If you go to Go Bearcats and click on the ND game story, you'll notice there are are a lack of links at the top. Normally there are links for photo galleries, in some cases multiple galleries. There are links for the box score. There are quotes. There are notes. For the ND disaster, there is only the box score. The box score even pops out to a different page. Compare the Georgetown box score: 

to the ND box: 

Death Cab for Cutie's song A Lack of Color applies here. It's almost as if Go Bearcats wants to pretend the Notre Dame game didn't happen. And I don't blame them. Cincinnati has been on a very bad run as of late. Like I need to tell you. But if I actually did need to tell you, they've lost 3 in a row. They've lost 5 of 6. They've lost 6 of 9. The only wins they've picked up lately were a win over awful Rutgers where UC struggled, a win over awful Seton Hall where UC nearly blew a 20 point lead and a win over shaky Villanova where Cincinnati had an anomaly shooting-wise. If the season ends on this trajectory, the easy thing to do would be to point at the Syracuse game. Cincinnati blew a late lead during one of their their best halves of basketball this season. It would be easy to look back and say that they lost their confidence by losing that game. It would be easy to say that, but it wouldn't be true.

Cincinnati was 13-1 when the calendar turned to 2013. They've gone 6-8. They have 1 top 50 win in 2013.  They have 2 top 100 wins. They've lost 6 games to top 25 RPI opponents and 2 more to other top 100 RPI teams. 1-6 against 1-25, 1-2 against 51-100, 2-8 total. A third of Cincinnati's wins in 2013 are against Rutgers. 4 of the 6 wins are against teams 12, 13 and 14 in the Big East standings. There are a lot of weak teams fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament. I really hate to say this, but a loss to UConn on Saturday would make Cincinnati one of them. Home losses are RPI death. A loss in that game would drop UC to the low 50s. They have RPI anchor South Florida on the schedule. Losing 2 of 3 to close the regular season would be asking for trouble. So let's starting winning. Please. 

Mick Cronin talked a lot about the officials after the game. He said that they gave UC no chance to win the game. Right after UC cut the lead to 9, ND went to the line 6 times in a little under 2 minutes. I don't know, questioning the officiating in a game like this is like complaining about your Ultimate Warrior face paint coming off while you are shoveling water out of a sinking boat. There were bigger concerns. The game could have been fouled in UC's favor and they still would have lost. 

That said, the officials were awful. Sean Kilpatrick was hit in the face on a drive to a no call. Mbodj had some contact on his shot attempts. UC didn't get the Iowa State treatment from last night though. The officiating didn't cost them the game directly. And yes, the Ultimate Warrior face paint was the only thing I could think of. 

Rebounding is about effort and hustle. Every great rebounder has said this, I'm not making it up. Cincinnati was dominated on the glass. The Bearcats pulled in 80.8% of the Irish misses in Cincinnati. They pulled in 60.7% Sunday. Notre Dame shot worse in this game, which was something you could tell because they kicked Cincinnati's ass on the glass. UC only got 23.8% of their misses. They missed a whole lot, so that was a significant amount of misses. It seemed like every rebounding attempt was like this picture. 

Notre Dame is notorious for not fouling. Cincinnati helped them out with 12 free throw attempts. Rubles and Parker got to the line 6 and 4 times respectively. No free throws for Jackson, Nyarsuk, Wright or Kilpatrick, the other 4 starters. You had 4 free throws from your starting lineup in 117 combined minutes. 

Notre Dame completely took away the 3 point shot from the Cincinnati offense. The Bearcats were able to drive against them when ND went zone, but UC was 31.6% on 2s in the first half and 39% in the second. The Cats were 2-12 from deep. That's their lowest total in a while. Kilpatrick and Wright tried a combined 5. That has to be their lowest total of the season. 

The frustrating thing about the offense on Sunday was that UC would drive and get buckets, then start taking jumpers. Whoever would drive would come out of the game. I remember the last time UC lost at ND. They ran pick and rolls the last 5 or so minutes of the game and scored a high percentage of the time. That was working here until it stopped being a thing that UC ran. 

UC had an even assist to turnover ratio. It was 5:5. I don't know how you have 5 assists on 17 baskets pretty much ever. 

I talked about it some on Sunday, but Cashmere Wright has to find a way to break out of his funk. This was rock bottom as a team performance and a personal performance. He was 0-2, both 3 pointers, 1 assist and 1 rebound. He took the first shot of the game and did nothing else until more than halfway through the second half. I'm worried about him. 

