Rutgers 61 Cincinnati 54

Saturday night was a flashback. A flashback to November, when Cincinnati basketball was incredibly frustrating to watch. There was a 15:29-9:59 scoring drought in the first half, multiple 3 minute stretches without a basket and a lax effort on a defensive end. No sooner do I write about the guard defense, here and here, than UC gets torched by Eli Carter and Myles Mack in the second half. They combined for 23, Carter 15, of the 34 Rutgers second half points. That was a reversal of the first half, when Rutgers got 10 of their 12 FGs in the paint. That's right, 20 points in the paint. It was horrible. It was disappointing. UC followed the worst half of basketball since the second half against Xavier with bad effort on both ends. This team flat out isn't good enough to not try hard for 40 minutes. They are looking at needing to win at least 2 of the toughest 5 games they have left. I don't think a 5-4 finish to the season puts them in the NCAA tournament. In a season where you lose to Marshall, Presbyterian, Xavier and St John's, you can not lose to Rutgers. Just can not do it. Things like UConn falling apart happen. You look at the UC porfolio and it looks mighty bare with some bad Ls attached. The postseason odds dropped 2.6% according to teamrankings.com. This has to be a rallying point. It has to. 

Everyone and their sister, a popular blog, is talking about how UC can't handle a zone defense. You get out on perimeter and force contested looks from 3 and this team is not the same. If you force the guards to run an offense where guys are standing around, they can't do it. There were multiple times when Rutgers had defenders get passes thrown right to them. No joke, right to them. I know Jermaine Sanders did it. Parker did it. Guyn did. It is not a good sign going forward. 

Turnovers were once again an issue. Just like in November and December. UC gave it away 14 times. Check this out.

1. Turnover - dunk. 1-3 lead
2. Turnover - score on next possession. 5-7 lead
3. Turnover - layup. 2-4 lead. 
4. Turnover - dunk. 2-4
5. Turnover - layup 4-6
6. Turnover - 3 ptr. 4-7
7. Turnover - FT attempt 5-6
8. Turnover - layup 5-7
9. Turnover - 3. 7-10

Just off the turnovers, Rutgers scored 19 points. In a game that was lost by single digits, there is a huge problem. 

This team and 2 point shots. 6-22 from 2 in the first half. So many point blank shots missed. Like this.





The most disappointing thing about the game Saturday was the intensity. There was none. I don't know if UC just thought they were going to walk on the floor and stomp Rutgers. They sure as hell came out soft. They stopped the points in the paint in the second half, but didn't guard on the wing. They came out hot to start the second half with a 7-0 run. Then a layup, 3, steal, steal and you are down 6 again. UC chips away at the lead late, cutting it to 4. Rutgers calls timeout and runs a play that get Dane Miller a dunk. It was awful. Just awful. 

Dane Miller brought his rebounding shoes. He pulled down a game high 12. He was the only double digit rebounder in the game. He had 9 the first half. He put up 6 points in the second to give himself a double double. Eli Carter was great the second half. He was 5-6, 4-4 from 3. Myles Mack got 8 free throw attempts. They had all but 5 of the points the second half, and all but 1 of the field goals. UC did let 3 guys beat them. 



Yancy Gates has an advantage over just about anyone he's going to face in the post. Just like the problems UC faced in November, none of the guards know how to get him the ball. He had 6 of his 16 points off offensive rebounds, 2 FGs, 2 FTs. The guys got him just 9 touches. That's not good enough. Yancy Gates needs the ball. Look at the rest of the schedule. Who is going to give him problems? Gorgui Dieng? That's it. Yancy should be putting up at least 10 FG attempts a game. Get him the ball. Plus, he's the only one besides Cheikh who tries to rebound. 

Justin Jackson once again brought nothing to the table. He had 2 assists and a block early in the second half during the quick run and that was it. The rest of the game he was 0-3, 0-2 FTs, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 2 steals, 4 fouls in 15 minutes. They say it all the time on Inside the NBA. You know what you call a power forward that gets 3 rebounds a game? A small forward. Justin Jackson is a shitty small forward. 

Cashmere Wright can't buy a 2. He had the dunk, pictured, partially blocked. He's missing everything from the elbow. He's missing layups. He can't get anything to fall. It's almost crazy. He's 13-50 on 2s in conference play. THIRTEEN OF FIFTY. That's some kind of unlucky. He had a pair of turnovers, 6 assists and 4 boards. Only 3 points on 1-7. 5 of those misses were 2s. He's an example of getting shots you want, but not getting them to go down. It's gotta be frustrating for him. I know it is for me. He needs a headband. Also, this face?



Dion Dixon, best friend, was the other one who brought it offensively. He was 6-10, 3-5, 2-4 (bleh) for a team high 17 points. He had no assists, 2 turnovers. That's not as good. He was the only one who could get the shot he wanted and make it outside of Gates. He was the only guard who was a scoring threat. A large part of it came because of his good shot selection. When Dixon gets what he wants, he's a good scorer. When he's forcing things, he's a volume shooter. 

Rough day at the office for Sean Kilpatrick. He was 4-12, 3-8. Like Dixon, he had 2 turnovers against no assists. When he's not getting the looks he wants, he's been kind of hidden the past 2 games. Sean Kilpatrick getting shots up is a huge part of the UC offense. No shit, but he's the leading scorer. He's never afraid to pull the trigger. He's not getting looks. You'll take 8 looks from 3 all day, but not scoring inside really hurts. Hopefully he's fully healthy for DePaul. 

