.PNG&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Throwback Thursday: Cincinnati vs East Tennessee State March 19, 2004")
UC at MSG
Tonight the Cincinnati Bearcats play at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Whether in the Big East tournament or games against St John's, the Bearcats have a had a rough, rough history in the building. Let's take a look back at all of them.
March 8, 2006
Big East Tournament
Syracuse 74 Cincinnati 73
This was an 8-9 matchup in the first round of the BET. The Bearcats and Orange were thought to be in a play in game for an NCAA tournament bid. Syracuse pulled away to a 9 point lead 13 minutes into the game, but Eric Hicks and Jihad Muhammad helped cut the lead to 2. Gerry McNamara made a 3 late in the half to put the Orange up 39-34.
Syracuse put an 11-0 run on Cincinnati right after the break to go up 14. UC spent the next few minutes down double digits. Chadd Moore, Eric Hicks and James White chipped the lead down to 5 at the 10 minute mark. Things were nip tuck until the 3:39 mark, when Devan Downey got a steal and a layup to put UC in front. UC answered a layup with a White 3 to go up 2. Darryl Watkins had a dunk to tie the score. A Terrence Roberts free throw put the Orange up 1 with 49 seconds left. James White nailed a jumper with 10 seconds left to put UC up 1. Downey swiped a steal with 6 seconds left. He made 1 of 2 to put UC up 2. UC had a foul to give and did so with 3 seconds left. Then Gerry McNamara made a running 3 because he's son of a bitch. UC went to the NIT.
(sorry about picture quality, but I took a snap shot on youtube video)
March 12, 2008
Big East Tournament
Pittsburgh 70 Cincinnati 64
This was a 7-10 game, with the Panthers being the higher seed. Pitt jumped on the Cats 11-4. UC chipped away until they tied the score at 16 on a Jamual Warren jumper. It didn't last long as Pitt jumped right back up 6. That's a lead they would take into intermission.
Pitt jumped on UC again to start the second half. They buitl the lead to 10 in the first 5 minutes. Just like the first half, UC chipped away at the Panther lead. Deonta Vaughn made a couple of 3 pointers and suddenly it was a 2 point game with 7 minutes left. Pitt used free throws to get back up 7. After a long period of neither team scoring, Levance Fields dropped a pair of freebies with 1:36 left to make it 66-57. UC rallied. Vaughn made a layup with a foul. Ronald Ramon missed a pair of free throws. John Williamson got to the line and made 2. Fields could only make 1 of 2. Vaughn was able to draw a foul and make both. With 41 seconds left, it was a 3 point game. Fields made only 1 of 2 again. Vaughn went hard to the basket, but was blocked by Sam Young. Fields hit 1 of 2 before Vaughn missed a 3. I remember the Vaughn layup being a terrible miss, but I'm not sure.
Wow those uniforms were awful.
March 10, 2009
Big East Touranment
DePaul 67 Cincinnati 57
This was under the new Big East Tournament rules that are used to this day. The Bearcats were a 9 seed, DePaul a 16. UC had collapsed a lot down the stretch. They needed to win games in New York City to get a chance for an NCAA bid. Neither team played very well to start. It was just 16-16 11 minutes into the game. They teams stayed close until Darnell Wilks hit a 3 with 50 seconds to go in the half to put UC up 2.
The Cats came out hot out of the locker room. Deonta Vaughn made 2 layups and assisted Mike Williams on a 3 to put UC up 7. DePaul cut the lead to 5. It stayed around 4 until the 12 minute mark, when Jeremiah Kelly dropped a trey to tie the game at 41. DePaul went on a 12-2 run to take a 10 point lead at the 6 minute mark. UC quickly cut the lead in half with a Yancy Gates dunk and a Vaughn 3. Dar Tucker hit a pair of freebies to put the Blue Demons back up 7. UC then missed 3 shots on one possession before Mac Koshwal got a dunk. DePaul was able to build the lead as high as 12 the final 2 minutes in what was a crushing loss for the Bearcats. They made no post season tournament. DePaul didn't win a Big East game all season long until that point. They ended up losing to Providence in the next round. The lasting image I have of this one is at some point Deonta Vaughn was sitting on the baseline really pissed off. Don't know what time of game it was, but I remember that image.