Justin Jackson had himself a bad Justin Jackson game. He was 1-3 for 2 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers. He did block 2 shots. He also fouled out in 17 minutes. 

I'm pretty sure David Nyarsuk won't start on Saturday. He barely played Sunday. 

Sean Kilpatrick's shooting has been very bad lately. 3-13, 6-16, 3-13, 5-15, 5-14, 8-19. There was the 6-12 against Nova. He's made 4 of his last 18 three pointers. He's only attempted 13 free throws the last 4 games. His 2 single digit scoring games  have come in 2 of the 3 lowest scoring Cincinnati games. 

Mick talked some about how no one respects the post guys and they push out on the guards. It's really bothering SK. Him getting held more is a direct result of that. Teams had to respect Gates. Jackson and Dave attempted 4 shots. Mbodj could have attempted 100 because ND didn't care about him. I have a radical lineup change I'll mention tomorrow. Stay tuned. 

JaQuon Parker carried a large part of the scoring load for the 3rd game in a row. He was the only Bearcat in double figures with 12 points. He was a large part of the UC mini-rally in the second half. Parker was just 5-12 for the game, 2-4 at the foul line. Not his most efficient game, but he had to do something and do something he did. Aggressive JaQuon Parker knows his senior season could only have 5 more games left. He wants more than that. I do too. 

You could tell the slow pace of this game, and most games, killed the team. This was a 55 possession game. Right up Notre Dame's alley. Cincinnati playing so slow on offense hurts them. Having to guard for 25 seconds every trip hurts them because they aren't as good as past UC teams defensively. For example, Notre Dame hit 17 of 25 two pointers. That's nearly 59%. 

Titus Rubles had 7 and 7 with 1 assist and 1 steal. Rubles didn't shoot that well, 2-6, 3-6 FTs, but he tried to make things happen. It's weird how he will be very aggressive some periods and others he is almost invisible. His defense isn't stellar, which is probably why he doesn't play a ton of minutes, but maybe it's time to say screw that and let him play. He's the best rebounder on the team. 

Shaq Thomas got 20 minutes and was probably the best offensive player on the floor for UC. He's only played 20 minutes twice in Big East play. Both against Notre Dame. He had 7 points and 5 rebounds to go with 2 steals. Shaq even nailed a 3. We keep talking about the future with Thomas. The future needs to start being closer to now. Kid can play.

Mbodj played 19 minutes. He had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 4 fouls. He was 2-6 from the field because ND didn't care if he shot the ball. Mbodj threw up a couple of mid-range jumpers just to prove their strategy correct. 

Despite Cash playing 23 minutes, Ge'Lawn Guyn only played 12. He made the other 3 pointer for his only basket. He had 2 rebounds. I really, really like no conscious Ge'Lawn Guyn. Keep shooting. 

Jermaine Sanders played 8 minutes. He didn't do much. 

I don't know why Kelvin Gaines is getting any playing time to be honest. 

A week off will help. I don't know if it will help the team, but I think it will help the fans. A week without Cincinnati basketball is horrible. But people are starting to get a little crazy. Some people need relaxation time. That time will be spent fretting over if UC makes the tournament, but no one asks me those questions so I don't care if you annoy Jerry Palm. 

Notre Dame, a team known for not playing defense, held UC to 41 points. The fewest points by an ND opponent in Big East play. Congrats on that, Irish. 

Tom Knight and Jack Cooley were 11-14 for 23 points. They had 15 rebounds. They also had 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. ND's big men absolutely dominated. 

If Jerian Grant didn't attempt a 3 pointer, Notre Dame would have shot 53.7% for the game. You ruined it, Jerian. 

He was 9-9 at the foul line though. I think they will take that exchange. 

This picture of Mike Brey is a horrible thing to end with, but I can easily picture the Deal With It glasses falling on his head here. 

In fact.....

Photos via Cincinnati.com

One of the biggest storylines around Cincinnati athletics is conference realignment. I hate talking about it, but people love reading about. I can't say this is the Cincinnati blog for the people without talking about what the people want to talk about. That leads to this little bit of info from Jeremy Fowler at CBS. He talked to Ohio State AD Gene Smith. Smith dropped this quote: 

“I think you're going to have all types of rumors about us and the Big 12,” Smith said. “We're not doing anything right now. We'll sit and evaluate Rutgers' and Maryland's transition. We don't want to screw that up. Right now we're not aggressively pursuing anyone.”

