Bearcats Breakdown: Steve Toyloy

The first Bearcats Breakdown centered around one player leaving the program, and so will the second. It also centers around another senior, Steve Toyloy. Toyloy was a junior college transfer. He was also mainly a banger, so his numbers aren't going to be as great as some others. But how do they look? Glad you asked.

Scoring: Steve Toyloy averaged a mere 3.2 points a game this season. That's down from nearly 4 last year. Part of that is to blame on Toyloy's down shooting. He took 91 shots, making 48 for 52%, but that's down from 59% last season. Toyloy had trouble finishing around the rim, much to the frustration of many of us. He also was a horrible, horrible free throw shooter. UC would have been better off having a random fan come down and attempt free throws when it was Toyloy's turn at the line. Toyloy was 18-39 46%. That's beyond awful. You have to try really hard to suck that much at free throws. He shot 53% last season. Toyloy at least had it in him to become 7% worse from the field and the line. While his shots went up, Steve only used 12.6% of UC possessions, while playing 38.5% of the minutes. His offensive rating was 99.3, up from 98.7, but nothing too outstanding. His effective, and true shooting percentages were down to 52.7 and 52, from 58.9 and 58.1.

Steve's biggest offensive performance came against Texas Southern. Toyloy scored 13 on 4-6, and 5-6 from the stripe. He did all that in 15 minutes. Toyloy's bottom 16 games would only produce 13 points. He gave the team a nice boost in the win over South Florida, with 9 points on 4-5. He hit 8 twice, in the St John's loss and the Miami victory. The game he took the most shots in was the loss at West Virginia, where he was 3 of 7. I just got flashbacks of the suck of that game.

Rebounding: Steve Toyloy was brought to Cincinnati to rebound, and this season he was a disappointment. He averaged but 3.3 rebounds per game. He put up 3.7 last year. It wasn't even a minute thing, because Toyloy averaged 15.7 minutes after 15.9 minutes last year. Ok, it might have been a slight minute thing, but that's only because Toyloy was ineffective in some games, and that killed his minutes. Toyloy pulled a total of 117 boards, 3 less than last season, 43 of which were offensive. He averaged 1.22 o boards per contest. That was up from last years 1.21. He pulled down 8.7% of Cincinnati misses. His defensive rebounding was worse. He had 74, down from 81. The 2.1 rebounds he pulled home were 15.3% of Cincinnati's rebounds, which is a disappointing number considering it was 18% last year.

Toyloy's best rebounding game was against Prairie View, when he had 9. That 9 rebound performance tied his career high. Toyloy had 8 rebounds in the win over USF, his best game as a Bearcat, and 8 in the win at UConn. In the 11 games Toyloy had at least 5 rebounds, UC was 9-2. The losses being South Florida, and St John's. Toyloy's worst rebounding game was against Georgetown, when he had a big fat 0 in 13 minutes.

Assists/Blocks/Turnovers/Steals: Steve Toyloy didn't have a lot of any of these, so bunching them together is much easier. Toyloy was a black hole when he touched the ball. He had 12 assists, 4 of which came against Prairie View. That tied his career high. Steve had 7 blocks, 2 against Lipscomb. Toyloy turned the ball over 24 times, down from 36 last season. His high was 4, against Prairie View. That Prairie View game is going in the Steve Toyloy time capsule. Toyloy had 7 steals, 1 in 7 games, none of which were against Prairie View.

Overview: Looking back at it, Steve Toyloy had a disappointing senior season. He wasn't expected to be Dwight Howard, but he was expected to be a solid boost in the middle. Instead, he was just a guy. He might be a classic "He is what he is" guy, but he didn't add anything to what he did last season, and that's not good enough. If he would have just dedicated himself to hitting the glass, he could have put Yancy Gates, or Bishop, or Thomas on the bench. Instead, he didn't do that, and he was the one on the bench as the season went on. Toyloy was a nice player, seemed like a nice guy, but his senior season was a D. He had B- or C expectations, but he failed to deliver. He tried hard I guess, and so we thank him for his effort. It just wasn't enough.

Know Your Opponent: Villanova Wildcats edition

Tonight at 7 on ESPN2 , the Cincinnati Bearcats host the mighty Villanova Wildcats in the final regular season home game. I beg you one last time to come early for the Senior Day activities, and to give a great showing of support to Deonta Vaughn. And also to Steve Toyloy. I thanked both in this post, and feel free to thank them there as well. It should be quite special. In the midst of all the thanking, there is a very important game to be played. The Bearcats are currently on the outside looking in for the Big Dance, while Nova has been struggling as of late, losing 3 of 4. Granted they were to UConn, Pitt and Syracuse, but Nova seems ripe for a beating. Then again, Mick Cronin has never, eeeeevvvvveeeerrrrr, as Chris Jericho used to say, won a game in March at Cincinnati. It's going to take quite the effort from the men in white to get over the hump. The Bearcats haven't beaten a team ahead of them in the standings this season, and last I checked, Nova is up in second. In times like this, all we can do is cheer for victory, and cheer for #5. That's exactly what our friends at the great Villanova site I Bleed Blue and White will be doing, except probably not. In lieu of a Bearcats logo, I'm going to use a picture of Deonta Vaughn. He deserves it. Let's hit the numbers.