I don't know what got into JaQuon Parker. It's like someone told him to be Russ Smith. Parker put up 8 shots in 21 minutes. That included 3 jumpers and 2 free throws in a minute and a half. Unfortunately, he made only 1 of those jumpers the first half. He was 1-3 the second half for a total of 2-8, 0-3, 3-4, 7 point outing. Parker was also a foul machine. He was hit with 2 charges, 1 of them rather bunk, and 4 fouls total. He turned the ball over 3 times. He had all the bench points. I love JaQuon Parker, don't love gunner Quon. 

Cheikh Mbodj gets a gold star for killing the boards. He had 7 in his 15 minutes. That's 3 games of Justin Jackson rebounds. He blocked 2 shots and had an assist. He gets a wag of the finger for being the worst shooter around the basket I've ever seen in my life. At least Ibrahima Thomas would go 1-7. Mbodj misses everything. Literally everything. I don't know how he scored against Miami. It must have been an angels in the outfield scenario. 

Ge'Lawn Guyn bricked a couple of 3s and turned the ball over twice. That's not good. 

Jermaine Sanders closed the first half for whatever reason instead of Kilpatrick. He had 1 board but one awful turnover that made it a 4 point game at the break. Not good. 

Jeremiah Davis might be in the dog house. 1 minute. 

7 points, 6 turnovers isn't going to cut it off the bench. 2-13 from the field. Horrible. 

Another horrible thing, a week without Cincinnati basketball. Ugh.

Photos from Cincinnati.com and NJ.com. Box score - Go Bearcats
Cincinnati vs RUTGERS 
01/28/12 6 p.m. at Rutgers Athletic Center - Piscataway, NJ

Cincinnati 54

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
05	JACKSON, Justin	f	0-3	0-0	0-2	1-2	3	4	0	2	2	1	2	17
34	GATES, Yancy	f	7-11	0-0	2-3	3-5	8	2	16	1	0	0	0	31
01	WRIGHT, Cashmere	g	1-7	1-2	0-0	1-3	4	4	3	6	2	0	1	34
03	DIXON, Dion	g	6-10	3-5	2-4	2-0	2	2	17	0	2	0	1	38
23	KILPATRICK, Sean	g	4-12	3-8	0-0	1-2	3	0	11	0	2	0	1	33
00	DAVIS III, Jeremiah	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
13	MBODJ, Cheikh	-	0-3	0-0	0-0	4-3	7	1	0	1	0	2	1	15
14	GUYN, Ge'Lawn	-	0-2	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	7
15	SANDERS, Jermaine	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3
44	PARKER, JaQuon	-	2-8	0-3	3-4	0-3	3	4	7	1	3	0	1	21
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	2-1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	20-56	7-20	7-13	14-20	34	18	54	11	14	3	8	200
			35.7%	35.0%	53.8%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		9-30	3-8	2-5
			30.0%	37.5%	40.0%
	2nd Half:		11-26	4-12	5-8
			42.3%	33.3%	62.5%

RUTGERS 61

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
11	MILLER, Dane	f	5-11	0-2	0-0	3-9	12	0	10	4	3	2	0	31
15	RANDALL, Derrick	f	3-3	0-0	2-2	1-3	4	0	8	1	1	0	1	19
55	BIRUTA, Gilvydas	f	3-7	0-0	1-2	3-2	5	2	7	3	1	0	1	26
01	SEAGEARS, Jerome	g	1-3	0-1	0-0	1-0	1	1	2	2	2	0	2	23
05	CARTER, Eli	g	6-12	4-7	1-3	1-3	4	1	17	2	2	0	1	31
04	MACK, Myles	-	2-4	1-3	5-8	0-0	0	1	10	5	0	0	2	28
10	POOLE, Mike	-	1-5	0-1	0-0	0-2	2	3	2	0	2	0	0	21
21	JOHNSON, Austin	-	1-3	0-0	3-4	1-3	4	4	5	0	1	0	0	21
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	0-1	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	22-48	5-14	12-19	10-23	33	12	61	17	13	2	7	200
			45.8%	35.7%	63.2%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		12-27	0-6	3-4
			44.4%	0.0%	75.0%
	2nd Half:		10-21	5-8	9-15
			47.6%	62.5%	60.0%

Score by Periods	1st	2nd	Total
Cincinnati	23	31	54	Record: (15-7, 5-4)
RUTGERS	27	34	61	Record: (12-10, 4-5)

Points in the paint-CIN 12,RUTGERS 30. Points off turnovers-CIN 17,RUTGERS 19.

2nd chance points-CIN 13,RUTGERS 9. Fast break points-CIN 3,RUTGERS 16.

Bench points-CIN 7,RUTGERS 17. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-3 times.

Last FG-CIN 2nd-00:16, RUTGERS 2nd-01:23.

Largest lead-CIN by 3 1st-18:00, RUTGERS by 10 2nd-04:34.

Officials: Ed Corbett, Mike Stuart, Bill McCarthy  Technical fouls: Cincinnati-None. RUTGERS-None.  Attendance: 7693