Cincinnati 74 South Florida 68

Last night, Cincinnati hosted South Florida. I didn't get the chance to see the game happen live, but thanks to the replay on FSN, I did get to see the game at midnight. That means a third live blogging of the game as I watch it later than everyone else. I know you all love when I do that. This letter from Margot in New York says "Hey Bearcats Blog, you are so awesome. I love when you live blog the games as you watch them hours later. That's sexy in a non-physical way." Thanks Margot, I appreciate the good words. Let's get to the recap that one girl loves. And by the way, there is no ring on this finger ladies. Call me. All photos thanks to the Enquirer. 

Cash, Dixon, Gates, Thomas and Bishop are the starters. Dixon survived the great health scare of 2011 when he was sick, but managed to play. Let's see how well. And there is a clock stoppage. Great fun. Anyway, let's get to the game. Bishop in the lane and scores the first basket of the game. Nice look by Bishop. He read the blog. Not really. USF doing a lot of passing and the shot clock is to 3 as Famous bricks a 3. Rebound USF, Famous misses inside. Bishop tries a 3 and it's no good. Gates can't get the rebound, to the other way. Gilchrist misses a quick three. Long jumper for Dion Dixon, my best friend. His foot was on the line, bummer. Inside is Robertson for the first USF bucket. Cash no good on a corner 3, Famous boards. USF plays really slow. They nearly lost the ball, Noriega misses a 3. Dixon takes it into the lane and is foul by Noriega. He hits 1 of 2. Robertson misses another 3. Lots of attempts by USF. Thomas misses a 3, Gates tips the rebound and now it's a tie up, arrow to USF. No touches inside. Gilchrist isos on Thomas, drawing a foul on his drive to the basket. Not a shooting foul. JAWANZA scores off the glass for USF. His name is in all caps tonight. Gates had a man posted but didn't get the ball. Cash takes a tough drive to the rim, but his shot misses. Gates fumbles the rebound out of bounds. Under 16, UC 5-4.

So that segment wasn't very fun. UC token pressure. Crater turns the ball over as he crosses the timeline. First turnover. Some fan let out a weird yell, causing USF to go zone. The ball goes into Gates, who is fouled by Gilchrist. Open 3 look for Cash off the rebound no good, rebound by Wilks. In to Gates, who's doubled. Cash drives, dishes to Wilks, blocked by JAWANZA. Poland gets the ball running to the rim, but gets too far under and throws it away. UC break ends with Wilks getting fouled on a lay up. Wilks drills them both. Bulls break the press, Noriega misses a 3, Bishop boards. Larry Davis 3 way off for UC, and we are back to the USF end. Anderson fakes to get past Wilks. Anderson lay up attempt is blocked. No, there is a foul. It looked like all ball. Replay says, all ball. Anderson is a K-State transfer. He nailed them both at the line. 7-6. UC working around the USF match up zone. Gates takes his man off the dribble for a lay up. Nice. USF breaks the UC press, here comes JAWANZA from the right wing for a dunk. Dixon with an open 3 missed. Of course it was. USF takes it to 25 before getting into their offense. Poland misses a 3. Davis fakes a 3, drives, kicks to Gates at the left elbow, miss. USF the other way. Pass tipped by Wilks and UC has it. Davis drives and throws back to Bishop, who steps in and misses. Famous inside no good, Anderson rebounds and scores. USF takes a 10-9 lead. 30 second timeout by Cronin. Kilpatrick checks in, and will be your inbounder. JaQuon Parker also in the game. So is Biggie. Wilks misses a 3. Rebound Kilpatrick. To Davis, back to Sean for 3, no good. Rebound out of bounds. 11:20, USF 10-9.