The image was not that ball shot.
January 13, 2010
Regular Season
St John's 52 Cincinnati 50
UC came into this game with an 11-5 record and were 2-2 in the Big East. In a season that would be known of it's missed opportunities, this one ranks right up there at the top of the list. UC was following a bad loss to Seton Hall and were taking on a team that didn't have a conference win up to this point. It was a decent St John's team, but not much more than that. The Bearcats came out with a 6-0 start. They held a 2-6 point lead the first 10 minutes of the half, although the score at the 10 minute mark was 13-11. St John's tied the game at the 7 minute mark and took the lead a minute later on a DJ Kennedy 3. The Red Storm got up as much as 5 before UC tied to the score and took the lead on JaQuon Parker free throws. UC rode that lead 3 minutes into the locker room. That half had bad offense.
St John's took the lead to start the half, but UC managed to get it back and go up 4 thanks to a Lance Stephenson layup. St John's took the lead back on a pair of Dwight Hardy triples. From the 15 minute mark to the 7 minute mark UC outscored St John's 7-4 to take a thrilling 3 point lead. St John's would take a 2 poing lead at the 5:34 mark on another Hardy 3. UC wrestled the lead back with 3 minutes to go on a Rashad Bishop steal and score. The last UC bucket came with 1:29 left as Steve Toyloy assisted Yancy Gates on a layup. That made it 50-47. Kennedy missed a 3. UC ran the clock down to 19 seconds before Dion Dixon, in our earlier best friend stages, had a shot blocked by Paris Horner. Justin Brownlee made 1 free throw with 15 seconds left. All UC had to do was get the ball in and go to the line. Easy right? Wrong. For some reason Rashad Bishop threw the ball the length of the court and it was stolen by Hardy. Bishop compounded his error by fouling. Hardy made both. Mick Cronin called a questionable timeout after the first free throw. It was questionable because UC had trouble getting the ball in. Stephenson threw ANOTHER inbound pass away to Hardy. Dixon fouled him. Hardy made both. Vaughn ran down and missed a 3. This loss was so horrible it made me do a list of the 25 worst UC losses, part 1, 2. This was number 10.
March 9, 2010
Big East Tournament
Cincinnati 69 Rutgers 68
This was a first round tournament night game. I don't know what the seeds were because they aren't in the stat sheet box score. Anyway. UC and Rutgers started off coooooooold. It took 8 minutes before Rutgers made a 3 to put them in double digits. They led 12-6. UC joined them in the double digit club at the 11 minute mark. Shots finally started to fall for both teams as the half progressed. UC had a 31-29 lead for 2:28 seconds, but Hamady Ndiaye got a dunk to tie and Mike Coburn made a free throw with 1 second left to give Rutgers the lead.
The teams swapped the lead for the first few minutes of the second half. Then Rutgers pulled ahead by 5 at the 12 minute mark. The Bearcats caught up with a Lance Stephenson layup, a Yancy Gates layup, a Stephenson jumper and a Stephenson traditional 3 point play. UC would extend the lead to 8 by the 3:31 mark. The Scarlet Knights crept back. A free throw and a layup cut the lead in half. Deonta Vaughn put UC up 6 with 36 seconds left after making a pair of free throws. JaQuon Parker fouled Mike Coburn, who made both. Then Vaughn committed an offensive foul which got Rutgers 2 more free throws. Vaughn got fouled with 23 seconds left. He made 1 of 2. With 16 seconds left, current Florida Gator Mike Rosario buried a 3 to tie the game. Lance Stephenson, just like he did earlier in the season against Connecticut, had the ball in his hands and drove to the basket. He drew a foul with 2 seconds left. He buried the first before (maybe) intentionally missing the second. UC got their first win in the building in Big East play.
