Cincinnati v. Dayton Flyers NIT Preview

The NCAA tournament has been going crazy, but there is another tournament running wild. It's called the NIT. And it features the Cincinnati Bearcats. Since only 2,200 showed up to the Weber St game, I'm guessing that a little more care about the game tonight at 9, as the Bearcats play host to the Dayton Flyers. Bearcats Blog will be in the house tonight. I'll be the guy sporting the Field Williams autographed hat. I know there are so many of those going around, but think of it as a where's Waldo. The Bearcats and Flyers haven't played in a couple years. The last time they played was in Las Vegas in the 05-06 season, and the Bearcats won by 18. They played earlier that season as well, with Dayton winning at 5/3. But, I'm going with the story that the Flyers haven't beaten Cincinnati in nearly 5 years. How do the Dayton Flyers and the Cincinnati Bearcats match up in the battle of 1-75 as Go Bearcats calls it? Let's hit it.

KenPom Offense/Defense Rank: 111/52
Notable Stats: 29.6 Three Point Percent (322), 63% Free Throw Percent (330) 38.5 Offensive Rebounding Percent (18)

Minutes

1. Deonta Vaughn 30.3
2. Lance Stephenson 28.2
3. Yancy Gates 25.7
4. Cashmere Wright 18.1
5. Ibrahima Thomas 17.9

Points

1. Lance Stephenson 12.3
2. Deonta Vaughn 11.2
3. Yancy Gates 10.6
4. Ibrahima Thomas 5.7
5. Cashmere Wright 5.5

Rebounds

1. Yancy Gates 6
2. Lance Stephenson 5.3
3. Ibrahima Thomas 5.3
4. Deonta Vaughn 3.5
5. Steve Toyloy 3.4

Assists

• Deonta Vaughn 3.5
• Lance Stephenson 2.4
• Cashmere Wright 2

Steals

• Deonta Vaughn 1.1

Blocks

• Yancy Gates 0.9

KenPom Offense/Defense Rank: 110/9
Notable Stats: 27.5 Opponent Offensive Rebound Rate (13) 45.1 Opponent Effective Field Goal % (32) 43.8 Two Point % Defense (33)

Minutes

1. Chris Wright 28.4
2. Marcus Johnson 24.3
3. Chris Johnson 24
4. Kurt Huelsman 21.5
5. Paul Williams 20.5

Scoring

1. Chris Wright 14
2. Chris Johnson 11.5
3. Marcus Johnson 8.6
4. Rob Lowery 7.5
5. Mickey Perry 5.7

Rebounding

1. Chris Wright 7.2
2. Chris Johnson 6.8
3. Kurt Huelsman 4.3
4. London Warren 3.3
5. Marcus Johnson 3.1

Assists

• London Warren 4.2
• Rob Lowery 3.6

Steals

• London Warren 1.2

Blocks

• Chris Wright 1.5

The big key to this game is going to be rebounding. If Cincinnati can crash the offensive glass, they have a great shot at winning. Cincinnati has really been playing solid lately, while the Flyers have been up and down. They swooned to the finish in the A-14, but they have a lot of quality players. Chris Wright stole James White's nickname, but he's a tremendous player. The Dayton defense, like most other A-14 defenses, is very solid. The Cats are going to have to earn their points tonight. A prolonged scoring slump is to be expected. It's to be expected in every game, but especially in this case, where Dayton can really put the clamps down. The Bearcats playing at home gives them the advantage in my eyes. I don't know how much of an advantage it will be now that I think about it, but I will be in the house, and that's more than enough.

Prediction: Cincinnati 73 Dayton 67

Cincinnati 76 Weber State 62

(AP/Al Behrman)

Since you didn't go to the game, you missed out on history. Deonta Vaughn powered UC in their first round NIT game with a win over Weber State. Vaughn got assist 505 to become the all time leader in assists. In the second half, Vaughn drilled a 3 to pass Darnell Burton and take the title of most 3 pointers made in a career. It was a special night for #5. Vaughn needs 26 pass to pass Danny Fortson for 3rd place all time in scoring. Congratulations to Deonta. Monday night, Cincinnati plays host to Dayton at 9 pm. Will Bearcats Blog be there? Maybe. It won't be hard to get a ticket apparently. Let's get on to the recap.

The game started off slowly, as we only had 2 baskets made the first 4 minutes. They were 3s from Ibrahima Thomas, and Lance Stephenson. Damian Lillard hit a 3 for the first points for the Wildcats, followed by a Steve Panos lay up. Darnell Wilks hit another UC 3, answered by a Nick Hansen triple. The Wildcats took a 10-9 lead on a Trevor Morris lay up. Cincinnati took the lead after the under 12, as Dion Dixon hit a couple of free throws. The half started off incredibly sloppy. Lots of missed shots and turnovers. The free throws started a 7-0 UC run, with a Thomas dunk, and a Jaquan Parker steal, lay up, foul and free throw. The Wildcats went on a 9-4 advantage to cut the lead to 20-19. Morris hit a jumper, Ibby made a pair for free throws for UC, Lindsey Hughey scored a lay up, Thomas was stripped for a Morris layup, Stephenson hit a pair of free throws and Hughey drilled a 3. UC would respond with a monster run, thanks to their press the last 6:30. Lance hit another 3, Vaughn got a steal, passed to Cashmere Wright for a jam. Another turnover on the inbound pass led to Vaughn hitting Stephenson for a lay up and the assist record. On another turnover, Vaughn hit Cash for 3. Things slowed down for the next minute, until Cash picked Lillard and threw ahead to Wilks, who threw down a reverse pump jam. 

Weber State turned the ball over yet again into the under 4, leading to a Stephenson jumper. A minute later, a Gates steal turned into a Wilks miss, a Cash rebound and assist to Vaughn for 3. The 17-0 run ended on a Lillard 3. He made another trey to cut the lead to 12, but at the end of the half, Vaughn hit Larry Davis for 3. The 20-6 run gave UC a 40-25 halftime lead. Weber St had 15 turnovers.