That's not to say the Big 10 isn't pursuing anyone, just that they aren't aggressively pursuing anyone. The big kicker is whatever happens this spring with Maryland's exit from the ACC. If they can negotiate the 50 million dollar exit fee down, maybe that would make the Big 10 go after someone else.

The Big 12 has a little nugget at the end of the article about how if they expand that they would go after some combination of 5 ACC schools. With how West Virginia has been complaining about travel, you would think that would put some doubts into why those schools would leave the ACC. If the Big 12 took Georgia Tech and North Carolina, there would be no natural traveling partners. Colorado and Utah aren't natural partners but the Pac 12 gets by would be a counter. 

Conference realignment circles around the Big 10. If they are putting a stop to expansion after Rutgers and Maryland, even for just a couple of years, that will probably stop expansion in other leagues. If the Big 10 isn't talking about expansion, that's bad for Cincinnati. Root for more illogical moves. 

Cincinnati has never won at Notre Dame. They've lost by 17, 18 and 8. The 62-41 loss today was historical because it was the largest margin they've ever lost in South Bend. It was historical because it was the lowest point total for a Notre Dame opponent in Big East play. It was the lowest scoring game since January 29, 1993. 

The Bearcats are now 19-9, 7-8 in the Big East. They are in 11th place in the standings because Providence has the tiebreaker. If the BET started today, UC would be the 10 seed. February has been a month UC had rallied the past 2 years. This one saw them go 2-5. 

The offense was a disaster. UC had an offensive efficiency of 76.2. UC was 17-54, 31.5%. They were 2-12 from 2. They were 5-12 from the free throw line. UC pulled in 23.8% of their missed shots, which has to be a season low. Only JaQuon Parker scored in double figures. The Bearcats never had the lead. It was awful. 

The defense was a disaster. Notre Dame had an offensive efficiency of 116.1. That was despite turning it over on over 20% of their possessions. Their OE in the first half was 119.8. The Irish had an effective field goal percentage, it weighs 3s, of 52%. ND was 22-47, 46.8%. They were 5-18 from 3 and 13-16 from the foul line. The Irish pulled in rebounds on 39.3% of their misses. Cincinnati was the best defensive rebounding team in the Big East. 

This game was one of the worst of the Mick Cronin era. Right up there with the Big East tournament loss to DePaul. Right up there with getting embarrassed by Xavier last year. Up there with the ND disaster in the BET a couple years ago. Right up there with the St John's giveaway game. 

This team has problems. The biggest is Cashmere Wright. He only played 24 minutes. He attempted 2 shots. He had 1 rebound and 1 assist. Cashmere Wright is the second best player on the team. He's the point guard. And he's a shell of himself. Maybe he came back too soon from his injury. He isn't the same player that we've seen the past 4 years. He isn't injured enough to not play. He's not healthy enough to play like he can. I don't know what you can do with him besides manage his minutes more. UC has no real backup point guard though. He has to play. He wants to play. It's sad seeing him out there and not being able to do what he is capable of. People said all year that Cincinnati is going to go as far as Cashmere Wright will take them. It's really unfortunate that he is hurt and is going to have a hard time taking them where he, and we, want them to go. 

The team has 6 days to think about UConn and the last week of the season. 2 of the last 3 games are at home. This team needs our support. They need the fans more than ever. Both of the home games are on Saturday. We have to be there for them in their hour of need. Since it's just sports, their hour of need is beating Connecticut and beating South Florida. Things are really low right now. Gotta try to keep the spirits up. A 3-1 finish is still possible. The alternative to that is something I don't even want to entertain. 

Photo via ESPN. Box score via SI. Efficiency numbers via SCACC Hoops

CINCINNATI(19-9)