Thank You Deonta Vaughn and Steve Toyloy

Senior Night has come, and the Bearcats have a pair of seniors to honor. I hope that you all can make it out to 5/3 Arena and pack the place as we bid farewell, at least in the regular season, to Deonta Vaughn and Steve Toyloy.

Steve Toyloy
Steve Toyloy is a junior college transfer from Miami Dade Community College. Steve has averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds in his 2 Cincinnati seasons. A lot of what Toyloy does, doesn't show up on the stat sheet. He isn't the most talented player in the world, but he plays hard night in and night out. He plays good defense inside, and gets everything out of his 6'8 frame. Steve's best performance came in a 79-49 win last season against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, where he had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Steve also had 9 rebounds this season against Prairie View. He has only 1 double digit scoring game this year, 13 versus Texas Southern. Steve's best game of the season would probably be his 9-8 effort in a win over South Florida. Steve Toyloy has started 28 of the 50 games he's played at UC. He gave UC everything that he was able to get out of his talent the past 2 seasons, and for that, we thank him.

Deonta Vaughn
In this post of the Best Bearcats of the Decade, I said that Deonta Vaughn "This is the man who is mainly responsible for where UC basketball is right now" I also said that it was going to be a sad day when he walked onto to Ed Jucker Court for the final time, and it's going to be. I love Deonta Vaughn. I love his game, love his choice of colleges, love the fact that he wears my favorite number. He was a 3* recruit from Harmon Prep by way of Indianapolis. Deonta would quickly show that he was better than the star ranking, because in his fourth game as a Bearcat, he put up 33 against Wofford. Deonta averaged 14.5 points that year,14.8 in Big East play. Vaughn also averaged 3.5 assists (team leading), and 3.5 rebounds. He was first team all rookie Big East. Scottie Reynolds of Villanova, who the Cats play on Senior Day, got he honor of Rookie of the Year. His best game of his freshman year was his 25-9 assist-6 steal performance against NC State in a 80-71 win.  


In his sophomore year, Deonta turned one of the best seasons in UC history. Yeah, in UC history. Deonta averaged 17.3 points, shot 44%, 39% from three, 4.2 assists, and 3 rebounds. Vaughn was named to the first team all Big East. Vaughn had 3 games of 30 +, a career high 36 in a win over Coastal Carolina, 34 in a loss to UConn, and 30 in a loss to Pittsburgh. It's tough to say what his best game of that season was. It could be the 10-14, 8-11 from 3, 6-6 at the stripe, 34 point 3 assist performance against UConn, the 19-9 assist game against SC Upstate, the 30-6 assists against Pitt, the 29-3-5 assists against Syracuse in a win, and Vaughn also hit up Pitt for 24-8. He was truly spectacular that season. 


In year 3, Vaughn turned in another solid season. He put up 15 points on 39% shooting, 34% from 3, 81% from the free throw line. He lead the team with 4.7 assists a game, and had a solid 4 rebounds. Vaughn landed third team all Big East honors. Deonta started the season slow before going off for 27 against Xavier. Vaughn's best game of the season, and one of the best of his career, came against Georgetown. #5 scored 16, had 9 rebounds and 6 assists while playing 44 minutes. Vaughn also put up 24-8-5 assists in a win over Rutgers, not to mention a 16-7-6-3 steals game in a win Mississippi State. Deonta set a career high with 10 assists in the otherwise forgettable Marquette disaster. When Deonta slowed down the stretch, UC slowed down with him. A 6-21 effort against DePaul in the Big East Tournament highlights that point. 


This has been a mostly down year for the senior. Deonta averaged 9 points a game non conference, although he's stepped it up to 12.5 in the Big East. Vaughn leads the team with 3.5 assists a game and has chipped in 3.6 rebounds. Vaughn is shooting 39%, 33% from deep, and 80% at the stripe. He's taken a whole lot less shots than he has in past years. He's taken 255 this season after 407, 408, and 399. He's also gotten to the free throw line much less than the past 2 seasons. Although Vaughn has taken a back seat this season, he's had a few really good games. He's scored a season high of 20 twice, with his best game a 20-5-5 effort in the USF win. He had 20 in the Seton Hall loss, he went for 17-5-5-2 steals in the first UConn meeting, 13-4-9-4 steals against Toledo, and 16-5-5 against Maryland. His 15-5-5 effort against West Virginia was solid as well. 


Deonta Vaughn is going to finish in the top 4 in school history in points. He's played the most minutes, or the second most minutes in UC history. He helped turn the sinking ship known as Cincinnati basketball around. He's gotten them close to the tournament the past 2 seasons, but they couldn't get over the hump last year. Who knows about this year? I hope that the team does it for Deonta, because the man is a winner, and he should play important games in March on the biggest stage. I love Deonta Vaughn, and I will be supporting him full throttle tomorrow. I hope that you are going to as well. You may not like Mick Cronin, or are still bitter about Huggins leaving, but Deonta Vaughn has been a special player in Cincinnati history. He'll be remembered for being the star in a trash heap for 3 seasons, but he's been our star. Thank you for everything Deonta Vaughn, we will miss you. 