Steve Panos got the second half scoring started with a 15 footer. UC's first points came on Vaughn's record breaking 3. Weber St took a timeout after the make, allowing the crowd to acknowledge Vaughn's assist and 3 point record. Wilks showed off his athleticism in the next sequence. He blocked a shot from behind, and followed that by slamming down an alley oop from Lance, with a foul. Lillard and Gates traded lay ups, then Lillard and Vaughn traded 3s, and we went to the under 16 with UC up 50-32. The lead went to 20 on a pair of Vaughn free throws. Panos and Gates traded a layup and a wide open dunk respectively. Hughey drew a foul, and missed the first 2 free throws for Weber State of the game. They came at the 13 minute mark. Morris scored a basket with a foul, making the free throw to cut the lead to 17. Lance Stephenson made a lay up, and that kicked Weber State into a run. Mahoney made a layup, Lillard a scoop layup, Mahoney 2 free throws, Hughey a lay up, foul, free throw, and Bullinger was fouled, making 1 of 2. Cincinnati settled for jump shots, going 0 for 8, highlighted by an airballed Lance Stephenson 3, in which he was wide open. The 11-0 run ended when Vaughn found Jaquan Parker for 3. Hansen answered right back though. Cash scored a lay up at the 7 minute mark to push the lead to 10, but ended up hurting his hip. Weber kept the lead close. After Larry Davis made a pair of free throws, Lillard scored a lay up and 2 free throws to cut the lead to 8. UC would put the smack down to close things out though. Ibrahima Thomas hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 10. Yancy Gates blocked Panos, who was falling away. Coach Rahe of the Wildcats thought it was a foul. He argued his case poorly and received a technical foul. Vaughn stepped up and made both. Gates got another block, leading to Larry Davis hitting a jumper to make it 69-55 at the under 4. Gates pushed the lead to 16 after he pulled down an offensive rebound, looked to pass out, but turned around and scored. Deonta Vaughn drilled a 4th triple, making the UC total 11, a season high. Lillard and Gates traded layups, before Hansen made a pair of free throws. Eddie Tyree and Alex Eppensteiner got some run the last minute. Eppensteiner got a trillion without touching the ball, but Tyree was stripped, leading to an alley oop to Tyree, who was fouled and made the free throw to end the scoring. 

Cincinnati shot 25-64 39%, 11-28 39%, 15-16 at the stripe, with 33 rebounds, 11 offensive. UC had a whooping 21 assists on the night, probably a season high. Deonta Vaughn had a great game with 16-5-7 assists-2 steals, Lance Stephenson 14, Ibrahima Thomas 9-5, Yancy Gates 8-6-3 steals-2 blocks, Larry Davis 7, Cashmere Wright 7-5 assists, Darnell Wilks 7, Jaquan Parker 6-5, and Dion Dixon 2-4. Weber State was 21-47 44.7%, 7-18, 13-17 at the line, with 30 rebounds, 4 offensive. They turned the ball over 22 times. Damian Lillard went for 26, Trevor Morris 9-4, Lindsey Hughey 8-6-4 assists, Steve Panos 6-4, Darin Mahoney 4, and Kyle Bullinger 1. 

Cincinnati was pretty energetic considering they had no one show up to watch them play. 2,200 was the attendance according to the Enquirer. The Cincinnati Enquirer, not the tabloid paper. It's all about winning, and that's something that the Bearcats did tonight. That's the good thing. Up next, it's the Dayton Flyers. Dayton hasn't won a game in Cincinnati since 1834. Let's see that streak continue. It's March people, get up for this. 

Quick NIT results: 2 Rhode Island 76 7 Northwestern 64, 1 Virginia Tech 81 8 Quinnipiac 61, 3 Dayton 63 6 Illinois St 42, 4 Kent State 75 5 Tulsa 74, 2 Mississippi 84 7 Troy 65, 3 Memphis 73 6 St John's 71, 6 Nevada 73 3 Wichita State 70, and 1 Illinois 76 8 Stony Brook 66. 

South Florida 65 Cincinnati 57

(Tampa Tribune/Chris Urso)

In another typical dismal road effort, the South Florida Bulls (16-9, 6-7) beat down the Cincinnati Bearcats (15-10, 6-7) 65-57. And it wasn't even that close. I was optimistic that this team had turned the road corner, and thought that this late in the season, 2 weeks after getting humiliated on the road against Notre Dame, that Cincinnati would have the road woes straightened out. Turns out, I was wrong. The Bearcats had a late flurry to cut the margin to something a more respectable. I am on the record of saying that we shouldn't look ahead, and I'm keeping with that. Sunday afternoon against Marquette is the biggest game of the season. It's not a must win because the season isn't on the line, but it's the next closest thing. Let's not skim over this one though, as nice as that would be. First off, South Florida played hard, and made all the plays necessary to win. Their zone had UC baffled, and they made shots. I hope that they can string together another streak, and make a run at the NCAAs. It's the underdog champion in me. The Bulls were lead by, of course, Dominique Jones. Jones poured in 26 on just 12 shots, because he made 10-12 free throws. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Mike Mercer had 12-2 steals. Augustus Gilchrist (pictured) was rusty in his second game back, but had 10-6. Anthony Crater had 9 off the bench. Chris Howard had 4 points, but 7 assists. The other 4 were scored by Toarlyn Fitzpatrick. UC was lead by Deonta Vaughn. The senior scored most of his points late, and finished with 14-2 assists-2 steals. Cashmere Wright had 14, 11 in the second half, and 5 boards. Ibrahima Thomas had 5-7 rebounds, but every board in the first half. Darnell Wilks had 5 in garbage time. Rashad Bishop put in 6. Lance Stephenson scored 4, all coming early, and only played 20 minutes. Dion Dixon and Yancy Gates had 3, Jaquan Parker 2, and Steve Toyloy 1 to go with 5 rebounds. 