	MIN	REB (O/D)	AST	FG-A	FT-A	3P-A	PF	ST	TO	BLK	PTS
Parker *	0	1 (1/0)	0	5-12	2-4	0-1	1	1	1	0	12
Kilpatrick *	0	2 (1/1)	1	3-13	0-0	0-3	2	1	0	0	6
Jackson *	0	2 (1/1)	0	1-3	0-0	0-0	5	0	2	2	2
Nyarsuk *	0	1 (0/1)	0	0-1	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	0
Wright *	0	1 (0/1)	1	0-3	0-0	0-3	1	0	0	0	0
Rubles	0	7 (1/6)	1	2-6	3-6	0-1	2	1	0	1	7
Thomas	0	5 (2/3)	1	3-5	0-0	1-1	0	2	1	0	7
Mbodj	0	4 (2/2)	0	2-6	0-2	0-0	4	0	0	0	4
Guyn	0	2 (0/2)	0	1-3	0-0	1-2	1	0	0	0	3
Gaines	0	0 (0/0)	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0	0
Sanders	0	0 (0/0)	1	0-2	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	0	25 (8/17)	5	17-54	5-12	2-12	20	5	5	3	41
				31.5%	41.7%	16.7%
* Starters

NOTRE DAME(22-6)

	MIN	REB (O/D)	AST	FG-A	FT-A	3P-A	PF	ST	TO	BLK	PTS
Grant *	0	3 (1/2)	4	2-9	9-9	0-6	1	0	3	0	13
Knight *	0	7 (2/5)	3	6-7	0-0	0-0	1	2	0	1	12
Atkins *	0	2 (0/2)	6	3-4	3-4	2-3	3	0	3	0	11
Cooley *	0	8 (3/5)	2	5-7	1-2	0-0	5	0	1	2	11
Connaughton*	0	3 (0/3)	2	2-7	0-0	2-5	1	1	1	0	6
Biedscheid	0	4 (0/4)	0	2-5	0-1	1-4	0	0	1	1	5
Sherman	0	5 (1/4)	1	2-6	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	1	4
Auguste	0	9 (4/5)	0	0-2	0-0	0-0	3	0	3	0	0
TOTAL	0	41 (11/30)	18	22-47	13-16	5-18	15	3	12	5	62
				46.8%	81.2%	27.8%
* Starters

The biggest question after last night's 73-66 overtime loss to Connecticut is where do we go from here? Cincinnati faced a 3 game losing streak during the end of January last season. They picked up the pieces and lost only twice in February, one on a buzzer beater, on their way to the Big East tournament championship game. The previous year, UC lost 5 of 8 to see themselves at 19-6, 6-6 in the Big East. They finished the regular season by winning 5 of 6 games. Those teams faced adversity that they were able to overcome. None of those teams faced adversity this late in the season, however. They were coming together while it looks like this current version of the Cincinnati Bearcats is backsliding. 4 of 5 losses is backsliding. That's why it looks like that. 

Getting swept by Notre Dame and falling to under .500 in the Big East would start a wave of freak outs. While I would not be one to freak out, the notion is understandable. This Bearcats team was picked 4th in the preseason. They were expected to be a contender for the Big East title. They are 2.5 games behind Louisville for a bye in the Big East tournament. As things sit right now, they would be the 9 seed in the BET. Connecticut is ahead of UC in the standings and is not eligible for the tournament. A 9 seed means means a noon game. That means a second round matchup with Georgetown, Marquette, Syracuse or Louisville. There is a chance UC could be seeded behind Providence in the Big East tournament. The regular season has been a disappointment. Luckily, there are 2 tournaments in March that can wipe it away. Keep the faith. 

One thing I am going to take issue with is what Mick has said about the team just making it through the Big East and taking their chances in the NCAA tournament. He talks about the style of play being bad for his team. Hey there Mick, you tell your team to play slow. You have played slow in 14 conference games. Your team is one of the slowest in the league. You slowed down a UConn team that plays at 68 possessions a game to 66. In overtime. If you want to push tempo, you can push tempo. Cincinnati has been one of the slowest paced teams in Big East play since Mick Cronin took over. Any talk of him wanting to play faster is not executed. It's not like UC will go to the NCAA's and turn into a team pushing the pace like DePaul. 

Cincinnati is going to have a losing February. Their first losing month since March of 2010. 

The defense is going to get their fair share of blame for the loss last night and they really should. UC played one of their best offensive halves of the season and were losing at halftime. They allowed UConn to hit 46% in the first half, and 6-10 from 3. After a stellar second half in which they gave up 18 points, UC gave up 18 points in overtime. UConn was 3-3 from 3. Shabazz Napier was 3-3 from 3 that is. The Huskies attempted 11 free throws. 5 were in the first 3 minutes of the period. It was a total collapse. Maybe UC ran out of gas. 