Cincinnati 60 Connecticut 48

(Enquirer)

The Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 15-9, 6-6, by sweeping the season series against the Connecticut Huskies Saturday afternoon. UConn fell to 14-11, 4-8, and look to have their backs to the wall just regarding a winning season despite Jim Calhoun's return to the bench. This was the type of game that the Bearcats haven't had on the road all year. The second half, they came out wanting to win and put UConn to shame, and for the most part, they did. I would say it was their best road performance since Xavier. It was something that Cincinnati badly needed as we head down the stretch of the season. Lance Stephenson lead UC, just like he did the first time they played, with 14-5. Ibrahima Thomas had his best game as a Bearcat, putting up a 10-11 double double. Deonta Vaughn had 10-4 assists, and Rashad Bishop had 7-7. UConn was lead by Kemba Walker's 14. Calhoun said after the game that Walker was the only player who played hard. Jerome Dyson had 13, but was 5-16 in doing so. Stanley Robinson had 10-9, with all 10 coming in the first half. Gavin Edwards threw in a solid 10-7-2 blocks-3 steals performance off the bench. Let's go back and see how this played out.

The game was in the XL Center in Hartford, a place so bad that UConn fans hate it. The game started off really slow. Rashad Bishop made the first 2, followed minutes later by a Lance Stephenson 2 that drew a Calhoun timeout 2:30 in. No one would score before Stanley Robinson scored for UConn at the 15:18 mark. Yeah, 5 minutes with 3 baskets. The next few minutes would see buckets from Stephenson, and Gates for UC, and Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson's only 3 of the game, and UC lead 9-7 at 11:51. UConn would go on a run. Kemba Walker hit a 3, and 2 free throws, and Ibrahima Thomas was stripped by Donnell Beverly, who outleted to Stanley Robinson for a dunk. UConn held the 14-9 advantage to the under 8 timeout. The teams would trade baskets at a slow, and leisurely pace when they weren't turning the ball over or taking wild jump shots. Deonta Vaughn made his only 3, and Stephenson and Steve Toyloy scored for UC, while Gavin Edwards and Robinson would score for UConn. The Huskies seemed to gather the momentum on a big play. Yancy Gates telegraphed a pass towards Bishop that Stanley Robinson picked off. Robinson drove down the floor with Bishop in front of him, before crossing him over for a dunk and a foul and an "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Robinson missed the foul shot, but UConn held a 20-14 lead. UC would go on an 8-2 run to close out the half. Ibrahima Thomas hit a 3, and Deonta Vaughn got a traditional 3 point play around a Robinson jumper, and Darnell Wilks scored his only 2 on his only shot in his only minute to tie the score at 22 with 1:35. That's the way the half would end. UC's points came from Vaughn's 6, Stephenson's 4, Thomas' 3, Gates , Toyloy, and Bishop's 2, and Cashmere Wright made a free throw. UConn was lead by Robinson's 10, Dyson's 7, Walker's 3, and Edwards' 2. UC was 9-31, 2-10 from 3, 2-7 free throws, with 19 boards 10 offensive, and 6 turnovers. UConn was 9-22, 2-7, 2-3, with 14 boards 4 offensive, and 9 turnovers. Yes, the half was very ugly.