Now TV skips ahead to the under 4 timeout. Why not cut off halftime FSN? Assholes. Now I have to fire up ESPN3 for this missing segment of the game. They should have cut out the shitty parts that just happened. Here we go. Gilchrist looked like he was fouled on a look inside, no call. The wildebeest checked in. UC goes in to Biggie, who scores. Good job Biggie. Gilchrist nails a jumper in his face on the other end. Bad job Biggie. Inside to Jackson under the basket, he fakes like he's gonna pass out, and goes up and under. Nice move. Tough runner in the lane by Dorty for 3. On the other end, Kilpatrick drills a 3. And Jackson gets a steal on the press. Poland steals it back from Jackson. JAWANZA pull up. I wish he came to UC. Tied at 16. Parker with a stutter step move to the basket, and he's fouled as he drives. Parker misses the first. Gates checks in for Biggie, who gets a nice hand. Davis also comes out. Parker gets a shooter's roll, and comes out for Bishop. Jackson deflects the inbounds pass and goes flying over the first row. That's why he's the wildebeest. USF gets the ball in this time, but the pressure gets a throwaway. That's 5 on USF. Jackson turns the ball over again. Famous fouled on a break. It's 17-16 with 7:44 on the clock, but USF going to the line. 

Oliva Munn is on Letterman right now. I'm not sure how hot she is. I mean she's hot, but is she as hot as everyone makes you believe? I'm gonna say no. And, she can't act. And, she's kind of annoying. Famous hits both free throws to give USF the lead. USF going 2-3 zone. Bishop drives baseline, but loses the ball. Gates picks up a cheap foul, and immediately walks to the bench. Was that 2? The announcers say 1. That's an unsportsman like technical. No wonder Gates went to the bench. Now they are saying it's on Bishop, who barked at the refs after he thought he was fouled. Noriega hits both tech free throws. The tech was on Bishop. Gotta be better than that Rashad. Biggest USF lead at 3. Near throw away by the Bulls, but they recover. There was no foul on Gates by the way, but Cash gets a nickel dimer with 10 on the shot clock. Crater drills a 3, the lead is 23-17. The crowd starts to get loud. 9-1 run. The Cats go inside to Thomas, who is fouled before he makes a hook. Wenzel says USF is doing a great job of fouling early. Ok dude. Kilpatrick with a nice drive on the inbound play. He's got 5. Bulls go in to Gilchrist, who abuses Gates with a sick spin move. Kilpatrick drives and dishes to Gates for a monster slam. Timeout USF. 25-21. USF breaks man to man. Kilpatrick goes for a steal, and knocks the ball out of bounds. He was shoved down, but after the whistle. USF misses, Kilpatrick other end for a lay up. Robertson doubled, and throws a pass Cash almost steals, but causes a USF travel. Cash for 3. UC back in front with a 9-2 run. Foul on the floor, and it's on Thomas. Gilchrist misses a quick 3. Other end, Kilpatrick hits a long 3. He's on fire. Crater with a transition lay up for USF. Again, why cut out this part FSN? The entertaining parts? Dixon drives, and the ball is knocked out by USF. 3:35 to go in the half, 29-27 UC. 


Back to the tv we go. Thank god for ESPN3 though, it's a great thing. Kudos ESPN. Kilpatrick is 4-5 for 10 points in only 8 minutes. I think I was off a game for the Sean Kilpatrick game. Kilpatrick takes Poland to the bucket, drawing a foul. UC started off 3-13, and are 8-10. Nice turnaround. Kilpatrick hits them both. USF inbound pass deflected by Wilks, Dixon picks it up for a layup. UC with more pressure, but USF able to get it across. Gilchrist miss inside, but Robertson rebounds and scores. Dixon's pass inside to Gates is tipped and stolen by Anderson. In to Gilchrist, hold ball out of a double team. UC has the arrow. Wilks with a nice backdoor pass to SK, but he missed. Roberston way off on a 3. Cash misses a 3, but Dixon tips the rebound to himself, and on the right wing hits a 3. He made one! Robertson quick up the floor, drops for Gilchrist, who is fouled by Gates. Gus hits 1 of 2, but USF has the rebound, ball on the floor, Cash comes away with it. Kilpatrick on the UC end goes to the rim and is fouled by Gilchrist. That's 2 on him. Only a 1-1. He misses. Famous doubled, out to 10, who gets it in to Anderson who scores down low. 36-32. Anderson has 6. Kilpatick hands to Dixon, who starts to the right elbow when he's bumped by Robertson. That's Robertson's 3rd. Dixon also shooting a 1-1. He makes and because he is my best friend, makes again. He's got 6 rebounds. He missed the second. I jinxed him. Jackson denies a post pass, and Cash comes away with the ball. Cash will hold for the last shot. They tried to run a play for Kilpatrick, but he was denied all the way. Pass down to Dixon, who can't get a shot off before the shot clock runs out. Crater from around halfcourt no good. 12 from Kilpatrick off the bench leads UC into the locker room, with a 37-32 lead. UC closed on a 14-7 run. 