If you hold a team to 18 second half points and only trail by 3 at halftime, you should win the game going away. Shot selection is part of the offense. It's not a part that Mick has control over, but it's offense. Shot selection is killing this team. Especially late in the game. If the score is close, you can bank on this team throwing up 3 pointers like there is no tomorrow. They missed their last 7. These were the key possessions down the stretch

• Missed jumper by Rubles
• Missed 3 - Kilpatrick
• Missed 3 - Wright
• Missed 3 - Wright (Shot clock running out)
• LAYUP - Rubles
• Turnover - Wright

4 possessions with a missed 3 pointer. The one with the shot clock running out was a horrible possession that was saved by Rubles being Johnny on the spot and putting it back. The guys with the ball are prone to settle for 3 pointers. 

6 of the 8 losses have seen UC blow a lead in the final 4 minutes. They were up 6 with 4:21 left. This team can not finish. Some of it is on Mick. He's the coach. He's gotta take responsibility. 

11 of the 36 points UConn scored in the second half and overtime were off Cincinnati turnovers. 

Speaking of turnovers, UC forced 6. At least 2 of them were UConn stepping out of bounds. I think another 2 were travels by Napier. UConn takes care of the ball very well, but the lack of turnovers means you don't score off of them. It also means that people can pick you apart. It happens to Notre Dame every year. It's happening to Cincinnati. 

Cashmere Wright started off the game 4-5 with 10 points and 3 assists in the first 12 and a half minutes. He finished the last 27:34 by going 0-7 with 2 assists and 2 turnovers. He had 2 turnovers and 1 assist in the second half. The turnover at the end of the game was kind of bullshit. Cash was 2-9 from 3. He had another game where he didn't get to the free throw line. That's 3 times in the last 4 games he hasn't attempted a free throw. Considering he's your point guard, that's a joke. He's got to get points any way he can get them. He's the best free throw shooter on the team. Get to the line. 

Justin Jackson scored both of his baskets in the first 10 minutes and that was all offensively. He had 3 rebounds in 21 minutes. Jackson turned the ball over 3 times to 1 assist. I don't know if illegal screens count as turnovers. He had 2 of those. 

David Nyarsuk got a surprise start and I have to say, he played very well. He didn't attempt a shot, but he moved the ball very well in the post. He had 2 assists. His conditioning is a bit of an issue, but he only played 13 minutes. We've seen him play 20 multiple times. Considering what the other big men brought to the table, I don't' know why Big Dave didn't play more. Maybe it was his lack of rebounding? He only had 2. He didn't have foul trouble. It seemed like he was the hot hand. Should have played more. 

Sean Kilpatrick might attempt 20 shots a game if he hangs around next season. UC is going to need some offense, even with Jermaine Lawrence. Kilpatrick is turning into a volume shooter. All of his percentages are down from last year. Except possession %. He's using 25.8% of the UC possessions when he's on the floor. Cash uses 23.4%, Parker 21.1%. 

That's good though, because Kilpatrick will take things into his hands. He had 13 of his 18 in the second half and OT. He was 5-12, 2-6 from 3 but just 1-2 at the line in that span. SK had a team high 7 rebounds. He didn't have an assist against 2 turnovers. I thought he played Napier very well. Until overtime. The 3 Shabazz made when SK turned his head made me irrationally angry. 

I don't know why Mick put Kilpatrick on the bench the entire time he had 2 fouls. Kilpatrick does not foul that often. I know he's a huge part to the team and you can't lose him to foul trouble, but Mick played Jackson with 2. Kilpatrick is 1000 times more important to the team than Jackson. Match him offense for defense if you must. I don't know why more coaches don't trust their players with 2 fouls. I don't agree with Dan Dakich on a lot, but I agree with him on this. 

JaQuon Parker came up big with 14 points on 7-12 shooting. He attempted 3 shots the last 21:25 minutes of regulation and overtime. 2 of those shots were in the final 15 seconds when the game was decided. In the box score, he had a very good game, 14 points, 5 boards, but he went ghost most of the second half and overtime. 

JaQuon, you are very important to this team. You can make the big shots. You can be the go to guy. You are very good. Every Bearcat fan loves watching you play and believes you can make plays. You have to believe it to. Put a mark on your senior season. You can do it. 

Cash, Parker and Kilpatrick scored 42 points. Napier, Daniels and Boatright scored 54. UC's bench isn't good enough to overcome that difference. 