Whatever Mick Cronin said in the locker room at halftime worked, because UC came out strong. Rashad Bishop drew a foul and made a free throw 20 seconds in for an advantage UC wouldn't give up. Lance Stephenson hit a jumper, a 3 pointer, and assisted Ibrahima Thomas for a bucket and UC lead 30-23. UConn got an Edwards free throw in that span. UConn would get free throws from Dyson to cut the lead to 5 before UC would continue to score. Deonta Vaughn missed a shot as the shot clock was winding down, but stripped the rebounder and fed Thomas for 2 more. Rashad Bishop rattled home a j, and just like that, UC was on a 12-3 run. Ending the first half on an 8-2 run and starting the next with a 12-3 run is something we haven't seen from UC in a while. UC lead 34-25 at 15:13 while shooting 5-10 on the half, while UConn was 0-7. After the break, the teams went cold. No scoring, but lots of turnovers, until Rashad Bishop got a steal from Edwards and made both free throws after drawing a foul. UConn got their first basket of the half after the under 12 timeout, when Edwards scored at 11:30 to make the score 36-27. That's right, UConn didn't make a field goal for 8:30 after going 4:40 in the first half without scoring. Great defense by UC, but horrible half court offense by UConn. UC's half court offense was terrible as well, because they could have been blowing UConn out if they ran plays, but that's neither here nor there. UC jumped right back on the Huskies with a Gates put back and Stephenson free throws after pulling home an offensive rebound, for a 13 point lead. The rebounding was great in this game. UC controlled the offensive, and defensive glass, and controlled the game. Beverly and Gates traded 1 made free throw, as the teams traded baskets by Walker, Thomas, and Edwards out of transition after the Thomas lay up. Dion Dixon, my best friend, scored his first points in 4 games by going strong to the rim. Walker hit a 3 for UConn, pulling the margin to 10 with 5:47 on the clock. Dixon would back down and hit a fade away over Stanley Robinson, and on the next possession, Steve Toyloy scored a put back, after Thomas missed a put back, after Vaughn missed a shot clock induced rushed 3. UC lead 49-35 with 3:59 left. The Toyloy rebound was UC's 17th, and final, offensive rebound of the game. Dominating effort by the bigs. Toyloy had 8 rebounds, 5 offensive. 4 of Thomas' 11 boards were offensive. After the break, Dion Dixon went strong to the rack again to give UC a 51-36 lead, which would prove to be important because UConn had a run in them. Jerome Dyson made a jumper, and UConn got a steal by Edwards from Bishop and Walker was fouled. Walker hit 1 of 2, and on UC's next possession, Stephenson would get fouled and hit 1 of 2. With 2:20 left down 13, Dyson made a lay up, drew a foul, but missed the free throw. But, he would steal the rebound from Lance and Gavin Edwards would get fouled. He hit 1 of 2. UC couldn't get the ball over half court due to UConn's pressure, and Dyson got another steal and lay up. It was 52-44 with 1:56 left and visions of St John's dancing in every UC fans, especially this one's, heads. UC finally got the ball over halfcourt, but it was because they threw it away. Dyson would draw a foul on Vaughn, but missed both free throws. If UConn made all their free throws in this stretch, who knows what would have happened, because Vaughn turned the ball over for a Dyson lay up and a 6 point game. UC finally got the ball over halfcourt at 1:15, a full minute of game time with only getting the ball over for like a second. Deonta Vaughn would hit a pair of freebies. Edwards got a lay up for UConn, making the score 54-48 with 1:07 left, and as you can see, that was the last UConn bucket. Vaughn hit 2 more free throws, got a steal from Edwards and hit Lance with an outlet pass for a Stephenson icing lay up. Ibrahima Thomas and Cashmere Wright both hit 1 of 2 at the line, and that's how we got the final.

UC shot 21-56 for 35%, 3-17 17%, and 15-25 60%. Thomas was 1-6 at the line, Cash 2-4 in disappointing efforts. UC had 41 boards, 17 offensive, and 14 turnovers. As for the Huskies, they shot 18-52 35%, 3-15 20%, and 9-18 50%. They pulled down 29 rebounds, 12 offensive, and had 15 turnovers. My prediction of less than 7 made 3s was right on the money. Neither team shot anywhere near a good percentage. Both play good to great defense, but damn are they bad to horrible on offense. Especially in the half court.

There were lots of good things to see in this game. Lance Stephenson played great. Ibrahima Thomas proved to be a force. Steve Toyloy got his hands on lots of rebounds. Rashad Bishop played well on offense and locked down Stanley Robinson in the second half. And Dion Dixon, did I mention he was my best friend, played like he had at the beginning of the year when he was playing well. As for the bad, we got nothing from Cash Wright. Deonta Vaughn has lost his jump shot, another 2-8 effort. Yancy Gates was nowhere to be seen, just 5-5. But, some of us saw that coming in their preview. The end of the game mini disaster was not fun to watch.

 The effort in the first half was so bad, both ways, that Calhoun said neither team wanted to win. Well in the second half, UC wanted to win. It's going to take an effort like that tomorrow night, as UC travels to Tampa to play the rematch against South Florida.

Bearcats rebound against Connecticut

The Bearcats got back to .500 in the Big East with a 60-48 win over UConn in Hartford. The Bearcats are now 15-9, 6-6, while UConn is 14-11, 4-8. Jim Calhoun's return to the sideline was the only thing that the Hartford crowd cheered for. The Bearcats had much more to cheer for, as they played a fantastic second half in pulling away. Lance Stephenson lead the way with 14 points, and lead the way by helping UC break a 22-22 halftime tie into a 9 point lead UC would never relinquish. Deonta Vaughn had 10 points, 4 assists, but the surprise star was Ibrahima Thomas. Ibrahima put up a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. My best friend Dion Dixon returned from the dead with 6 points, looking strong taking the ball to the rim and keeping UC ahead. The Huskies were lead by Kemba Walker's 14. Jerome Dyson had 13, and Stanley Robinson scored 10, all in the first half, to go with 9 boards. The Bearcats rebounded the ball very well, holding UConn to 1 shot most of the time, and getting a lot of offensive rebounds. UC had 41 boards on the day, 17 offensive. Steve Toyloy had 8, 5 offensive, Rashad Bishop 7, and Yancy Gates 5. This was a great win for the Bearcats, mainly because it came on the road. Let's take the rest of the weekend to enjoy this one.

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.