March 10, 2010
Big East Tournament
Cincinnati 69 Louisville 66
A year to the day of the crushing loss to DePaul, Cincinnati took the floor against the Louisville Cardinals. They did not get off to a very good start. The Cards jumped out 5-0 and rode the lead the entire first half. UC cut the score to 11-10, but missed a handful of shots that would have put them up front. Peyton Siva assisted Reggie Delk for 3, Terrence Jennings for a dunk, Preston! Knowles a 3, Delk for a layup and Delk for a 3 to put Louisville up 9. Delk drilled another 3 to put Louisville up 10. Louisville got up 12 a couple times late in the half, but UC closed the lead to 9 at the break.
UC scored first to start the second half, but the Cards ran the lead up to 12. UC answered with a Deonta Vaughn 3, a pair of Gates layups, 2 Gates free throws and another Gates bucket to get within 1. Lance Stephenson completed the comeback at the 13 minute mark with a layup. They erased a 12 point lead in 4:30. UC took the lead at the 9:40 mark when JaQuon Parker put back a Lance Stephenson miss. The Bearcats saw the Cards tie the score at 53. Cashmere Wright scored a layup, Parker got a steal and assisted on a Stephenson dunk. Then Parker made the play of his career I still remember. Ibrahima Thomas missed a 3 from the left corner. Parker ripped the rebound away from Kyle Kuric, scored a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw to put UC up 60-53. The Cardinals trimmed the lead to 3 with 3:25 left. UC had a long possession, a minute long, end with a Knowles steal into a Sosa layup. Parker hit a free throw to put UC up 2. Louisville missed a couple of chances to tie or take the lead before Stephenson made 2 freebies with 29 seconds left. With UC up 4, Stephenson could have iced it, but missed both foul shots. Reggie Delk drilled a 3 with 10 seconds left. Vaughn hit a pair of free throws, then stripped Sosa as Edgar went up for the game tying 3. JaQuon Parker had 7 offensive rebounds. It was a huge win. UC's best at MSG.
March 11, 2010
Big East Tournament
West Virginia 54 Cincinnati 51
UC had a script to follow in the Big East tournament and that script read "Start slowly." UC did just that as they fell behind West Virginia 7-1. They were down 18-4 at the 11 minute mark. The Bearcats finally hit double digits with 6:44 left in the half. They locked the Mountaineers up at 18 for a long time. UC got it down to 18-13, fell down 21-13 then ran off 7 straight to get within 1. West Virginia hit a shot with 49 seconds left to go up 3, but Larry Davis drilled a 3 to tie. With 2 seconds left in the half, Jonnie West banked in a 3 to put WV up by a bucket. It was annoying.
UC started slowly again in the second half, scoring 2 points the first 6 minutes. The Mountaineers put up 8 in that time to go up 7. The lead hung around that point until the 11 minute mark. Yancy Gates made a layup and Lance Stephenson netted free throws to get UC within 2. WV got it back up to 7 thanks to a Da'Sean Butler steal and layup, followed by UC missing 3 layups of their own befoer Devin Ebanks made a layup. The lead would get to 9. UC had it at 7 with 4 minutes left. They made a run. Lance Stephenson scored a layup, then assisted Deonta Vaughn on a 3. Darnell Wilks tied the score on a put back with 2:47 left. Kevin Jones put WV up 3. Stephenson hit a free throw to make it 1, then Jones made another layup with 1:10 left. Lance dropped a 3 with 42 seconds left to tie the score at 51. Devin Ebanks missed a layup with 6 seconds left. The ball went out to UC. For some reason Dion Dixon entered the game. He dribbled the ball off his foot with 2 seconds left in front of the UC bench. The inbound went to Butler, who banked in a 3 over Stephenson. Heartbreak city.