No shit, they cut out parts of the game to show the entire halftime show. What the mother fuck FSN? Fuck you. That's fucking stupid. Jerks. USF with the ball to start the second half. Gilchrist gets the ball with 14 on the shot clock, and is quickly fouled by Thomas. That's 3, Wilks in. Thanks for showing up again Ibby. UC with tough defense as USF tries to get into their offense. JAWANZA with a turnaround jumper. USF had 2 assists the first half. Dixon top of the key 3 no good, but Bishop rebounds and takes a step in to score. Wild shot by 3, UC break. Dixon fakes the ball outside, but blows a lay up. You can thank Famous for that. Poland with a bad pass inside denied by Wilks. 10 USF turnovers. Whistle on Poland, who was trying to guard Cash. Gates nails a fade away. Only 6 for Gates. The pressure broken, Gilchrist to Famous for a dunk. UC slow to get back. Cash with the ball at the top of the key, doesn't use a Gates screen, drives and is fouled as he misses a lay up. Cash was 7-16 at the stripe to start the season, since he's been 83%. To improve that, he makes both. Lead back to 7. Near 10 seconds. Famous goes right past Gates for a lay up. Gates didn't want to foul. UC breaks the USF zone with a nice pass to Jackson, who is fouled by Famous. Jackson hits 1 of 2. On the press, Bishop knocks the ball out of bounds. It's 44-38. Crater drives on Cash, but when he tries to stop, he travels. That's 2 forced travels by Cash. Gates gets the ball on the left block. He tries a wild shot that doesn't touch anything, but goes out off USF. That's the under 16, with a 44-38 game. 

We come back with Wenzel wondering why Kilpatrick is on the bench. I do too. Cash's pass batted back in his face. They get the ball in to Dixon, who picks up his dribble. Bishop comes to save him, and is fouled. UC gets the ball in easy this time. Gates doubled, but steps back and then drives to the middle of the lane and misses. Out on Jackson. USF breaks the press. Robertson takes a horrible pull up from the elbow. UC to the other end. Let's get a bucket already. Shot clock to 10, Bishop settles for a 3. Guess what, he missed. UC double teams Gilchrist, but not Anderson, who was under the basket and is fouled. That's 3 on someone. 4 subs for UC. Davis, SK, Wilks and Thomas. Cash the only starter out there. Cash wants an iso, kicks back to Wilks. 3 faked, drive ends with a crazy shot, loose ball, and a foul on JAWANZA for holding Wilks. Wilks went after that ball like a mad man. That's 4 on Poland. That one was dumb. UC still hasn't scored. Long Wilks jumper goes. In my face. Cash with a bump in the backcourt. 13:23 to go. Shot clock to 10 for USF. UC doubles Robertson, who misses. Quick to the other end. Open 3 from the left wing for Davis. That brings on a Stan Heath timeout, the lead is 10. USF gets the ball to Gilchrist, the double comes. He's fouled by probably Wilks. Bad D by Wilks. Gus hits both. He hasn't done much tonight. Kilpatrick a 3 from Cash. Nice screen by Wilks. Press gets a near trap, pass kicked by Davis. 15 for Kilpatrick tonight. He's a stud. Noriega drills a 3. I think that's his first one. Back to 8 goes the lead. Cash drives baseline on the USF zone, but his lay up won't fall. Fitzpatrick under the bucket for USF, and that's a foul on Wilks. Under 12, UC up by 8. 

