Lance Stephenson: Big East Rookie of the Year

It wasn't quite a slam dunk (feel free to groan at that lame line all you want), but Lance Stephenson was voted the Big East Rookie of the Year. He's the first Bearcat to nab a Rookie, or Freshman, of the Year award since DerMarr Johnson 10 years ago. Congratulations to Lance, he earned it.

There were a few other awards given out today.

• Big East Player of the Year: Wes Johnson of Syracuse. I find this to be a little of a stunner since Scottie Reynolds was the only unanimous selection to the All Big East team. Congrats to Wesley.
• Syracuse's Jim Boeheim won the Big East Coach of the Year. 
• Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis won the Big East Scholarship Athlete of the Year. The award somehow went to back to back West Virginia players. 

Congrats to all of these men on their accomplishments, especially Lance Stephenson because he attends UC.

Notre Dame 83 Cincinnati 65

(South Bend Tribune)

The 2 men pictured above, Luke Harangody and Tim Abromaitis, helped power the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-7, 5-5) past our highly disinterested Cincinnati Bearcats (14-8, 5-5) last night. Unlike the first match up, Gody wasn't contained, and went off for 37 points on 15-25, 7-8 from the free throw line and 14 rebounds. Luke had a double double by halftime as the Irish, who were outrebounded 50-31 in Cincinnati, beat UC on the glass by 9, and pulled down 11 offensive rebounds to the 2 they got at 5/3 Arena. Tim Abromaitis went off for 22, showing that UC has no one that can stick him this season. Ben Hansbrough had 12-8 rebounds-9 assists, and Tory Jackson had 8 assists as the Irish had 25 assists on 29 field goals. UC had no answer for the Irish on defense, or offense. Larry Davis lead the team in scoring with 12. Larry Davis is a good kid, but he can't be your leading scorer. Deonta Vaughn had 11 on 2-8 shooting, all from 3. He has become very 1 dimensional this season, content to sit on the perimeter. Cashmere Wright followed his great day against Providence by going 1-9 for 4. Lance Stephenson didn't start, and only played 21 minutes for whatever reason, and had 8-6. I guess Mick didn't want the team's best player getting in the way of the suck. Let's dive into this frustrating loss.

Tim Abromaitis started the game with a 3 that was answered by Ibrahima Thomas. I swear that Ibby takes 80% of his shots before the first media break. He took 4 shots and 4 free throws, and they were all done by the under 12 I would bet. The teams would do a little battle until Notre Dame pulled away for good. Yes, for good. The Irish got dunks on 3 straight possessions while UC went ice cold and turned the ball over. A Harangody j made the score 15-6, and it would be 15-8 to the under 12. UC made a mini run with free throws by Vaughn and Yancy Gates scoring, but when the Irish could get field goals, they converted at the line. Gates would score again, but the Irish would get another dunk and lead 19-14 at 7:28. ND was 6-20, and UC 5-18. UC would get stuck shooting jump shots, and it cost them. Gody made 2 free throws and a lay up to help ND pull away. Larry Davis made his first 3 to pull UC back, but Abromaitis made another 3 to push the lead to 11. Harangody got a put back to give himself the previously mentioned first half double double to keep the lead 11. UC made their last gasp with a Davis 3, and a basket and foul by Gates at 4:30. Ben Hansbrough hit an open 3 to push the lead back. The teams traded free throws until Gody went on a 6-0 run, capped by a lay up off a nice Hansbrough pass for a 40-27 lead at the half. I didn't say as much about Tim Abromaitis because he scored mainly at the free throw line, but he had 16 in the half. Gody had 16-10. Tory Jackson had 7 assists, and Hansbrough 5. ND shot 14-33, 3-10 from 3, 9-11 ft, and had 13 assists to 5 turnovers. UC was 9-28, 3-11, 6-9 ft, and had 5 assists to 8 tos half of which were by Yancy Gates. Gates led UC with 10-4, Davis had 6, Rashad Bishop had 4-4, and Ibrahima Thomas had 4. Vaughn had 3 of his assists. Lance Stephenson didn't start, and didn't play more than 10 minutes in the half. Mick Cronin said after the game that he wanted Bishop in the line up to guard Abromaitis, and Bishop didn't exactly do that at all. 

The Irish built their lead from the get go with a Hansbrough 3. UC got a Vaughn 3, a Steve Toyloy put back and a steal on the inbound. With their chance to make a run, Vaughn threw up a terrible 3 that lead to a Gody jumper. UC scored 5 more off a Toyloy lay up and a Davis 3, but the lead was back to 11 with a Hansbrough put back. Hansbrough was everywhere when UC looked to do anything. UC should have played a guard to stick him, because Deonta Vaughn couldn't do it. Lance Stephenson didn't play until the 12 minute mark, and until the the teams exchanged baskets with the lead still in double digits. Abromaitis hit a 3 to make the lead 13. Stephenson would get to the line to score his first 2 of the game and cut the lead to 11. Thomas got to the stripe with 11 minutes left, and made 1 of 2 to make it a 10 point game. That's when the game ended for all intents and purposes. Harangody schooled Gates on an up and under for a basket and foul. Jaquan Parker, who did nothing, turned the ball over, which lead to a press break lay up by Gody for a 15 point lead. UC took terrible shots, with Wright and Vaughn being the offenders in this anti-run. The anti-highlight came off a missed Vaughn 3. ND, I think it was Hansbrough, pulled down the long rebound and flung a pass down court to a streaking Abromaitis who would dunk and get fouled by Cash Wright. UC had 2 players even attempt to run down the floor. Lance Stephenson didn't take a step after moving to the paint for the rebound. Abromaitis made the free throw to make it an 18 point game. As you can tell by the final, the score stayed that way. 

