Cincinnati 70 Connecticut 67
Win number 15 for the Cincinnati Bearcats was pretty effing sweet. Not only does that cement Cincinnati as the Big East's second place team, but it pushed the fervor for Cincinnati basketball over the edge because the Syracuse game has sold out. It would be mainly disappointing if the Bearcats dropped the game this Saturday at West Virginia, but that's the Huggins bowl, which should be intense. West Virginia is playing very well lately. That's going to be a huge game. As for the game last night, that's another on the list you scratch off and move forward from. It pushed the Bearcats RPI to 89 and SOS to 189. There were above 100 and in the 200s yesterday. It's a step in the right direction. I know people are getting mad about the computer numbers in regards to 15-4, but computers love you when you win. That totally means computers love Sean Kilpatrick.
Sean Kilpatrick's 3 moves into the memorable shot highlight reel for Cincinnati basketball. Video. He had Jeremy Lamb thinking he was going to the basket and pulled up beautifully from 3. Jon Rothstein keeps saying on twitter that SK has a lot of Reece Gaines in him. Although that wasn't quite as dramatic as Gaines' shot against Marquette, that was up there. It takes balls to pull the trigger there. That shot could be the positive highlight of the season. 
Part of the reason that UConn tied the game had to do with SK. He missed not one, but two front ends of 1 and 1s that saw Shabazz Napier come down and drill 3 pointers. Not all of the blame sits on 23. My best friend Dion Dixon didn't miss the front end of his free throws, but he missed the second on both. The last miss set up Shabazz for the tie. Next time, let's make free throws and not give people heart attacks. Speaking of Shabazz, he took all 4 of his late 3s from the right wing. Cashmere Wright should have been in his shorts. You can't let him take the shots that he wants. Especially when it's a 3 point game. It probably would have been a good time to foul. Yeah, I'm in the foulers club. Shabazz had a decent game going until the flurry made it a very good game. 27 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers. Another guard that lit up the UC defense. I'll stop saying this when it stops happening. 
Cincinnati was out rebounded by 9, but despite it seeming like more, it wasn't so bad. UConn scored 10 second chance points. UC scored 16 off their 13 offensive boards. To be honest, it kind of was more like a 11 or 12 rebound advantage for UConn because Cincinnati got 4 shots at the end of the first half. Only 1 guy did work on the glass for the Bearcats. Team rebounds had as many as Cash and Dixon. Not the best rebounding game. But they got away with it. A huge reason they were able to get away with being out-rebounded was because they forced UConn into 11 turnovers. 10 really, because Shabazz got a steal from Davis after a Davis steal. It seemed like all of the Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb turnovers came late in the half. This team makes the pressure get to opponents. And take advantage they do with 17 points off turnovers. UC turned the ball over only 6 times. It doesn't show up in the box score for them, but hell of a defensive effort inside by Yancy Gates, Justin Jackson and JaQuon Parker. Gates didn't let Drummond get anything inside. Drummond had a dunk off an offensive rebound and a fast break. That was it. Even Gates was on Alex Oriakhi, AO went 1-7. They both had 6 rebounds, which was as many as the 12 Gates pulled in. UC disrupted the high low play UConn turned to time and time again. I'm not trying to discredit the Cats, but damn did UConn look pretty disinterested at times, mainly in the first half. Any time you give up 42 points in a half, your interest in defense deserves to be called out. It's like UConn thought they could just turn it on and breeze past the Bearcats. They turned it on in the second half in the form of a 15-2 run to take the lead, but they eventually came back to earth, having to get a minor miracle from Shabazz to pull them back in it. I don't know what their deal was, but I'll sure as hell take it. Don't match intensity and take an L. That's on you. By my count, UC ran the set where Justin Jackson hangs out on the wing 1 time in the second half. UConn kept both bigs in the lane. SK drove and threw up a contested layup that hit the left side of the glass. It was a horrible possession that ended up in a horrible shot. That set only works when there is an option of kicking out to the wing. When there is not, you have guards taking layups on Oriakhi and Drummond. Let's scrap that when Parker isn't in the game, Mick. Moving on to the player talk. Justin Jackson had 0 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal, 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He played well while he was in the game, but the problem was that he wasn't in the game a whole lot, especially in the first half where he played 7 minutes. He's got to avoid the silly fouls. It's imperative. Especially when he's going to be asked to guard Kevin Jones in all probability Saturday. JJ nearly redeemed himself by doing the Justin Jackson mean face to the UConn bench after the Kilpatrick 3. Look near the scorers table. 
Hilarious.
Yancy Gates was a man against the Huskies. He had 13 points on 5-10, 3-3 at the foul line, with 12 rebounds. 5 of those were offensive. He had only 1 foul. I mentioned his defense earlier. He imposed his will on Drummond and AO. This is the second game in a row where he's just dominated inside. He can do it again. He needs to do it again. Gates is 11-14 at the free throw line since his return. I didn't jinx him after all. 