Know Your Opponent: Louisville Cardinals edition

The Cincinnati Bearcats take their last trip to Freedom Hall Sunday at noon to take on the Louisville Cardinals. The Bearcats have played the most games of any Louisville opponent at Freedom Hall, 41, and have won the most, 14. The Bearcats also won the 1962 National Championship on that very floor. I told you those facts would be in the preview. I fully expect Lance Stephenson to play. I don't know how limited he will be with his ankle injury, but the Bearcats chances of winning improve if Born Ready is in the lineup. This is an important game for both the 13-6, 4-3 Cats, and the 12-7, 3-3 Cards. Louisville has dropped their last 3 Big East games, while Cincinnati has won 2 straight. Louisville doesn't want to dip under .500 before they travel to West Virginia. Cincinnati has a chance to climb back to 2 games over .500 in conference before heading home next week to play Providence. Louisville has had the opposite problem of Cincinnati in the Big East. While UC hasn't been able to score, Louisville hasn't been able to stop anyone, giving up 85 points a game during their losing streak. Something has to give. Will the Bearcats add to Louisville's misery, or will the Cards sink their claws into the Bearcats? Before we hit the numbers, check out the awesome Card Chronicle. There are more Louisville blogs listed on the right, but this is the one that I visit the most and recommend.

Cincinnati 78 South Florida 70

(Cincinnati Enquirer)

The Bearcats were powered by Deonta Vaughn's 20 points, and an unlikely source to beat South Florida Wednesday night. With Lance Stephenson on the shelf due to an ankle injury he suffered in practice Tuesday, Jaquon Parker entered the starting line up and put in 15 points to go with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Rashad Bishop had a nice game as well with 15 points. UC improved to 13-6, 4-3, and South Florida fell to 11-7, 1-5. The Bulls were powered by Dominique Jones who scored 21. But, it took him 19 shots to get there. He did have 6 boards and 4 assists. USF also got good performances by Chris Howard (16-10) and Jarrid Famous (14-7-2 blocks). The Bearcats had a great offensive game shooting 56% from the field. They shot 36% from 3, but a woeful 13-23 at the free throw line. USF shot 44%, 17% deep, and 13-17 at the stripe. Let's take a look at how the Bearcats got the win.

As soon as the ESPN2 coverage kicked off, we found out Lance wasn't playing and that the starting line up was Bishop, Yancy Gates, Vaughn, Parker and Steve Toyloy. Parker got right into the grove by making the Bearcats first shot, a 3. Yancy Gates powered a 10-4 Cats start with 6 points, but picked up 2 silly fouls and sat on the bench from the 15 minute mark on. South Florida would use that momentum to go on 10-3 run capped by a Dominique Jones lay up for the lead. Jones had 6 of the first USF 14. The teams traded makes before UC went on a run that featured a put back by Ibrahima Thomas, his only 2, an alley oop lay up from Vaughn to my best friend Dion Dixon, and a Vaughn lay up and 2 free throws to take a 23-16 lead halfway through the half. That was a really long sentence. USF wouldn't lay down here either storming back into the lead 24-23 thanks to 4 of Mike Mercer's 10. UC, believe it or not, settled into taking 3s at this juncture with Parker, Dixon, and Darnell Wilks, who played awful, missing. Rashad Bishop would break a 26-26 tie with a 3 and UC would hold the lead the rest of the game. Spoiler alert. UC was able to pop the lead to 8 on a Parker lay up, Bishop lay up and a Vaughn 3. Jarrid Famous had 8 points in the half, and broke up that Cats run with a lay up of his own. Steve Toyloy would get those points back on a dunk off a batted around offensive rebound. The half ended with Deonta Vaughn wisely getting fouled while attempting a 3 and netting all 3 freebies for a 41-32 UC lead at the half. Both teams shot 50%, USF 13-26 UC 15-30. USF was 0-6 from 3 and 6-7 at the stripe, while UC was 4-11 and 7-9. Scoring wise, Jones had 10, Famous 8 and Mercer 6 for the Bulls. For the Bearcats, Vaughn had 13, Bishop and Gates 6, and Parker and Toyloy 5. UC turned the ball over just twice that half. The difference was the 3 point shooting, gasp!, and the Bearcats ability to offensive rebound.

The foes swapped buckets to start the second half. Yancy Gates wasn't a fan of the action, so he picked up his 3rd foul with 17:30 left. Steve Toyloy would have a dunk where he went from one side of the basket to the other, and the Cats lead by 10 at the first media break. The Bulls would continue to chip away and fall back behind. A 3 on 1 break for a Jones dunk to make the score 49-43 was met with a Deonta Vaughn 3 on the other end to push the lead to 9. Yancy Gates would re-enter the game at the 14 minute mark, and still not be impressed and get his 4th foul and head back to the bench with 13:51 left. The Bulls cut the lead back to 5 when Chris Howard hit the first USF 3 with the shot clock running down. Jaquon Parker would not stand for it, and go on a 6-0 by himself. Parker hit a jumper, free throws and a lay up to give the Cats a 58-47 lead. Biggie McClain would extend the lead to 12 by taking, and making, his first free throw of the season. He ruined the perfection by missing the second. With 8 minutes left, the Bulls would make their last run. Dominique Jones hit his only 3, Bishop would make a UC jumper, and Jones would score a lay up. Cashmere Wright played 4 minutes and the only stat on the box score was a turnover as he threw a pass Anthony Crater picked off and took for a lay up with 5:49 to go. Mick Cronin would call time out, but the next trip down the court Rashad Bishop threw a pass right to Crater, and Crater took the ball to the rim for the last of his 4 points and made the score 61-56. The next sequence would seal the game. Dion Dixon banked in a j from the free throw line that was as ugly as it sounds. Rashad Bishop would score a lay up on a nice inbounds play to make the lead 7. The star of the night Jaquon Parker took his man down on the box and nailed a turnaround jumper for his final points and made the UC lead 9. The last major gasp for USF was airballed by Crater with 3:24 left. Vaughn made a lay up to get the lead to 11. Chris Howard came back with his last 3 to cut the lead to 8, but USF's press was broken, ending in a lay up by Gates. The last 2 minutes were spent with USF trying to score, and UC at the line, where they weren't very good. Rashad Bishop went 1 of 2, but got a dunk off the rebound of his miss. Yancy Gates would miss both. Larry Davis missed his first 2 free throws of the year. South Florida didn't score, so it didn't really matter much. But you would like to see the men iron it out from the line.