March 9, 2011
Big East Tournament
Cincinnati 87 South Florida 61
South Florida was the 15 seed for this Big East tournament game. They made a wild comeback and beat a fading Villanova team in wild fashion. They were big underdogs to the 6 seed Bearcats. And UC went right to work on them going up 8-0. The Bearcats kept the lead around 7-9 the first 12 minutes of the game. USF would chop the lead to 4 to 3 to 2 before the Bearcats got a tip in by Sean Kilpatrick and back to back 3s by Dion Dixon. JAWANZA Poland scored a put back to get the halftime lead to 8.
UC ran the lead to 12 after the break on layups by Dixon and Yancy Gates. Free throws built the lead to 14 at the 14 minute mark. Dixon hit a 3, Kilpatrick made a layup and Darnell Wilks hit free throws to make it a 19 point game with 12 minutes left. The closest USF would get would be 13. Yancy Gates made a couple of free throws, a dunk and a put back to squash that nonsense. UC added on 7 more to the lead before the final margin of 26. USF had run out of gas. UC scored 55 second half points on 15-23 shooting and made 23-26 free throws. Yancy Gates had 25 and Dion Dixon, best friend, had 21.
March 10, 2011
Big East Tournament
Notre Dame 89 Cincinnati 51
Notre Dame was the 2 seed in the Big East. They did to UC what UC did to USF. That included jumping out 11-3. UC slowed the Irish down to get within 5, but ND put it up to 10. The lead got to 12 with 6 minutes to go in the half on a Carelton Scott 3. UC had a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 5, but ND had an answer every time. Scott made another 3 to put the Irish up 10 to close the half.
The Irish went up 13 quickly in the second half. Dion Dixon got the lead to 10 at the 18:32 mark. The lead stayed at 10 until 16:45 when Rashad Bishop made a layup. ND got a Tim Abromaitis layup, a Ben Hansbrough layup, a Scott Martin 2, a Hansbrough 3 and a Scott 2 to get up 19 with 14 minutes left. They pushed the lead over 20 on a Martin dunk with 12:29 left. The lead would never get under 22. Cincinnati scored their 51st point at the 7:25 mark. As you can see, they didn't score again. The last 14 minutes, UC scored 10 points. Notre Dame scored 29. That's a lot when you are already up 17. It was a horrible effort in a horrible game. UC was 7-26 the second half. ND was 18-28.
All photo credit goes to the AP. Probably.
March 8, 2006
Big East Tournament
Syracuse 74 Cincinnati 73
This was an 8-9 matchup in the first round of the BET. The Bearcats and Orange were thought to be in a play in game for an NCAA tournament bid. Syracuse pulled away to a 9 point lead 13 minutes into the game, but Eric Hicks and Jihad Muhammad helped cut the lead to 2. Gerry McNamara made a 3 late in the half to put the Orange up 39-34.
Syracuse put an 11-0 run on Cincinnati right after the break to go up 14. UC spent the next few minutes down double digits. Chadd Moore, Eric Hicks and James White chipped the lead down to 5 at the 10 minute mark. Things were nip tuck until the 3:39 mark, when Devan Downey got a steal and a layup to put UC in front. UC answered a layup with a White 3 to go up 2. Darryl Watkins had a dunk to tie the score. A Terrence Roberts free throw put the Orange up 1 with 49 seconds left. James White nailed a jumper with 10 seconds left to put UC up 1. Downey swiped a steal with 6 seconds left. He made 1 of 2 to put UC up 2. UC had a foul to give and did so with 3 seconds left. Then Gerry McNamara made a running 3 because he's son of a bitch. UC went to the NIT.
(sorry about picture quality, but I took a snap shot on youtube video)
March 12, 2008
Big East Tournament
Pittsburgh 70 Cincinnati 64
This was a 7-10 game, with the Panthers being the higher seed. Pitt jumped on the Cats 11-4. UC chipped away until they tied the score at 16 on a Jamual Warren jumper. It didn't last long as Pitt jumped right back up 6. That's a lead they would take into intermission.