Titus Rubles excluded. Rubles had 7 points on 3-6 shooting, 5 rebounds and a steal. Rubles was huge on the rebound that gave UC a temporary lead. He played some very tough defense. He also threw up another god awful shot with his foot on the 3 point line. It banked in because of course it did. That's at least 3 games in a row he's done this. Either step in or step back. Watch the puppies, Titus. 

Of course he ended up in foul trouble and fouled out. If you are a big man, you have to end up in foul trouble if you are playing well. It's like clockwork. 

Even with the foul trouble to all the bigs, Shaq Thomas played 10 minutes. He was 0-2, 2-2 from the stripe for 2 points. He had 3 rebounds and an assist to go with a steal. I don't know why he doesn't get more time. It's not like Sanders played that much last night either. 

Cheikh Mbodj played pretty awful last night. He had 4 on 1-3, 2-2 FTs and 4 rebounds. He suddenly turned into Cheikh Mutumbo late in the game. He blocked shots on back to back possessions to keep UC ahead by 1. Unfortunately the ball went out to UConn on the second block and the Huskies got to the line. But still, Mbodj rose to the occasion in that minute. That's why he plays so much. 

Mbodj had at least 3 threes hit in his face. You gotta close out, big man. Hand down, man down. 

Ge'Lawn Guyn came in the game and bombed like he was Russ Smith. In 11 minutes, Guyn attempted a career high 7 field goals. He was 2-7, 1-4 from 3. Say what you want, but I like it. Keep firing, Ge'Lawn. 

Jermaine Sanders played 12 minutes and didn't do much. He scored a layup very late. 

Kelvin Gaines played 2 minutes. He managed to attempt an awkward shot. I don't pity whoever has to work with him on his offense. 

Speaking of offense, the officiating was brutal. It was offensive to my eyes. Call things at both ends or don't call them at all. 

I really respect the job Kevin Ollie has done with his team. He always looks like he is perplexed by what is happening, but he gets the most out of those guys. 

Especially Shabazz Napier. He was up and down a lot of last year. He's turned into a superstar this season. The race for Big East Player of the Year is wide open. He's gotta have a leg in the race. He was 7-14, 6-9 from 3 for 27 points. He was 3-9 and not playing that well. Then he hit the game tying bucket, missed a potential game winner and went on to drill a trio of 3 pointers in overtime. He also played all 45 minutes. hell of a player. 

DeAndre Daniels had 17 on 6-10 shooting, including 3-4 from 3. I don't think he'll go 3-4 from 3 in Cincinnati. He's certainly more of a matchup problem for the big men than I think anyone anticipated. 

UC played great defense on Ryan Boatright, but this picture is cool. 

Mick Cronin's 1920-style pinstripe suit inspired a slew of mobster jokes. Make your own. 

Parker was pointing out a fan who made one. 

Let's get 'em Sunday. Go Bearcats

Photos via Cincinnati.com

The Cincinnati Bearcats fell 73-66 to the Connecticut Huskies in overtime tonight. Cue sad Dion Dixon.

 The warning signs have be to turned on. The sirens have to be going off. This team is in trouble. 2 losses in a row. 4 losses in 5 games. 5 losses in 8 games. The only wins were against up and down Villanova, awful 12th place Rutgers and awful 14th place Seton Hall. The Bearcats have lost back to back road games for this first time this season. Now they face a tough 3 game stretch at Notre Dame, home against UConn and at Louisville. Even though they haven't shown the propensity to do so lately, they have to take 2 of 3. Notre Dame is rather up and down themselves. UConn is what we saw tonight. Louisville is probably going to be a loss because they are better than Cincinnati.

The fact of the matter is, the Bearcats have to start winning. Sunday afternoon at Notre Dame is as close to a must win game as you can get in February. I don't think there should be NIT talk. The bubble is way too weak and UC's numbers are still very good. There is major seeding talk because Cincinnati is probably going to end up wearing their dark uniforms in the first round. This team needs something to happen. It starts on Sunday. It has to. I don't want to think about what would happen if it didn't. 

As for the game tonight, the first half was very fun. Cincinnati scored 11 points in the opening segment, the first time they hit double digits in the opening 4 or so minutes since December 15. Then the defense went in the tank. Connecticut scored 37 first half points to break out to a 37-34 halftime lead. Things slowed down in a major way in the second half. Connecticut didn't score for 9 minutes. Cincinnati didn't make a field goal in 6. Yet the Bearcats still trailed 45-43. 