The first 12 minutes set basketball back 80 years, as AstroBull kindly said on twitter. The game started with a jumper by Stephenson, and a 3 by Jones. The 2 trash talked nearly the whole first half. Rashad Bishop made a jumper, and USF got 1 free throw from Chris Howard and 1 from Jones to take a 5-4 at 15:45. Cashmere Wright scored off a lay up out of the timeout. The teams went into a prolonged slump. UC missed bunnies, and USF missed mainly jumpers. There were shot clock violations, airballs, wild passes and a couple turnovers. USF scored at the 13 minute mark with a Mike Mercer j, that was quickly answered with Yancy Gates' only basket. Steve Toyloy threw a pass right to Anthony Crater, who scored a lay up. The 9-8 score at 11:15 was highlighted by UC going 4-14, 0-3, 0-2 at the stripe, and USF going 3-7, 1-2, 2-4 with 3 turnovers. It was worse than it looks. Crater scored again after the break, leading to a pathetic sequence. Gates would be blocked by Alex Rivas, USF turnover, UC turnover, Gus Gilchrist had a great upfake, losing Thomas, but blew the dunk, and Dion Dixon dropped the rebound out of bounds. Dom Jones scored after that. Deonta Vaughn stepped on the timeline for a turnover, USF threw away the inbound pass, Jaquan Parker traveled, and Lance Stephenson couldn't grab a rebound and flipped the ball right to Anthony Crater, who passed to Mike Mercer for 3. Truly terrible basketball. UC went from the 12:29 mark to 7:10 without a basket before Jaquan Parker scored a lay up. At the 6:54 break, it was 15-10. Out of the break, 20% 3 shooter Mercer would hit another trey. UC went zone after this for I believe the rest of the game. UC got the points back on an Ibrahima Thomas basket and foul. Lance hit 2 free throws to make it a 3 point game, 18-15. USF got the next 4 on a Mercer j from the elbow, and 2 Jones free throws. UC went on a 7 point run with a Toyloy free throw, a Vaughn 3, a Thomas j and a Cash free throw to tie the score at 22. Crater made the last field goal of the half, and Gates scored the last point of the half on a free throw, giving us a 24-23 score. UC was 8-24, 1-6, a horrible 6-13, with 15 rebounds, 8 offensive, and 6 turnovers. They were lead by Thomas 5-7(5 offensive) Lance 4, 2 fouls, 3 Vaughn, Gates, Wright, 2 Parker, 1 Toyloy. USF was 9-23, 2-6, 4-6, 15 rebounds 5 offensive, 7 turnovers. Lead by Mercer 9, Jones 7-4, Crater 6, Howard 2-4 assists.

USF jumped on UC right from the whistle to start the half. Toarlyn Fitzpatrick scored the first non-guard points for USF. Gilchrist nailed a 3, probably the shot pictured, causing a UC timeout. Jones would hit a jumper, and get a steal from Gates into a break away lay up that put him 5th all time in USF scoring, and the Bulls up 10 at the 15:52 mark. UC's possessions were  

1. A Mercer steal of Stephenson
2. Stephenson taking a bad shot, followed by a Thomas missed put back
3. Vaughn throwing away the inbound pass after the timeout at 17:51
4. An offensive foul by Ibrahima
5. A Stephenson turnover
6. A Vaughn airball

Cash came out of the break with a lay up off a Gates steal for the Cats first basket of the half at 15:30. UC hadn't scored a field goal in 6:30 of game time, and had just 1 point in that frame. Jones hit 1 of 2 at the line at 15:25 and more ugliness set in. Stephenson and Jones threw away passes. Cash took a wild lay up that hit the top of the backboard. USF would travel. Dixon and Gates would miss. Jones would miss. Deonta Vaughn missed a lay up that started a USF breakout for Crater to put USF up 11, 36-25 at 12:50. Cash would bank home a runner for UC's second basket of the half, but the zone defense was broken for a wide open dunk for Gilchrist off a Howard pass. Dion Dixon came down and threw a pass right to Alex Rivas. Fitzpatrick would draw a foul for USF, and it was a 38-27 game with 11:27 left. The teams combined for 24 turnovers at this point. Fitzpatrick made both the free throws off the timeout for a 13 point lead. Dixon hit a jumper from the elbow for UC, but USF got the points back off free throws. Mercer hit only 1 of 2, but Gates dropped the rebound out of bounds. Jones,fouled on the inbound play, made 1 of 2. He got hot with that. He hit a jumper, 2 free throws, and a press breaking lay up around a made free throw by Dixon and Wright. The lead was 18. UC had a mini-run, with a Bishop dunk, Wright put back, Bishop jumper, and a Dixon steal where he went to the floor to flip the ball to Wright for a lay up. USF had a Gilchrist free throw after the Bishop dunk. UC blew a couple of chances to make things interesting quickly. Wright got a steal, but threw the ball away. Wright got a rebound off a subsequent Jones missed 3, sent an outlet to a cherry picking Ibrahima Thomas, but Thomas lost the ball while waiting for a flying USF player to go by before he went for his lay up. That sequence was fitting of the blown opportunities. At 3:44, it was 50-39. Crater fired a pass to Howard, who hit a reverse lay up, out of the break. Vaughn, who finally woke up, hit 2 free throws, then Gilchrist hit 2 fts, then Vaughn made a lay up and drew a foul for a 54-44 score with 2:44 left. USF broke the UC press easily with a Crater to Mercer lay up. Vaughn was fouled and hit 1 of 2. Dominique Jones dribbled out nearly the whole shot clock, and managed to shake Dixon for an open 3 that sent up a big "USF" chant from the crowd. The game ended with a Gilchrist dunk from a Jones pass off a press break, 2 Vaughn free throws, 1 Crater free throw, 2 Wright fts, 2 Jones fts, a Darnell Wilks 3, 1 Jones ft, and a Wilks put back.

UC shot 19-49, 3-11, 16-26, grabbing 28 rebounds, 14 offensive, with FOUR assists against 15 turnovers. USF was 21-43, 4-10, 19-26, with 23 boards, 8 offensive, 13 assists, 15 turnovers. 

All in all, a truly awful UC performance. At no point in the second half did anyone but the most homeriffic UC fan think they had a chance to win. There was no fire. There was no determination. No one stepped up when the going was tough and made things happen. Deonta scored 9 straight at the end, but come on man, you need to do that in the middle of the game. Where was that at the 12 minute mark? UC got nothing from the front court, nothing from Lance. Cash played well off the bench, which was the only positive. Thomas rebounded well in the first half, which is half a positive. I want to talk about what Mick said after the game, but that might come later today or Thursday. 

2 final thoughts. 

1. I don't know what kind of offense this team runs. A new assistant needs to be hired in the offseason to install an offense. Guys standing around dribbling doesn't work. No one looks inside. No one looks for anyone off the wing. Everyone looks out for themselves. 4 fucking assists is pathetic. This team can't shoot, so maybe that had something to do with it, but share the ball.

2. I don't know what kind of mental toughness this team has. They pretty much folded, besides an 8-1 run when USF took the foot off the pedal. They don't show up on the road for 40 minutes. UAB, Notre Dame, and last night were no shows. Seton Hall, St John's, and Louisville were partial efforts. But, all 6 of those games were losses. The only road game they played tough in the whole way though was Xavier. And in that game, like St John's, they couldn't close out a late lead and blew it. I really don't know what this team is. 