All in all, this is a good win for the Bearcats. Like I mentioned earlier, this wasn't so much a must win as a can't lose. If the Cats lost this one, along with losing to Seton Hall and St John's, they would have been in trouble in the Big East. Instead, they are a game over .500 and can get back to 2 games over as they travel down I-71 to face the Louisville Cardinals Sunday afternoon. One last time, I want to mention Jaquon Parker. He was that good tonight. If he can step into the point guard role that UC needs, it could be the break the Cats need to get the offense going. Steve Toyloy and Rashad Bishop played very well too. Toyloy had 9-8 in a game Gates spent much time on the bench. The rebounding needs to shape up, because Louisville hits the glass hard, especially on the offensive end. Let's enjoy this one until Sunday.

Bearcats throw down on Bulls

(Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua III)

The Cincinnati Bearcats added their 13th win to 6 losses and 4th win against 3 Big East losses in a win over South Florida (11-7 1-5) Wednesday night. Bearcat star Lance Stephenson injured an ankle in practice and was held out. News didn't break until before tip off. The man who started in his place was Jaquon Paker, and he took advantage. Though he didn't lead UC in scoring, Deonta Vaughn had 20, Parker had 15-4-5 assists. Rashad Bishop helped fill the Stephenson void with 15. Steve Toyloy (pictured) had a solid 9-8. For the Bulls, Dominique Jones lead the way with 21-6-4. Chris Howard and Jarrid Famous both had solid games. Howard had 16-9, and Famous 14-7-2 blocks. The Bearcats shot 56% for the night, and held the Bulls to 44%. The teams seemed to swap runs. UC would have a 9-0 run, and the Bulls would counter with a 7-0 run. But, at about the 4 minute mark after USF cut the lead to 5, UC would go on a 6 point run to seal the deal. Nice win for the Cats. More tomorrow.

St John's 52 Cincinnati 50

(New York Times, I think)

I have been a UC fan for as long as I can remember, and I don't recall more than 5 losses that stung as badly as the one the Cats were dealt Wednesday night. The Bearcats fell to 11-6, 2-3 in the Big East by giving away the game to the St John's Red Storm 11-5, 1-3. Style wise, this was one of the worst Cincinnati games I laid eyes on. Cincinnati turned the ball over 21 times, were 0-12 from 3, were 10-18 at the free throw line and shot 42% overall. St John's shot 35%, were 5-18 from 3, were 11-20 at the free throw line, and turned the ball over 11 times. There were only 2 players in double digits, Dwight Hardy of the Red Storm, and Yancy Gates for the Cats. Neither team got in any kind of rhythm, and played generally ugly basketball down to the wire. Unfortunately, the Bearcats played ugly basketball to the wire and it cost them greatly.