Fitzy drills both out of the timeout, it's 52-46. Foul inside on Noriega as he tries to guard Dixon. Nice pass to Kilpatrick, but his shot is blocked by Fitzpatrick. That was nice. Pass inside is tipped out by USF. Dixon top of the key, pass to Kilpatrick on the right elbow and a miss. Gilchrist skied high for the rebound. Big possession. Noriega airballs one in the corner, put back no. Other end, Kilpatrick in the corner! Gilrchrist short on a jumper from the baseline, gets his own rebound, and he travels as he tries to go inside. That Kilpatrick 3 was huge. Dixon running the point. Wilks down to Gates, body fake draws a foul on Famous. Yancy hits 1 to make it a 10 point game. Famous scores a jumper on the press break. UC playing a little slow. Gates on the left elbow, starts inside, and there's another foul. Gates missed them both. Ugh. JAWANZA pull up short, but Robertson gets the board. Anderson drives on Gates, step through for a lay up. 56-50. Gates tries a between the legs dribble at the top of the key and loses the ball. Shit. USF breakaway lay up. Timeout UC. That was stupid by Gates. C'mon son. Cash back in for UC. Dribbles out top. Pass to Davis, corner to SK, back to Davis, quick to Wilks at the elbow, and he's fouled as he misses a jumper. That was a stupid foul. You let Wilks take that shot every day. Under 8.

7:14 on the clock as Wilks steps to the line. That foul was even stupider because it was by JAWANZA, and that was his 5th. Huge blow for USF. Wilks drills both free throws. USF 5-14 this half, UC 6-15. Not pretty. UC 7-17 from 3. That's good. Gilchrist 1 on 1 with Wilks, takes a bad shot. USF rebounds. Shot no good. UC takes it away. USF didn't get good shots that possession. Davis off on a 3. Foul inside on Thomas. Great job Ibby. He's played like 5 minutes. 0 points, 2 rebounds. Way to bounce back. Gilchrist gets the inbound, and draws a foul on Wilks. He's heading to the line. Gus hits them both. 4 point game. He's got 9. Cash drives to the right elbow, jump pass to Wilks for an easy bucket. Nice play by Cash. Gilchrist has the ball poked out by Gates, who was coming on the double. Wilks shoots a 3 for some reason, and misses. Gilchrist misses a long jumper, Anderson with a rebounding foul. Wilks was fouled, and makes them both again. Nice job. Steal by Davis, Robertson steals it right back. Wilks fouls Anderson inside as Anderson put up a shot. Mr Anderson hits them both. 6 point game again. Cash drives, Noriega flops for a charge. Bullshit chant by the crowd is correct. Noriega 3 short. Dixon cherry picking, spin move around a defender for a lay up. USF goes right back inside to Famous, and that's another foul on Wilks. That was a nice outlet by Kilpatrick. There's the under 4 with 3:45 to go, UC up 64-56. 