Bulls Batter Bearcats

Dominique Jones (pictured) scored 26 points and had 5 rebounds as South Florida beat Cincinnati 65-57. The Bulls built an 18 point lead in the second half against a rather disinterested Bearcats team before letting up at the end. The game was incredibly ugly. UC was 19-49, 3-11, and a disgusting 16-26 at the stripe. Deonta Vaughn finished with 14, most coming late as he had 9 in a row near the end, as did Cashmere Wright. UC had 14 offensive rebounds, but couldn't make many shots off those. South Florida shot 21-43, 4-10, and  19-26. The Bulls and Bearcats combined for 32 turnovers, both 16. The score at the half was 24-23 USF, and UC didn't show up to start the second. USF scored 21 of the first 27, and that was basically your ball game. A terrible effort at a time where we can't afford them. UC is 15-10, 6-7. South Florida is 16-9, 6-7. Congratulations to the Bulls, they played hard and deserved it. More tomorrow.

The Bench

Because everyone and their sister wrote about Deonta Vaughn struggling yesterday (I'm looking at you Mike DeCoursey and the Enquirer), I decided to write about the bench play. With Vaughn struggling, and Lance Stepheson being handcuffed at times, who is picking up their slack off the pine?

The best way to do this is to break down every game and see how well the bench played statistically. We are just breaking down UC's bench, not the starters. The opponent numbers are just bench numbers, no starters. I got all the box scores from ESPN, so if they are wrong with who started, it's their fault. The high is for the bench high, not the game high. Keep that in mind. This is long, so there is a jump.

UC Notes

Tomorrow is National Signing Day, so there are a bevy of recruiting notes flying around. I thought it would be prudent to post them here so we are all informed. Tomorrow will be a breakdown of all the signing action, and class ranks and what have you.

The first note is from basketball. On the heels of his outstanding performance against Providence, Cashmere Wright is the Big East Freshman of the week. Congrats out to Cash, let's keep it going.

A couple Senior Bowl notes to start. 

• Tony Pike started and was 5-12 45 yards. Tony also had 1 run for 6 yards. Not a great day. 
• Mardy Gilyard had a huge day with 5 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. He also averaged 26 yards on kick returns, and 12 on punt returns. 
• Mardy's success was noted by CBS' Rob Rang. 

Recruiting news and rumors and news.

• Winton Woods product Dominique Brown made his collegiate decision, and it was Louisville. The sticking point between UC, Ohio State and UofL was playing quarterback. I guess he wasn't going to see action in Columbus or Cincy the next couple years, and Louisville's QB prospects are wide open after roughly half the state of Kentucky took snaps last season. 
• Former UC recruit Luke Massa ended up choosing to attend Notre Dame. This wasn't a surprise because he's in love with Brian Kelly, and he would follow BK through the gates of hell. Luke Massa is really dedicated. 
• North Ft. Meyers WR Tre Boston, such an awesome name, was going to attend UC, but has chosen to go to smelly North Carolina. I don't know why someone as cool as Tre would want to go to a place where you aren't allowed to wear shoes, and where there is so much tar lying around that it will get stuck to your heels. Seems like a bad place.
• In the 'maybe good news' department, the much more awesomely named Munchie Legaux has cut his choices down to UC, and CU. Munchie is a dual threat QB who plans on majoring in sports medicine. According to himself he has "good lower body mechanics, and looks to pass first." This kid sounds like a winner. I don't know much, but when the chips fall, I want Munchie Legaux on my side. (It's the second item here. Don't be fooled by the headline.)
• Let's wrap things up with some good news shall we? We shall, good call. WR Anthony McClung, from Pike HS and teammate of Dyjuan Lewis, had switched from Louisville to Cincinnati. Anthony is a do it all slot receiver, and I think he could make a big impact at UC. He was a Wildcat QB for his team, and it would be interesting to see if he would perform that role here. McClung chose UC after not being sure what was happening with Louisville. He said Louisville tried to switch his position and grey(red) shirt him. With McClung, Lewis and Vidal Hazelton joining the fray, UC looks to be loaded at receiver.

That's all for this Tuesday edition of UC Notes. I know you are all waiting for Lost tonight, and anything you can get your hands on to pass the time is gravy. I have no idea when national signing day ends, but I'll put something up right after, and I'll try my best to keep you updated through the day.

Cincinnati 92 Providence 88

(Enquirer)

Cashmere Wright's career high 24 propelled the Bearcats to their second highest point total of the season, and win 14 (14-7 5-4), as the Cats outgunned the Providence Friars (12-9 4-5) 92-88. Cash's 24 were the 6th time a Bearcat scored 20 this season. It was also a UC season high, and UC high in any game against Providence. The Friars are known for not playing the best defense, and the Bearcats sure took advantage of that Saturday night, shooting 32-58 for a whooping 57%. The Bearcats also kept up the good 3 point shooting by going 8-18. Free throwing shooting was terrible, and it almost let the Friars back in the game. The Cats were 20-41. Awful. Rashad Bishop had 16-6 for Cincinnati, Lance Stephenson (9 rebounds) and Deonta Vaughn 12, and Darnell Wilks surprised with 10. Wright also had 4 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. For PC, Sharaud Curry matched a career high with 27. Jamine Peterson had 19, Marshon Brooks 12, and Vincent Council put up 10-5-6 assists. The Bearcats kept serve at home, which is important as they head back on the road where they have struggled. Let's take a look at how the game played out.