After forcing a St John's shot clock violation (another ugly example) the Bearcats called time out with the ball up 3 with 25 seconds left. The inbound play was either poorly drawn up, or poorly executed or both, because the ball ended up with Gates who was trapped. He flipped the ball to Rashad Bishop, who had it poked away. Dion Dixon recovered the ball and threw up a quick shot that was blocked by, I think, DJ Kennedy. The Storm drove down to the other end where Justin Brownlee was fouled by Rashad Bishop. Brownlee made 1 of the 2 to make it a 50-48 game. In a completely insane move, Bishop threw the inbound pass full court where St John's had Deonta Vaughn double teamed. Hardy drove into the lane where he was fouled. I have no idea what the hell Rashad Bishop was thinking. In that spot, you take a time out, you throw it off a defender, you do anything but throw the ball away. Hardy made both foul shots to tie the score. Mick Cronin decided to call timeout after the first free throw. I wrote interesting in my notes, and little did I know how interesting it would be. Then the play that made Bearcat fans everywhere sick. Lance Stephenson, who had a horrible game back in NYC proper, tried throwing the inbound pass to Dixon, but threw it right to Hardy, who was fouled. It looked like Lance was trying to throw it in to Dixon and get it back quickly, but he threw it right to Hardy. Not having a timeout here was gigantic. The team was in disarray, and no one knew what to do. I thought Mick called time to draw up an inbound play, and to say who to give the ball to on a miss by Hardy. Instead, no one had any idea of what the hell to do. That said, Lance Stephenson can not be so careless with the basketball. I don't really know what he or Bishop were thinking.  Deonta Vaughn used the last 7 seconds to drive to the 3 point line and miss. It was a gigantic tank job by the Bearcats down the stretch. This team has faded down the stretch before, like the UConn game, but not to this extent. Mick said this was the worst loss he has had. It was a terrible one to take because the Cats gave it away. The ultimate snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The loss to Seton Hall was bad, but this loss was much worse. Not just because of how it ended, but because of where it leaves UC. 2-3 in the Big East is not where you want to  be. Especially since the team could be 4-1 if breaks go right against Pitt and they close out tonight. Then again, they could have lost to UConn if that game went to OT and could be 1-4. Sorry, I had to play the opposite of the 'they could be this' game. This is the type of loss that puts teams in the NIT. This is the type of loss that makes you play 5 games in 5 days in the Big East tournament. And we all know how well that worked out last year when the Bearcats lost day 1 to winless DePaul. I'm not going to be so dramatic to say that this loss can ruin a season, but it really puts pressure on the Bearcats to beat Notre Dame. 2-4 is unacceptable. That 2 game ditch is a tough one to pull out of, and I don't know if the Bearcats can do it. The bar has been raised this season, and the fans have tournament expectations. Not CBI, or NIT. NCAA. It's been 6 years and Cat fans are getting restless. Emotions were riding high after the UConn win, and UC has failed to deliver on the high hopes. This loss is really hard to take. Is it a sign the team is falling apart? Is it a fluke? Is it a sign of coaching? Who's to say. We'll get answers though, starting Saturday. Let's look back at this one and find out how it ended like it ended.

The first half was poorly played. The UC highlight was an alley oop from Deonta Vaughn to Yancy Gates right on Dele Coker's head. That would be the only 2 for Gates in the half, as he would get in foul trouble. Ibrahima Thomas was unusually aggressive getting most of his 5 shots and 6 free throws in the half. Lance Stephenson wasn't comfortable and turned the ball over 3 times in the half. He would turn the ball over 3 times in the second half for 6 total. He only had 7-5-3 assists. The Cats had an early lead, but a 7-0 St John's run gave them a lead with about 5 minutes to go in the half. Jaquon Parker got 3 minutes and had 3 boards and 2 points. The points came on free throws that gave UC a 24-23 lead with 3 minutes left in the half that would extend to the break. Rashad Bishop, Lance Stephenson, Steve Toyloy and Ibrahima Thomas all had 4 for UC, with Ibby chipping in 6 boards. Justin Brownlee had 7 and DJ Kennedy had 6 for St John's. UC was 9-27, 0-9, and 6-11 at the stripe. St John's was 10-24, 2-8, and 1-6. Horrible.

The second half started off Yancy Gates returning from foul trouble and scoring 4 quick. A Lance Stephenson  lay up gave UC a 30-26 lead. Dwight Hardy hit a pair of 3s to tie the score at 32. UC took a lead off a Cashmere Wright jumper, but turned the ball over 3 times in a row to give it up on a Malik Stith jumper. UC tied the score on a Gates dunk, and built a 3 point lead. Deonta Vaughn made his only field goal after St John's pulled within 1. UC would throw the ball away after a rebound, and Lance would travel, leading to a Hardy 3 to give the Storm the lead 43-41 with 5:25 left. The lead would turn back UC's way when a Rashad Bishop shot was goaltended by Coker. Bishop made 1 of 2 free throws with 2:10 left to give UC a 48-45 lead. After a Justin Burrell hook shot, Yancy Gates would score UC's last basket after a great pass by Steve Toyloy out of a double team with 1:13 on the clock. Toyloy played great. He had 8 points and 7 rebounds, 4 offensive. That lead to the shot clock violation and everything you read above.

The big question is where does UC go from here? The game Saturday afternoon vs. Notre Dame is huge for the Bearcats. It's early to say games are big, but this one is. It's important for UC to not get too down, and to make things happen. It's also important to stop being so fucking terrible on offense. The offensive woes are pathetic this late in the year. The Cats didn't make a 3 for the first time since 2002. The defense was stellar, but that won't win games if you are anemic on offense. Deonta Vaughn was 1-7, and had 2 free throws. My best friend Dion Dixon was 0-5. Stephenson was 3-9. Thomas 1-5. Gotta get it together boys, we don't have much choice not to.

Know Your Opponent: Connecticut Huskies edition

The Bearcats and Huskies kick off their Big East seasons with a match up at 7 in 5/3 Arena. The Huskies beat the Bearcats last year 81-72. The Bearcats played tough last year, but couldn't quite get over the hump thanks to AJ Price. No more Thabeet, Adrien, or Price, but the Huskies still trot out Kemba Walker, Stanley Robinson and co. The Huskies are the best team the Bearcats have lined up against this year, and this should be an interesting test to see where UC stands. We also get to see where UC stands in February, because the Cats and Huskies square off twice this season. Let's hit the numbers and prediction after the jump, shall we?