Pitt jumped on UC again to start the second half. They buitl the lead to 10 in the first 5 minutes. Just like the first half, UC chipped away at the Panther lead. Deonta Vaughn made a couple of 3 pointers and suddenly it was a 2 point game with 7 minutes left. Pitt used free throws to get back up 7. After a long period of neither team scoring, Levance Fields dropped a pair of freebies with 1:36 left to make it 66-57. UC rallied. Vaughn made a layup with a foul. Ronald Ramon missed a pair of free throws. John Williamson got to the line and made 2. Fields could only make 1 of 2. Vaughn was able to draw a foul and make both. With 41 seconds left, it was a 3 point game. Fields made only 1 of 2 again. Vaughn went hard to the basket, but was blocked by Sam Young. Fields hit 1 of 2 before Vaughn missed a 3. I remember the Vaughn layup being a terrible miss, but I'm not sure.
Wow those uniforms were awful.
March 10, 2009
Big East Touranment
DePaul 67 Cincinnati 57
This was under the new Big East Tournament rules that are used to this day. The Bearcats were a 9 seed, DePaul a 16. UC had collapsed a lot down the stretch. They needed to win games in New York City to get a chance for an NCAA bid. Neither team played very well to start. It was just 16-16 11 minutes into the game. They teams stayed close until Darnell Wilks hit a 3 with 50 seconds to go in the half to put UC up 2.
The Cats came out hot out of the locker room. Deonta Vaughn made 2 layups and assisted Mike Williams on a 3 to put UC up 7. DePaul cut the lead to 5. It stayed around 4 until the 12 minute mark, when Jeremiah Kelly dropped a trey to tie the game at 41. DePaul went on a 12-2 run to take a 10 point lead at the 6 minute mark. UC quickly cut the lead in half with a Yancy Gates dunk and a Vaughn 3. Dar Tucker hit a pair of freebies to put the Blue Demons back up 7. UC then missed 3 shots on one possession before Mac Koshwal got a dunk. DePaul was able to build the lead as high as 12 the final 2 minutes in what was a crushing loss for the Bearcats. They made no post season tournament. DePaul didn't win a Big East game all season long until that point. They ended up losing to Providence in the next round. The lasting image I have of this one is at some point Deonta Vaughn was sitting on the baseline really pissed off. Don't know what time of game it was, but I remember that image.
The image was not that ball shot.
January 13, 2010
Regular Season
St John's 52 Cincinnati 50
UC came into this game with an 11-5 record and were 2-2 in the Big East. In a season that would be known of it's missed opportunities, this one ranks right up there at the top of the list. UC was following a bad loss to Seton Hall and were taking on a team that didn't have a conference win up to this point. It was a decent St John's team, but not much more than that. The Bearcats came out with a 6-0 start. They held a 2-6 point lead the first 10 minutes of the half, although the score at the 10 minute mark was 13-11. St John's tied the game at the 7 minute mark and took the lead a minute later on a DJ Kennedy 3. The Red Storm got up as much as 5 before UC tied to the score and took the lead on JaQuon Parker free throws. UC rode that lead 3 minutes into the locker room. That half had bad offense.
St John's took the lead to start the half, but UC managed to get it back and go up 4 thanks to a Lance Stephenson layup. St John's took the lead back on a pair of Dwight Hardy triples. From the 15 minute mark to the 7 minute mark UC outscored St John's 7-4 to take a thrilling 3 point lead. St John's would take a 2 poing lead at the 5:34 mark on another Hardy 3. UC wrestled the lead back with 3 minutes to go on a Rashad Bishop steal and score. The last UC bucket came with 1:29 left as Steve Toyloy assisted Yancy Gates on a layup. That made it 50-47. Kennedy missed a 3. UC ran the clock down to 19 seconds before Dion Dixon, in our earlier best friend stages, had a shot blocked by Paris Horner. Justin Brownlee made 1 free throw with 15 seconds left. All UC had to do was get the ball in and go to the line. Easy right? Wrong. For some reason Rashad Bishop threw the ball the length of the court and it was stolen by Hardy. Bishop compounded his error by fouling. Hardy made both. Mick Cronin called a questionable timeout after the first free throw. It was questionable because UC had trouble getting the ball in. Stephenson threw ANOTHER inbound pass away to Hardy. Dixon fouled him. Hardy made both. Vaughn ran down and missed a 3. This loss was so horrible it made me do a list of the 25 worst UC losses, part 1, 2. This was number 10.