Action started with the teams putting shots on each other's faces. Providence made 3 triples to start the game, before Cashmere Wright scored UC's first 7. Peterson would make another 3, and PC lead 16-12 4 minutes in. Providence would nail their first 6 from deep in a lights out start. Rashad Bishop scored 8 of his points early in keeping the Cats close. Lance Stephenson did not start, and didn't enter until the 14 minute mark. He must be having problems with the ankle. Providence would build a 6 point lead as we hit the under 12 timeout, 24-18. Darnell Wilks entered the game and had a scoring explosion. Well as far as Darnell Wilks goes. Wilks scored off a hook, a left hand lay up, and a monster dunk back (pictured here). Wilks had 4 points the last 5 games, and scored 6 in 1:21. Stephenson added some points around a Peterson jumper, and the Cats had tied the game. Something unseen this season occurred after Marshon Brooks made a Friars 3. Lance Stephenson hit a 3 pointer for Cincinnati. This is the first time IN HIS CAREER Lance has made 3s in back to back games. No joke. The teams would trade the lead for the rest of the half with fast paced action. Wright would hit Bishop to give UC it's first lead, and it's second after Cash hit a 3 of his own. PC answered with a Duke Mondy 3. Curry, Vaughn, Peterson, Stephenson and Bilal Dixon, Vaughn again, and Wright all scored as the half came to a close at 44 all. Providence shot 50% in everything the half. 17-34 8-16 2-4. Peterson lead the way with 14-3-2 blocks, Curry had 9, and Coucil had 4 boards, 3 assists. UC shot 17-33 5-11 5-8, lead by Wright's 13-3 assists-3 steals. Bishop had 10, Lance 7, and Wilks 6. One player who did nothing was Yancy Gates. There were lots of people who though Yancy would have a big day against PC, but he was invisible for the most part.

Cincinnati started the second half by jumping out to a 5 point lead. Ibrahima Thomas scored 2 of his 4, and Rashad Bishop hit from 3. Peterson hit a 3, and Vaughn followed with his only 3 for UC. The Friars scratched even with Peterson's last basket for the game, and 2 free throws by Curry. The Friars took a 3 point lead at 60-57 after a Council 3 and a steal and breakaway dunk on Darnell Wilks' head by Marshon Brooks. That would seem to fire the Bearcats up. Yancy Gates scored his first field goal on a putback dunk, and followed with a steal as Providence was bringing the ball up the court. PC would foul, and the score would be 60-59 at 11:57. After the break, Cash got to the rim, scored, and got fouled. He would miss the free throw, but Lance Stephenson would get the rebound and get fouled. He would miss both though. On the next trip for UC, Cash would miss a rare field goal attempt, but Bishop cleaned it up for a 3 point UC lead. Cash picked a Providence pocket and raced down the court for a dunk. Stephenson followed that with a lay up, and UC was on a 10-0 run. Peterson would miss 2 free throws, PC was 9-18 at the stripe all night, and Cash would hit a dagger 3 for a 10 point UC lead. The lead stayed 10 down to the 3:58 mark, with UC ahead 75-65. Providence would press, and UC took advantage. The Cats broke pressure for a Gates dunk off a nice pass from Wright, a Gates alley oop from near half court by Lance, and 2 Stephenson free throws for a 81-67 lead. The Cats would let the lead slip due to poor free throw shooting. Deonta Vaughn hadn't missed a free throw in Big East play, and the percentages caught up to him. Vaughn was 5-10 on the day. Cash was great from the field, but only 3-7 at the stripe. My best friend Dion Dixon entered the game with 2 minutes left and UC up 12, and continued the funk he was in during the Louisville game. Dixon committed a turnover, after Vaughn made 2 free throws, would miss 2 fts, and Curry hit a PC 3. Dixon would then throw away the inbound pass up 8, but PC couldn't capitalize. Vaughn hit 1 free throw. The Friars missed a shot on their next possession, and fouled Wright, who made both. Was an 88-77 lead with 39.7 left safe? No. Curry made a lay up, Jaquon Parker (who only played 9 minutes, had 6 points 3 rebounds) made both free throws. On the other end, PC got a traditional 3 point play by Brooks. Vaughn made 1 of 2, and Curry drilled a 3. Cash missed both foul shots, and Curry made another 3 to cut the lead to 3 with 6.6 left. Parker would add to the drama by missing his first free throw. But Parker iced the game with his second, and provided us with the final. 

All in all, it was a nice win. The defense seems to be going to hell, which is a very bad sign with offensive minded Notre Dame on Thursday. It was nice to win, despite nothing from Gates and Toyloy. Gates had 7-7, and Toyloy had 3 turnovers to 1 point, 1 rebound. The free throw shooting was horrendous. Bishop was 1-4, Wright 3-7, Vaughn 5-10, Stephenson 3-6, and Dixon 0-2. The offensive rebounding was gone as well, only 8. The Bearcats couldn't afford to lose this game, and winning it was nice. Let's hope Mick has the boys ready to make a run, because the going is getting tough from now on. 

Bearcats too much for Friars

(Enquirer/Jeff Swinger)

The Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 14-7, 5-4 in the Big East, with a 92-88 win over the Providence Friars. Providence is now 12-9, and 4-5 in conference. The Bearcats were powered by a career day from Cashmere Wright. Cash went for 24-4-5 assists-3 steals in his first start since December 16. Darnell Wilks tossed in 10 points, including the monster dunk back that's pictured. For the Friars, Sharaud Curry matched his career high with 27. Jamine Peterson had 19. 

The game was like the opposite of Louisville game. The Bearcats fell behind 9-3 and Providence couldn't miss. The Friars made their first 6 3s, and had a 26-19 lead halfway through the 1st half. Wright and Wilks would power the UC offense, and the Cats were able to match the Friars 44 at the half. The Bearcats went on a 13-0 run down 60-57 in one of their best 5 minutes of the season. The lead would be 9 with 25 seconds left, but due to missed free throws by Deonta Vaughn and Wright, Curry would hit 2 shots from deep to make it a 3 point game. Jaquan Parker made a free throw with 5 second left to seal it. 

This was a nice win for UC, as they have to win against similar teams to them if they want to make the NCAA tournament. More on Monday. 

Know Your Opponent: Providence Friars edition

The Bearcats look to bounce back after a tough loss at Louisville, and nearly a week off, as they host the Providence Friars Saturday night at 8 on ESPNU. The Friars are coming off a huge win over Connecticut Wednesday. The Friars and Bearcats are both 4-4 in the Big East. This is a pivotal game as a result. The first round bye is huge in the Big East tournament, and there is some other tournament in March. How do the 13-7 Bearcats and 12-8 Friars stack up? What a great question. See the answer after the jump.
Last thing. If you want to read about Providence until your eyes bleed, check out our good friends FriarBlog and  Friars Basketball. I'm pretty sure there's nothing to do in Rhode Island besides talk about Providence and watch Family Guy.