Famous at the line for 2 big ones. He's a 73% shooter. He hit the first, but missed the second. 2-3 zone. Dixon open, steps into a 3 but misses. USF with a high pass into a triple teamed Famous. Gates ties him up, UC ball. A bucket here is huge. Wilks gets the ball on the elbow, fakes, drives and is fouled by Gilchrist. Darnell Wilks and his bald spot hit them both. He's been money at the line. Crater drives and is fouled by Cash. He hits them both. 2:41 to go, UC up 7. UC breaks a USF press. Cash fouled trying to pass out of a trap. Cash hits 1 of 2, but Crater loses the ball. Stan Heath was not happy. Gates has a pass tipped, but Cash recovers. UC running some clock. Gates in the post, double coming, and he's fouled. Gates hits them both. 10 point game with 2 minutes left. Gilchrist gets the ball on the elbow from Anderson, and he travels. USF unraveling as we close. UC easily breaks the press. A better pass by Wilks could have been a dunk, instead Cash stopped at halfcourt. Cash drives as the shot clock comes to a close, but misses. Heath calls a timeout with 1:12 left. For some reason, they let 10 seconds off the clock first. Noriega drills a 3 off the inbound. Nice play. Another USF timeout. Inbound to Cash, who is fouled. Cash drills them both. Gilchrist doubled in the corner, tries to go inside, but Gates jumps the pass and the ball goes off Famous. Kinda looked like a foul. UC up the floor, easily breaking the press. Cash fouled again. UC was 11-19 to start the game at the stripe, but are now 12-13 because Wilks and Cash haven't missed. Make that 13-14. Crater misses a lay up, but Gilchrist a dunkback. Cash fouled with 27.8 to go. Come on man. Cash hits one of two. Ugh, Jackson fouls a USF player. Anderson hits them both. UC breaks pressure. USF won't foul. That takes us to the final, 74-66. 

Cincinnati shot 21-48, 43.8%, 7-20 from 3, a good 25-35 at the free throw line. They had 24 rebounds, 6 offensive, with 10 steals and 1 block. UC had 14 assists to 21 baskets and 7 turnovers. Sean Kilpatrick led the way with 18 points on 6-10 shooting. He was the man tonight. I was 1 game early on my 'it's going to be a Sean Kilpatrick game' prediction. That's why I don't make the big bucks. And why no one reads this. Darnell Wilks had 12 points, 8-8 at the free throw line, and played great defense, resulting in 4 steals. Cash Wright had 11 on 1-7 shooting, 8-10 at the stripe, with 5 assists, Dion Dixon, my best friend, 11-6, Yancy Gates was a non-factor with 9-3-3 steals, Rashad Bishop 4, Justin Jackson 3-2 steals-1 block, Larry Davis 3, Biggie McClain 2, and JaQuon Parker 1.

South Florida was 21-46, 45.7%, 3-11 from deep, and a great 21-24 at the stripe. USF got 30 rebounds, 8 offensive, with 5 steals and 3 blocks. The Bulls had 8 assists on 21 shots, and 18 turnovers. That's what really cost them tonight. Ron Anderson Jr paced the scoring with 13-7, Gus Gilchrist had 11-7-4 assists on 3-11 shooting, JAWANZA Poland 10, Jarrid Famous 9-5, Shaun Noriega 8, Anthony Crater 7-3 assists, Hugh Robertson 4-6, LaVonte Dority 2,  and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick 2. 

There were a lot of things Cincinnati did pretty well tonight. The defense was pretty good. They forced a lot of key turnovers. The Bulls helped UC with at least 4 unforced errors. Crater losing the ball after the Cash miss sticks out. The thing that really hurt South Florida was the lack of a second scoring option. Anderson Jr had a very nice game yes, but tonight seems to be his ceiling. When Gilchrist couldn't get anything to fall, and JAWANZA went out of the game, they were pretty much sunk on offense. They cashed in at the line though. It seemed everyone hit both. Free throw shooting by UC helped keep them in the game as well, as UC had 8 early missed free throws. Let's get more specific, and do 3 positives and 3 negatives because it's 2:30 and daddy wants to go to bed. 

Positives

• When you start with positives from this game, you start with Sean Kilpatrick. SK23 came off the bench on fire. He pulled UC back into the lead, and did a great job of keeping them there. I would have liked to have seen him get more minutes in the second half because his play deserved it, but Sean probably won't complain, so neither will I. 
• Cashmere Wright has really turned himself around at the free throw line. He was BRUTAL to start the season, yes in all caps, but has come through to being the best free throw shooter on the team. Every time he steps to the line, I expect both to go in.  
• Darnell Wilks really played well off the bench. He can be flighty at times, but he brought the intensity needed tonight. He played strong defense against the bigs, and he was money from the stripe. He played the 4th most minutes on the team tonight, and he earned all of them.