March 9, 2010
Big East Tournament
Cincinnati 69 Rutgers 68
This was a first round tournament night game. I don't know what the seeds were because they aren't in the stat sheet box score. Anyway. UC and Rutgers started off coooooooold. It took 8 minutes before Rutgers made a 3 to put them in double digits. They led 12-6. UC joined them in the double digit club at the 11 minute mark. Shots finally started to fall for both teams as the half progressed. UC had a 31-29 lead for 2:28 seconds, but Hamady Ndiaye got a dunk to tie and Mike Coburn made a free throw with 1 second left to give Rutgers the lead.
The teams swapped the lead for the first few minutes of the second half. Then Rutgers pulled ahead by 5 at the 12 minute mark. The Bearcats caught up with a Lance Stephenson layup, a Yancy Gates layup, a Stephenson jumper and a Stephenson traditional 3 point play. UC would extend the lead to 8 by the 3:31 mark. The Scarlet Knights crept back. A free throw and a layup cut the lead in half. Deonta Vaughn put UC up 6 with 36 seconds left after making a pair of free throws. JaQuon Parker fouled Mike Coburn, who made both. Then Vaughn committed an offensive foul which got Rutgers 2 more free throws. Vaughn got fouled with 23 seconds left. He made 1 of 2. With 16 seconds left, current Florida Gator Mike Rosario buried a 3 to tie the game. Lance Stephenson, just like he did earlier in the season against Connecticut, had the ball in his hands and drove to the basket. He drew a foul with 2 seconds left. He buried the first before (maybe) intentionally missing the second. UC got their first win in the building in Big East play.
March 10, 2010
Big East Tournament
Cincinnati 69 Louisville 66
A year to the day of the crushing loss to DePaul, Cincinnati took the floor against the Louisville Cardinals. They did not get off to a very good start. The Cards jumped out 5-0 and rode the lead the entire first half. UC cut the score to 11-10, but missed a handful of shots that would have put them up front. Peyton Siva assisted Reggie Delk for 3, Terrence Jennings for a dunk, Preston! Knowles a 3, Delk for a layup and Delk for a 3 to put Louisville up 9. Delk drilled another 3 to put Louisville up 10. Louisville got up 12 a couple times late in the half, but UC closed the lead to 9 at the break.
UC scored first to start the second half, but the Cards ran the lead up to 12. UC answered with a Deonta Vaughn 3, a pair of Gates layups, 2 Gates free throws and another Gates bucket to get within 1. Lance Stephenson completed the comeback at the 13 minute mark with a layup. They erased a 12 point lead in 4:30. UC took the lead at the 9:40 mark when JaQuon Parker put back a Lance Stephenson miss. The Bearcats saw the Cards tie the score at 53. Cashmere Wright scored a layup, Parker got a steal and assisted on a Stephenson dunk. Then Parker made the play of his career I still remember. Ibrahima Thomas missed a 3 from the left corner. Parker ripped the rebound away from Kyle Kuric, scored a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw to put UC up 60-53. The Cardinals trimmed the lead to 3 with 3:25 left. UC had a long possession, a minute long, end with a Knowles steal into a Sosa layup. Parker hit a free throw to put UC up 2. Louisville missed a couple of chances to tie or take the lead before Stephenson made 2 freebies with 29 seconds left. With UC up 4, Stephenson could have iced it, but missed both foul shots. Reggie Delk drilled a 3 with 10 seconds left. Vaughn hit a pair of free throws, then stripped Sosa as Edgar went up for the game tying 3. JaQuon Parker had 7 offensive rebounds. It was a huge win. UC's best at MSG.