Louisville 68 Cincinnati 60

I'm going to be honest. I don't know what sad UC picture to use up top. I don't know wether to go with team sad

Ibrahima Thomas sad

Or Lance Stephenson sad

(All photos courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer)

So I went with all 3. Any way you slice it, this was a disappointing loss for the Bearcats (13-7 4-4). They had plenty of chances to change the game down the stretch, but they let them go. This wasn't a choke job like the loss against St John's, but it stung nearly as bad. The Cardinals, 13-7 4-3, deserve all credit and played well in getting the win. The Cardinal that came out of seemingly nowhere and was the game changer was Reginald Delk. Delk went for 13-11 and made the back breaking 3 with 6 minutes left after UC cut the lead to 2. Edgar Sosa and Samardo Samuels both went for 14, but Delk was the man who changed this one. The game changer for the Cats was Cashmere Wright. Cash had 10 straight points to bring UC back into the game in the second half after trailing by 12. But, with 2 minutes left, apparently Cash asked out of the game. I don't know how true this is, but if it is, you have to dig deep Cash. The team needed you late, and you can't ask out of the game in that scenario. That's a no-no. Despite that, Cash had 12, along with Lance Stephenson 12-6-3, Deonta Vaughn 12-5 assists, and Yancy Gates 12-5-3. Ibby Thomas pulled down 7 rebounds to go with 5 points, and Jaquan Parker had 5 boards with just 3 points.

With the lineup of Paker, Vaughn, Stephenson Thomas and Gates, the Bearcats came out on fire. Ibrahima Thomas hit a 3, and when he took another the next trip, Lance Stephenson followed with a put back. Lance would nail a 3 of his own and UC was up 8-0. Stephenson would slam home an offensive rebound, and net a jumper to give UC a 12-4 lead at the under 16 time out. Stephenson scored his last points on a 3 with 13:45 to go in the half with UC up 15-4. Yancy Gates scored a couple of baskets and UC dominated the glass 10-1 and had 9 second chance points. Louisville would cut the lead to 5 on back to back 3s by Delk and Peyton Siva (10-3 assists-3 steals). Rashad Bishop scored his only 4 on a lay up when UC broke the UofL press, and on free throws. UC lead 23-14, but the Cardinal zone/man to man hybrid defense really started bogging the Cats down. UC couldn't get the ball inside, and seemed to not know what to do. Louisville cut the lead to 1 off a Delk put back, a Jerry Smith lay up (7-2 steals) and a Terrence Jennings hook. Deonta Vaughn answered back with a 3. UC was 4-9 from deep at this point. UC would miss 3 triples in a row and commit a shot clock violation as Louisville tightened up the defense. After Vaughn assisted Yancy Gates on a lay up to put UC up 28-25, Edgar Sosa hit one of his 2 threes to tie the score. Louisville would get made free throws from Jennings, 2, and Samardo Samuels, 1, to take a 3 point lead they would never relinquish. UC was able to get a quick break and Yancy Gates dunked the ball home off a Vaughn miss to give us the last score of the half and go into the locker room down 31-30. Louisville ended the half on a 17-7 run. Stephenson had 12, and Gates 8 to lead UC who shot 41% for the half, but only shot 2 free throws. Louisville shot 37.9% and were lead by Samuels 8, Delk's 7, and Siva and Sosa's 5. Lance Stephenson had 5 rebounds, and Ibrahima Thomas had 4 for UC, while Delk had 5, and Jennings and Samuels 3 for Louisville.

The Cats and Cards started the second half where they ended the first, with Louisville locking up UC. Samardo Samuels and Reginald Delk blocked various UC shots, highlighted by Delk blocking a Deonta Vaughn lay up. The teams traded buckets by Edgar Sosa, Vaughn, Yancy Gates, Jerry Smith, and Jaquan Parker, with Terrence Jennings free throws mixed in, as we hit the under 16 timeout. The Cardinals would then go on a run. Jerry Smith made a lay up, and Delk made a 3 to push the lead to 45-38. Cincinnati turned the ball over and on the ensuing break, Vaughn intentionally fouled Peyton Siva, as the speedy guard was going for a lay up. Siva made 1 of 2 and the lead was 8 with 12:48 left. Siva would get to the rim again and the Cards lead by 10 at the under 12 timeout. Out of the timeout, Gates would score over Samuels, but Jennings and Samuels had back to back baskets, and the Louisville lead was 12. The Cardinals were on a 12-2 run. Cincinnati would make a run of their own. Cashmere Wright had a lay up goaltended by Samuels, Thomas scored over Samuels, and Vaughn hit a 3 to make it 52-47. Louisville scored to put the lead at 54-47 with 7:28 to go. Cash would get fouled and make 2 free throws to start his 10 straight UC points. The Cardinals would travel, and Wright would nail a 3 to cut the lead to 2. Reginald Delk made the shot of the game, hitting a back breaking 3 off the right wing to put the lead back to 5. As some of you might know, Dion Dixon is my best friend. But, Dion didn't act too best friend like as he brought the UC momentum to a screeching halt. He would take a terrible 3 pointer which he missed. Samuels would score for UofL on the other end. Dixon came back with a charge, and then fouled Edgar Sosa, who made both free throws and the Card lead was 61-52 at 4:37. Cash would get UC back into it with a lay up and a 3 pointer with 2:30 on the clock. The Cats locked up on the Cardinals, but for only 33 seconds and Edgar Sosa nailed a 3 to pretty much seal it for Louisville. Louisville free throws by Sosa made the lead 9. UC would get their last points on a Vaughn NBA range 3 with 45 seconds left. Siva would make a pair of free throws to end the scoring.

This was a game that UC let slip through their fingers. They had offensive explosions, and then offensive lapses. They played great defense, and they would give up lay ups. They made 10 three pointers, but settled for too many jump shots. They would control the offensive glass, 10 boards in the first half, and get all of 2 in the second half. The team turns the ball over too much, 15 yesterday, and they don't get to the free throw line. UC took 4. 4! The lack of a penetrating point guard showed up full force. Jaquan Parker was decent, and Cash played well, but both would get confused by the press and zone/man of Louisville. Lance Stephenson was unstoppable, and then couldn't get a shot the second half. Deonta Vaughn only made 3s. Yancy Gates couldn't get touches. This team is frustrating to watch, and games like this are a huge reason why. All credit to Louisville. After getting beat down early, they ratcheted up the pressure and held UC down. This was a really disappointing performance by UC. With road games against Connecticut, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Georgetown on the docket, they need to play better than this.

