bearcats fall to 19-6, 6-6, while St John's is now 15-9, 7-5. This one hurts. The Bearcats held the Johnnies to 0 field goals the last 9 minutes, made a 16-1 run to take the lead, but couldn't hold on. Rashad Bishop helped drag the Bearcats back into it, but had a crucial lane violation when Malik Boothe missed the front end of a 1-1. Boothe ended up making both free throws to put St John's back in front for good. Bishop also uncharacteristically missed 1 of 2 twice at the line. One time with UC down 1, the second with UC up 3. Those two points would have been big. The Bearcats had a chance to take the lead late, but St John's went into a tight zone that forced Bishop to take a runner as the shot clock was running out. Sean Kilpatrick had a chance for the win at the buzzer, but missed from a step inside halfcourt. 

This was a crucial game for the Bearcats. This was a very winnable game. They just couldn't get it done. Why do the losses to St John's hurt so much? Cue the sad panda.