A little good news, bad news for Cashmere Wright. Good news is that he went 5-6, 3-4 from 3 for 13 points to break out of his shooting slump. The bad news is that he was a turnover machine for the first time in ages with 4. He had his pocket picked for the first time since Xavier by Napier. He had a little injury worry when he came down awkwardly on his shoulder. He still played 30 minutes. Great to see him making shots again. Most of them came in the first half. Dion Dixon had a horrible shooting day. He was 4-17, 2-8, 2-4 at the foul line. That's way too many 3 pointers. He needs to be in the 4-5 range. He wasn't making from 2 either. 2 of his makes were the first 5 points of the game. That means he was 2-14 the rest of the way. Some of the shot selection was fine and the shots didn't fall. Some of the shots were forced. 17 shots is a lot. He had 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Tighten up the shot selection, best friend. Sean Kilpatrick was 4-9 from 3, 1-6 from 2, 2-4 from 1. His offense was Sean Kilpatrick drill 3s on your face offense. His defense on Jeremy Lamb was very, very good. Lamb had 14 on 5-12, 1-5 from 3. Most importantly, he was denied the ball. UConn couldn't get him looks. From a guy battling a minor groin injury, it was impressive. We've seen SK lock up guys multiple times now. He isn't quite to the elite level because he can be driven on and he'll give up looks, but he did a great job on Lamb. Plus, SK trended on twitter above save porn.
Jeremiah Davis gave a solid 8 minutes. He had trouble staying in front of Shabazz for a little bit, but settled down. Davis made a huge put back at the end of the first half by being Johnny on the spot to put UC up 9. It was one of those things that made you feel like it was UC's night. Cheikh Mbodj: 7 minutes, 1 foul that resulted in 2 points. His best moment was when Andy Katz said he would be out until the weekend, WHILE HE WAS ON THE FLOOR. Hilarious. Also, this ankle injury crap is stupid. Unless he has the slowest healing ankle injury ever, no way it's still bad. He had it in November. He played 25 minutes against Georgia, 20 against Marshall and 16 against St John's POST suspension. Drop that shit. Jermaine Sanders got on the floor for a segment. He had an assist and a board. He also had the awesome picture up top. What a shot in the arm JaQuon Parker was. He had 12 points on 5-10, 2-4, and they all seemed huge. I don't know what exactly he brings to the floor, but to me it's the feeling of you know that guy is going to do his job and things are going to work out. He had 4 boards. He's the energy guy when you need energy. He's the coach on the floor when you need that. He picks guys up. He's a leader. Wouldn't trade him for anyone. This team. There is something about them. They believe. They obviously didn't believe at the beginning of the year. It seems they used the early season stumbles to shape their path. It's working out well. 15-4, 5-1. Taking 1 of 3 would have been great. It will be great. But now it'll be a little disappointing. Let's just go ahead and take all 3. Pictures from Cincinnati.com, box score via GoBearcats
Official Basketball Box Score
Cincinnati vs UConn
1/18/12 7:00 p.m. at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, Conn.
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VISITORS: Cincinnati 15-4, 5-1
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 0-1 0-0 0-0 3 1 4 4 0 1 0 1 1 19
34 Gates, Yancy........ f 5-10 0-0 3-3 5 7 12 1 13 0 0 0 0 36
01 Wright, Cashmere.... g 5-6 3-4 0-0 1 0 1 2 13 5 4 0 1 29
03 Dixon, Dion......... g 4-17 2-8 2-4 1 1 2 0 12 2 0 0 0 38
23 Kilpatrick, Sean.... g 5-15 4-9 2-4 0 4 4 3 16 0 0 0 2 37
00 Davis III, Jeremiah. 2-3 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 4 0 1 0 1 8
13 Mbodj, Cheikh....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
15 Sanders, Jermaine... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 6
44 Parker, Jaquon...... 5-10 2-4 0-0 0 4 4 3 12 1 0 0 0 20
TEAM................ 1 2 3 1
Totals.............. 26-62 11-26 7-11 13 19 32 16 70 10 6 1 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-33 45.5% 2nd Half: 11-29 37.9% Game: 41.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-14 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 42.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-5 100 % 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 63.6% 1
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HOME TEAM: UConn 14-4, 4-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 DANIELS, DeAndre.... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6
34 ORIAKHI, Alex....... f 1-7 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 1 2 2 0 0 0 26
12 DRUMMOND, Andre..... c 2-9 0-0 0-2 3 3 6 2 4 0 3 1 0 28
03 LAMB, Jeremy........ g 5-12 1-5 3-3 3 5 8 1 14 5 3 1 0 40
13 NAPIER, Shabazz..... g 10-19 3-8 4-5 0 5 5 3 27 7 5 0 2 38
04 ALLEN, Brendan...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
05 GIFFEY, Niels....... 4-6 2-3 0-0 2 4 6 4 10 0 0 0 0 34
10 OLANDER, Tyler...... 1-1 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 7
22 SMITH, Roscoe....... 2-3 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 3 4 0 0 2 0 19
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 26-59 6-16 9-12 15 26 41 15 67 15 11 4 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 13-31 41.9% Game: 44.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-5 100 % 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 75.0% 2
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Officials: Ed Corbett, Ray Natili, Jeff Clark
Technical fouls: Cincinnati-None. UConn-None.
Attendance: 10167
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Cincinnati.................... 42 28 - 70
UConn......................... 33 34 - 67
Points in the paint-CIN 16,UCONN 32. Points off turnovers-CIN 17,UCONN 9.
2nd chance points-CIN 16,UCONN 10. Fast break points-CIN 0,UCONN 10.
Bench points-CIN 16,UCONN 20. Score tied-5 times. Lead changed-17 times.
Last FG-CIN 2nd-00:03, UCONN 2nd-00:09.
Largest lead-CIN by 12 1st-06:23, UCONN by 2 1st-17:37.