Cardinals soar over Bearcats

(Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

The Cincinnati Bearcats tasted defeat for the 7th time this season, falling 68-60 to the Louisville Cardinals. Cincinnati is now 13-7, 4-4 in the Big East. Louisville improves to 13-7, 4-3. The Bearcats got off to a hot start, but were unable to keep it going. Lance Stephenson scored 12 in the first 6 minutes, but would not score again. Powered by Edgar Sosa, Samardo Samuels and an inspired Reginald Delk, Louisville would take the lead going into intermission and not give it up. Louisville would build a 12 point advantage. Cincinnati scratched back into the game, and cut the lead to 54-52 thanks to Cashmere Wright being on fire. Dion Dixon helped kill the rally with an ill advised 3, a charge and a foul. The lead was suddenly 9, and UC wouldn't really challenge again. Delk lead Louisville with 13-9 rebounds. Samuels had 14-5-2 blocks-2 steals, and Sosa had 14-3 steals. For UC, Stephenson had 12-7-4 assists. Deonta Vaughn had 12-5 assists. Gates 12-6, and Cashmere Wright had 12, including 10 in a row. This was a tough loss, because it was a winnable game. More tomorrow.

UC 3 Point Shooting; How Bad Is It?

After the tough loss on the road at Seton Hall, and calling out bad 3 point shooting in this very space yesterday, I decided to delve deeper into the matter. We all know Cincinnati has been terrible at shooting the trey, but how terrible are they? Looking at the stats, fucking awful. They are a 29.45% 3 point shooting team. Give that 3 seconds to register. That's 314 nationally and dead last in the Big East. I'll type that again in bold and make the text bigger. 29.45%.Now if that's not cause for concern, I don't know what is. Oh yeah, the fact that UC is 79th in the country in taking 3s, and 5th in the Big East. During conference play, UC has made 31% of their shots from deep. Still horrible, but 10th in the Big East. And they've taken 64 3s, which is 8th in the Big East. It's outrageous how bad this team is at shooting from long range. 


Let's compare that to their 2 point shooting. Overall, Cincinnati shoots 44.8%. In conference play so far, it's been 46.2%. Taking out the 3s, the overall shooting balloons to 52%, and is the same in Big East play. That's nearly 8% and 6% better. So, who have been the culprits to murder the Cincinnati Bearcats 3 point %? Let's find out. Note: Alex Eppensteiner and Yancy Gates have both taken 1 3 point attempt and missed.

1. Ibrahima Thomas 1-9 11%. Now you might be saying, but Ibrahima Thomas shouldn't count. But you are wrong because he is going to take and miss more. In his freshman year at Oklahoma State, Thomas was 11-34 for 32%. Before he transfered, he was 2-7. That shows he is going to chuck when he has the chance. But Ibby, you are a power forward, don't shoot the 3.
2. Lance Stephenson 6-38 15.8%. Born Ready was not born with a ready made outside shot. He's still shooting 46% on the year despite this flaw in his game. I don't know about you, but every time Lance has fired up a 3 since the Xavier game, I have cringed. Know why? BECAUSE HE HAS MADE 1 THREE SINCE! Lance is 1-14 in that stretch. Horrible, horrible, horrible. 
3. Dion Dixon 11-43 25.6%. It's shocking to no one that my best friend, if it wasn't creepy to say that he would be my best friend if we ever met and became friends, is really the second worst 3 point shooter on the team. He shot 30.5% last year, and this decrease is disappointing. Dion has really hit a slump from outside. Since December 1, Dixon is 6-26. Actually, let's count December 1. He's 8-28. Not very good. Follow through my man. And yes, I might start calling Dion Dixon my best friend every time I mention his name. 
4. Larry Davis 10-38 26.3%. This one comes as a great surprise. Larry hit 30% his freshmen year, and 35.2% last year. A 9% decline is very bad. Minutes have been cut, but Larry's shot has not fallen. He started the year off 6-15, which isn't completely terrible. From Xavier on he is 4-23. Ouch babe. I expect Larry to turn it around, because he has a nice looking shot. But damn is he slumping now. 
5. Cashmere Wright 9-30 30%. Cash at least has an even percentage. He doesn't really take a whole lot of 3s. Not just because his minutes were cut. He's actually 3-7 the last 7 games. That followed a 1-8 run, but let's stay positive. Cashmere has gotten the message it seems, and I think his percentage will go up because he stopped taking silly 3s. 
6. Rashad Bishop 12-38 31.6%. Believe it or not, Rashad isn't completely horrible at 3s this year. He's not good, but he's not mind numbingly awful. His first 2 years at UC he shot 29.2% and a horrible 26.3% last year. I don't mind when Rashad shoots open 3s in rhythm. The problem is, he doesn't always. He's riding a cold streak 1-10, and 4 of those misses were against Seton Hall. When Rashad doesn't rush, and doesn't think he's a superstar, he can make 3s. I don't want him shooting a lot, but he has worked hard and gotten his percentage up 5.3 and that's nice.
7. Jaquon Parker 7-20 35%. Parker doesn't play much now, but he has hit 6-11 after starting 1-9. I doubt Parker will get the chance to shoot many more, but he is a good 3 point shooter. I think he has some potential.
8. Deonta Vaughn 34-94 36.2%. After a down year where he shot 33% from deep, Deonta has gotten the percentage up near where he had it his sophomore year. I don't know if he can get it all the way back up to 39%, but the way he's shooting right now, it's possible. Deonta started the season off shooting terribly, his only good game deep was against Texas Southern. But since the Winthrop game, he is 18-32 56%. He's been on fire. He hit 6 treys against Seton Hall which is his 4th best day by 3s made. He hit 9 a couple times and 8 once. Vaughn has gotten himself into a great rhythm, and I hope, as you do, it continues.
9. Darnell Wilks 6-14 42.9%. Darnell was 10-21 from deep last year to the surprise of many. He has a nice shot and only shoots when he's open. The Xavier game was the only game I thought he shot too much from downtown. Darnell has the wide open green light from me every time. 

That's it, that's the list. Cincinnati has 1 player over 32%, and it's the player you would expect. I hope that there is a way that Mick Cronin can get in the team's head that shooting 3s is not a necessity. Especially if your last name is Stephenson, Dixon, Bishop or Thomas. I would like to see the Cats penetrate more and try to get to the line, but the guys stand around too much. Let's hope the 3 point shooting is curbed for the most part, and the Cats get back to winning. Lastly, here's a recap of who has the Bearcats Blog green light.