UAB 64 Cincinnati 47

(ap Butch Dill)

The Cincinnati Bearcats were dominated by the UAB Blazers all night Wednesday. From the minute the teams stepped on the floor, one team was interested, the other was not. Unfortunately, it was Mick Cronin's team that was uninterested. The team seemed to be deflated right off the bat when Lance Stephenson injured his ankle 2 minutes into the game. He would end up returning at about the 10 minute mark of the first half.

The bugaboos that hurt the team against Xavier showed up bright and early Wednesday. Right off the bat, the very impressive Elijah Millsap was hitting the offensive glass and outhustling Yancy Gates, Rashad Bishop and Steve Toyloy. Millsap crushed it on the glass with 15 rebounds, 6 offensive. The Blazers dominated the offensive glass by gathering 13. They had at least 8 in the first half according to the CBS College stats.

The second bugaboo that killed was the albatross around the neck of this version of the Cincinnati Bearcats: shooting. The Cats shot a woeful 31.7% on 19-60 shooting. 22 of those were 3s, and only 3 were made. This team loves shooting 3s, which is not a bad thing, but they can't make them. When they aren't getting offensive rebounds, they only had 10, it's a killer. It hurt against Xavier, and it really made this one ugly. They force so many shots from the outside. Bishop, Lance, Cashmere Wright, Deonta Vaughn, Dion Dixon, and Ibrahima Thomas were all guilty of this last night. Ibrahima Thomas has offered nothing his first 2 games as a Bearcat. It takes some getting used to, but his most memorable moment was getting in Xavier's players faces in the big pull apart. He should get a lot of opportunities against Lipscomb. The shooting woes are really evident when it comes to lay ups. In my notes, I counted at least 5. That's too many for any team that wants to be anything. The woes were so bad in the pathetic second half, I tracked the possessions. This is after the Cats cut the deficit, at one point 15 in the 1st half, to 8. This is from about the 11 minute mark to the end of the game. Cringe away. The possessions we score on, are in red.

1. Dixon throws it away. UAB went up 10 here. 
2. Larry Davis forced 17 footer
3. Dixon had a blow by dunk here. 2 points. The Cats were 13-31 shooting at this point.
4. Davis missed lay up
5. Vaughn bricks a 3 after forcing a UAB turnover
6. Toyloy travel. Millsap would follow with a wide open 3 pointer
7. Darnell Wilks sets a moving screen. That was the 12th UC turnover
8. Wilks throws away a pass Vaughn can't handle and then fouls
9. Bishop turnover leads to lay up. The lead hit 15 here with 7:30 left. UC had just 35 points
10. Lance Stephenson charges. Another UC turnover. Lance was clearly bothered by the officials at this point. This was his 3rd foul. A few minutes later, he would get whistled for charging again, and get a technical foul and be disqualified with 4:30 left. Not a good night for Lance at all. It's really reached the point, as Lance Stephenson goes, the Cincinnati Bearcats go. 
11. Yancy Gates throws up an airball. The Cats were still down 15 at this point
12. The only highlights came at this point. The last gasp for hope of a victory. Lance Stephenson hit Rashad Bishop for a lay up. 4 points. 
13. Followed by Lance stealing the inbound for a lay up to cut the lead to 11. 6 points. 
14. This was all on one possession. Vaughn blocked. After the inbound Bishop misses, followed by Gates missing a put back.
15. Jarmarr Sanders, who had only 7, makes his only 3 in 6 attempts to make this a 19 point game.
16. The aforementioned Lance Stephenson charge comes here. Another turnover. 
17. Dixon, who was the only Bearcat in double digits with 13, bricks a 3
18. Davis bricks a 3, Dixon misses a 17 footer
19. Dixon blows a lay up. Dixon also took a team high 11 shots. He made 2 of the 3 Cincinnati 3s (Vaughn made the other). When he is second on the team in 3 point attempts, something is going wrong. And I love Dion Dixon
20. UAB gets a backdoor cut for a wide open dunk to make the score 62-39. 
21. Vaughn misses a 3. He was 1-7 from deep with only 7 points. 5 turnovers. He needs to step it up if this team is going to win. 
22. Cashmere Wright, who only played 15 minutes and didn't get in the second half until the 12 minute mark, and then at the end of the game, missed a 3
23. Points come here with the game well in hand. Steve Toyloy hits a lay up. 8 points
24. Wright missed lay up, Dixon missed a tip in, and Deonta Vaughn got the rebound and was fouled while shooting. He made them both. 10 points. 
25. Wright missed a 3, Toyloy got the offensive rebound and dunked it home. 12 points. 
26. After UAB threw away the inbound in the waning seconds, Steve Toyloy got a lay up to end the scoring. 14 points. 

That is awful. The Bearcats scored 28 in the second half, and 8 came in the closing 2 minutes. Pathetic.

All credit in this one goes to the victors. The UAB Blazers once again roll Cincinnati in Birmingham. I would suggest never playing them there ever again. Mike Davis' club has not lost a home non conference game since he has been coach. His team was well prepared tonight. I came away very, very, very impressed with Elijah Millsap. He was all over the court. The Millsap boys know how to rebound. Let us take this one and erase it from our memory banks, thanks, and move on to non conference teams we can destroy. The next game is Saturday against Lipscomb.

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.