UC would take a lead after a timeout and go up 6 with 4:21 to go. Just like New Mexico, Syracuse, Pitt, Georgetown and the rest of the losses it seems, Cincinnati couldn't finish. They scored 2 points the last 4:21. UConn closed on a 8-2 run. The 2 points were absolutely huge because they came off a missed 3 and gave UC the lead. The Bearcats had a horrible over and back call go against them that gave UConn a chance to win. Shabazz Napier missed a tough layup to send the game to overtime. 

In that overtime, Napier took over. He drilled a 3 to start it. After a Mbodj put back, Napier hit another 3. With UC down 3 with a minute left, Shabazz drilled a third 3 to put the Bearcats away. 

The Bearcats gave up 18 second half points. They gave up 18 points in overtime. 

Keeping with the 18 theme, Sean Kilpatrick had 18 for Cincinnati. He got it on 16 field goal attempts. He had a team high 7 boards. Cashmere Wright started off so hot, going 4-5 for 10 points and 4 assists in the first half. He was 0-7 with 1 assist the rest of the game. He attempted 0 free throws. 

The good thing about the team is that JaQuon Parker went 7-12 for 14 points. He had 5 rebounds. He continued his hot steak. He only attempted 2 shots the last 16 minutes of regulation and the 5 minutes of overtime if I read the play by play correctly. That's clearly not good enough. 

Shabazz Napier wasn't playing that well. He got off to a hot start, but went into a funk for most of the game. He had 14 points the first 39 minutes. He scored the game tying layup. He scored 11 points in overtime. That's 13 points in 5:43. He had 27 points on 7-14 shooting, 6-8 from 3 and 7-8 from the foul line. He absolutely took over in winning time. 

UC put the hooks into Ryan Boatright, 3-12, 9 points, but they couldn't stop DeAndre Daniels. Daniels had 17 points on 6-10 shooting. He hit 3-4 from 3 and 2-3 at the line. He had 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. He was very impressive. I really like the way this UConn team plays. Kevin Ollie gets his guys to play hard no matter their short bench and their deficiencies. They never quit. He's doing a hell of a job and would be my choice for Big East coach of the year. 

More coming tomorrow. Box score from SI. 

CINCINNATI(19-8)

	MIN	REB (O/D)	AST	FG-A	FT-A	3P-A	PF	ST	TO	BLK	PTS
Parker *	39	5 (2/3)	0	7-12	0-0	0-1	4	0	2	0	14
Wright *	38	2 (1/1)	5	4-12	0-0	2-9	0	0	3	0	10
Kilpatrick *	34	7 (2/5)	0	6-16	3-4	3-8	3	0	2	0	18
Jackson *	21	3 (0/3)	1	2-3	0-0	0-0	5	0	3	1	4
Nyarsuk *	13	2 (1/1)	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0
Mbodj	24	4 (2/2)	0	1-3	2-2	0-0	1	0	0	4	4
Rubles	21	5 (3/2)	0	3-6	1-2	0-0	5	1	1	0	7
Sanders	12	1 (0/1)	0	1-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0	2
Guyn	11	1 (0/1)	0	2-7	0-0	1-4	1	0	0	1	5
Thomas	10	3 (1/2)	1	0-2	2-2	0-0	0	1	0	0	2
Gaines	2	1 (1/0)	0	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	0	34 (13/21)	9	26-63	8-10	6-22	22	2	12	6	66
				41.3%	80.0%	27.3%
* Starters

CONNECTICUT(18-7)

	MIN	REB (O/D)	AST	FG-A	FT-A	3P-A	PF	ST	TO	BLK	PTS
Napier *	45	2 (1/1)	3	7-14	7-8	6-9	3	1	4	0	27
Boatright *	43	1 (0/1)	5	3-12	2-2	1-5	1	1	1	0	9
Calhoun *	38	6 (1/5)	1	2-3	6-9	0-0	2	2	0	0	10
Daniels *	37	5 (0/5)	0	6-10	2-3	3-4	3	1	1	4	17
Olander *	32	2 (0/2)	3	1-6	2-2	0-0	2	0	0	0	4
Giffey	24	4 (2/2)	0	2-5	1-1	0-1	1	1	0	0	5
Evans	3	0 (0/0)	0	0-1	1-2	0-0	0	0	0	0	1
Nolan	3	0 (0/0)	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	0	20 (4/16)	12	21-51	21-27	10-19	12	6	6	4	73
				41.2%	77.8%	52.6%
* Starters