All the time

• Deonta Vaughn

When open

• Cashmere Wright
• Larry Davis
• Darnell Wilks
• Rashad Bishop

Don't shoot as much

• Dion Dixon

Drive to the rim instead

• Lance Stephenson

Cincinnati 87 Cal State Bakersfield 58

(enquirer)

The Cincinnati Bearcats got off to the best start in Mick Cronin's UC career and Deonta Vaughn tied for 7th on UC's all time scoring list as the Bearcats hammered the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners 87-58. Cal State Bakersfield is making the transition from Division II, and this was part of the lumps taking process. The Bearcats got on them often and early, and to their credit, the Roadrunners played hard. Especially in the second half, as they outscored UC 42-37.  For the Roadrunners Trent Blakley had 17, and Sawnton Latunde had 14 and 9 rebounds. Kudos to them for playing hard, even though they didn't have the talent to compete tonight.

The game started off with the Roadrunners, I love saying Roadrunners, taking an early 4-3 lead. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't stall and the rest of the game had to be played. In his 104th start, Deonta Vaughn scored the Cats first 3, and added in a lay up. The Bearcats made quick substitutions, as starters Rashad Bishop, Yancy Gates and Ibrahima Thomas left, and Steve Toyloy, Biggie McClain and Dion Dixon entered.  Dion Dixon scored 5 quick, and Biggie had 6 as the Bearcats pulled away from an 10-6 lead. Dixon and McClain would score 13 of the Cats first 23 as a 13-0 run made the score 23-6. Donavan Bragg would have a break away dunk that would be Bakerfield's only highlight of the first half. UC got a little sloppy, and turned the ball over 6 times. With the score 23-11, UC would run again. Cashmere Wright and Rashad Bishop helped put the score to 30-11. CSB turned the ball over 7 times in a row and looked lost. Steve Toyloy and Ibrahima Thomas would get a couple of And 1's and jumpers and the lead was 44-14. Thomas got his And 1 after a jump pass by Lance Stephenson, who scored early, but ended up with 4. Deonta Vaughn would score his 9th and last point, and tie Lewis Banks for 7th all time in UC scoring. Vaughn is 22 away from Ron Bonham. Jaquan Parker got his first action of the new year, and first since Winthrop, and would make a first half 3. Biggie McClain lead the Cats with 8 points and 6 rebounds for the half, and UC lead 50-16. CSB shot 23%. The Bearcats shot 51%, had 19 second chance points and 12 offensive rebounds.

The second half was played by the bench. Biggie McClain would aggravate his foot injury and only play 3 minutes of the half, finishing with 8-8. UC would start off slow giving up a 16-6 run. Lance Stephenson made a jumper, and had the assist of the game with a spinning drive in the lane and a flip to Yancy Gates. Stephenson had 3 assists to go with his 4 points and 6 rebounds. Gates had 2-2 and a steal. The half would see Jaquan Parker knock down a couple of 3s. He might have the best stroke on the team. He would have 9. Larry Davis added 5. Darnell Wilks had 8 for the game, 6 of them on dunks as seen in the picture. I swear, 80% of his baskets are dunks. Ibrahima Thomas scored a basket or 2, and tied his UC high with 11. Dion Dixon would knock down a couple of 3 pointers. Dixon would also hot dog a breakaway dunk, doing a double pump reverse out of the Dominque Wilkins handbook, and miss much to the dismay of the crowd. The question on everyone's mind near the end was would Alex Eppensteiner score? The answer was no. Eppy missed a 3 badly, and missed a couple of free throws.

Overall, there is not much to complain about. Mick said after the game the Cats need to work on their D. With Seton Hall coming up, that's correct. The offense gets clunkly at times. Larry Davis still has the annoying habit of rushing 3s. Turnovers were a little problem. But, it was all good. The bench players got a lot of minutes and that should help. Especially in the case of Cashmere Wright. Mick said Cash needed to be a leader on the floor, and tonight was good practice. Everyone scored but Eppy. Dixon had 13, Thomas as 11, Vaughn and Parker 9, Wilks and McClain had 8, Toyloy 7, Wright 6, Bishop and Davis 5, Lance 4 and Yancy 2. Rebounding was spread out too. McClain 8, Stephenson, Toyloy and Wilks had 6. Wright and Dixon had 4 assists, with Lance chipping in 3. Overall a good game. We get back to the Big East grind Saturday night.

Cincinnati 63 Miami 59

(AP/Tony Tribble)

Lance Stephenson put up a career high 17 as the Bearcats won an ugly game against Miami. After a putrid 24 points in the first half, UC put up 39 in the second half to be better than Miami. That was really the difference in this one. The Bearcats had better players. Most of them were sleepwalking through this one, but they were still better. The sparse crowd coupled with typical Miami slow ball made this one, at times, boring to watch. That and the brick fest of the first half. Lance Stephenson carried the Cats with 10 in the first half, and at times seemed to be the only player wanting to score. He couldn't be stopped driving to the basket, but like nearly everyone else, the jump shot was off. The second half was the Cashmere Wright show, as he put in 11. He had 1 point the first half. Miami was lead by Kenny Hayes and his 19.
Let's focus on the offense. This is a bad jumpshooting team. The problem is that they fall in love with the jump shot. The best shooter, Deonta Vaughn, took 2 shots in this game. Miami took #5 out of the game completely. Vaughn didn't score. Stephenson and Wright were the only Cats in double digits. The team was 2-12 from 3, which is awful. Wright took 4, and made 1. Larry Davis made the other. The absolute biggest bugaboo this team has is free throw shooting. 62% on the year, and 65% against Miami. Missing from the stripe kept Miami in the game. Dion Dixon and Yancy Gates were both 4-6, and Steve Toyloy was 2-6. The sloppiness needs to be cleaned up. Miami is not a team that will turn you over much, and they turned over the Cats 13 times. Toyloy didn't play well and had 3 turnovers. Wilks had 2 in 15 minutes of action. Let's shape up boys.
Rebounding and defense were the highlights of this victory. 11 offensive rebounds for UC, with 3 a piece for Dixon and Stephenson. On defense, Gates blocked 4 shots. The Redhawks managed to hit 9 3s, but it took them 27 attempts to do so. Hayes and Nick Winbush combined to go 6-15 from deep, which is solid since they take most of Miami's shots. 8 of Miami's 28 rebounds were offensive, and I would like to see that number go down as we enter Big East play.
All in all, it wasn't very fun, but a win is a win. Can't complain too much about 6-1. We all know another fight is coming up on Sunday night.