March 11, 2010
Big East Tournament
West Virginia 54 Cincinnati 51
UC had a script to follow in the Big East tournament and that script read "Start slowly." UC did just that as they fell behind West Virginia 7-1. They were down 18-4 at the 11 minute mark. The Bearcats finally hit double digits with 6:44 left in the half. They locked the Mountaineers up at 18 for a long time. UC got it down to 18-13, fell down 21-13 then ran off 7 straight to get within 1. West Virginia hit a shot with 49 seconds left to go up 3, but Larry Davis drilled a 3 to tie. With 2 seconds left in the half, Jonnie West banked in a 3 to put WV up by a bucket. It was annoying.
UC started slowly again in the second half, scoring 2 points the first 6 minutes. The Mountaineers put up 8 in that time to go up 7. The lead hung around that point until the 11 minute mark. Yancy Gates made a layup and Lance Stephenson netted free throws to get UC within 2. WV got it back up to 7 thanks to a Da'Sean Butler steal and layup, followed by UC missing 3 layups of their own befoer Devin Ebanks made a layup. The lead would get to 9. UC had it at 7 with 4 minutes left. They made a run. Lance Stephenson scored a layup, then assisted Deonta Vaughn on a 3. Darnell Wilks tied the score on a put back with 2:47 left. Kevin Jones put WV up 3. Stephenson hit a free throw to make it 1, then Jones made another layup with 1:10 left. Lance dropped a 3 with 42 seconds left to tie the score at 51. Devin Ebanks missed a layup with 6 seconds left. The ball went out to UC. For some reason Dion Dixon entered the game. He dribbled the ball off his foot with 2 seconds left in front of the UC bench. The inbound went to Butler, who banked in a 3 over Stephenson. Heartbreak city.
March 9, 2011
Big East Tournament
Cincinnati 87 South Florida 61
South Florida was the 15 seed for this Big East tournament game. They made a wild comeback and beat a fading Villanova team in wild fashion. They were big underdogs to the 6 seed Bearcats. And UC went right to work on them going up 8-0. The Bearcats kept the lead around 7-9 the first 12 minutes of the game. USF would chop the lead to 4 to 3 to 2 before the Bearcats got a tip in by Sean Kilpatrick and back to back 3s by Dion Dixon. JAWANZA Poland scored a put back to get the halftime lead to 8.
UC ran the lead to 12 after the break on layups by Dixon and Yancy Gates. Free throws built the lead to 14 at the 14 minute mark. Dixon hit a 3, Kilpatrick made a layup and Darnell Wilks hit free throws to make it a 19 point game with 12 minutes left. The closest USF would get would be 13. Yancy Gates made a couple of free throws, a dunk and a put back to squash that nonsense. UC added on 7 more to the lead before the final margin of 26. USF had run out of gas. UC scored 55 second half points on 15-23 shooting and made 23-26 free throws. Yancy Gates had 25 and Dion Dixon, best friend, had 21.
March 10, 2011
Big East Tournament
Notre Dame 89 Cincinnati 51
Notre Dame was the 2 seed in the Big East. They did to UC what UC did to USF. That included jumping out 11-3. UC slowed the Irish down to get within 5, but ND put it up to 10. The lead got to 12 with 6 minutes to go in the half on a Carelton Scott 3. UC had a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 5, but ND had an answer every time. Scott made another 3 to put the Irish up 10 to close the half.
The Irish went up 13 quickly in the second half. Dion Dixon got the lead to 10 at the 18:32 mark. The lead stayed at 10 until 16:45 when Rashad Bishop made a layup. ND got a Tim Abromaitis layup, a Ben Hansbrough layup, a Scott Martin 2, a Hansbrough 3 and a Scott 2 to get up 19 with 14 minutes left. They pushed the lead over 20 on a Martin dunk with 12:29 left. The lead would never get under 22. Cincinnati scored their 51st point at the 7:25 mark. As you can see, they didn't score again. The last 14 minutes, UC scored 10 points. Notre Dame scored 29. That's a lot when you are already up 17. It was a horrible effort in a horrible game. UC was 7-26 the second half. ND was 18-28.
All photo credit goes to the AP. Probably.