The pathetic effort hasn't been highlighted in this recap enough. If I made it seem that UC was in the game at all the second half besides the very beginning, I'm sorry. UC had another awful, awful, awful road effort. Notre Dame shot 54% the second half. UC shot 38% for the game, 7-28 for 3. Why this team of terrible outside shooters is able to settle on taking 3s, I don't know. It's incredibly frustrating to watch. The only 2 things of positive note were UC was 16-20 at the free throw line, and Larry Davis made 4 from long range. Larry has been bad from deep this year, and it was good to see him hitting shots. Besides that, it was another lousy road effort. The team is 8-43,323 on the road in Mick's UC career. With the back end of the Big East schedule coming up, this has to be the last time this pathetic of an effort can take place. This loss is on Mick, the players, and the rest of the coaches. This can't happen anymore. Syracuse is up next on Sunday. It's a gigantic opportunity for UC to was the taste of this disaster out of their mouths. 

Irish crush Cats

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the only team on the court who wanted to win tonight, and they drummed the UC Bearcats 83-65. Notre Dame moves to 16-7, 5-5. Cincinnati falls to 14-8, 5-5 with Syracuse on the docket Sunday. The Irish had big games from seemingly everyone. Luke Harangody went off for 37-14. Tim Abromaitis and his acne went for 22. Ben Hansbrough 12-8 rebounds-9 assists. Tory Jackson chipped in 9 assists for Notre Dame. Cincinnati was lead by no one, but statistically speaking Larry Davis had 12, Deonta Vaughn 11-6 assists, and Yancy Gates had 10-6. This was another pathetic road performance in a year of pathetic road showings. This was UAB all over again. Disinterest, terrible shots, no defense. You gotta do something Mick. Besides lose on the road. Again.

Know Your Opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish edition

The good thing about playing Notre Dame twice is that I didn't have to type out the header again. The Bearcats had an odd schedule quirk where they played all of their mirror opponents at home, and now in the next few weeks they have to visit all 3. That starts tonight against ND. The Bearcats pulled off a victory in the last 2 seconds on a Yancy Gates put back a few weeks ago. The Bearcats held Luke Harangody to 5-20 shooting, and held ND to 58 points, well below their average. Notre Dame was 14-3 when the teams met for the first time, and the Irish have been reeling since. They have dropped 3 of 4, 4 of 5 counting UC, and are 15-7, 4-5 in the Big East. The Bearcats are 14-7 and back on the plus side of the Big East at 5-4. The Bearcats haven't fared well on the road this season, going 1-5 with the only win at hapless Rutgers. The stars in the first game were Yancy Gates with 11-13, Deonta Vaughn had 15-7 rebounds, Rashad Bishop scored 10, and Darnell Wilks pulled down 8 rebounds. For the Irish, Tim Abromaitis had 16-8, Harangody 14-11, and Tory Jackson poured in 12. 

Who will get it done tonight at 9 on ESPN? 

Cincinnati 60 Notre Dame 58

(Cincinnati Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua III)

Edited to change UC's record to their actual record in the Big East. Big time slip up. Apologizes

The Cincinnati Bearcats (12-6, 3-3) knocked off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-4, 3-2) Saturday afternoon by the score in the title. The picture is of Yancy Gates putting back his miss of an alley oop from Deonta Vaughn with 2.4 seconds remaining to win. It was an important win for Cincinnati, and Gates really played well 11 points, 13 rebounds. He also helped do a good job on the Big East's leading scorer Luke Harangody. Harangody was 5-20 for 14 points. Instead, it was Tim Abromaitis leading ND in scoring with 16. The play the Bearcats ran to win was quite simple, a high screen and roll. Harangody was guarding Gates, and when Gates screened for Vaughn, ND switched. Gates was then guarded by Tory Jackson and was able to get an easy look and the rebound. It's the second game winning shot attempt for Gates, and this one turned out better than the one against Gonzaga where he couldn't get the shot to foul, probably because he was fouled then. But that's neither here nor there. Let's look back at how UC was able to get the job done.

Due to some lower conference game, everyone on ESPNU joined the game with ND up 7-3. The starters must have been awful because the lineup for UC was Darnell Wilks, Jaquan Parker, My best friend Dion Dixon, Yancy Gates and Rashad Bishop. Wilks ended up playing most of the first half and being quite effective with 8 rebounds. The lead would switch numerous times early. UC would get 5 points from Parker, who got the nod over Cashmere Wright who played 0 minutes. Notre Dame would get scoring Abromaitis and Tory Jackson and have a 22-16 lead with 6 minutes left. The teams missed lots of shots, and UC was able to keep ND off the glass, free throw line and overall inefficient. UC had a 5 point spurt of a Vaughn 3 and a guess what, Wilks dunk to cut it to 3. I swear all Wilks does is dunk. It was his only 2. Lance Stephenson was quiet in this one, but scored 4 points in a row on lay ups, including a lay up off a steal in the backcourt right over Harangody who was called for a block. That made the score 28-25 Irish. Notre Dame would get the lead up after a technical foul on a UC assistant coach. Harangody and Wilks got tied up fighting for a rebound and Gody clearly pulled Wilks down with a handful of jersey. The foul was called on Wilks before that, and when Wilks got heated Gody backed away right into the UC bench. He must have said something because coach on UC said something that got a T called. Abromaitis hit both free throws, and Gody a runner. The score at the half was 32-25. UC held Notre Dame to 2-10 from 3, and ND was 6-9 at the stripe. UC was 3-13 from deep and 3-5 at the line. Tim Abromaitis poured in 10 with 4 rebounds to lead ND, with Gody having 9-7. UC was lead by Vaughn's 6, and Gates' 5-7. The Bearcats got 7 offensive rebounds, and that helped their pitiful offense.

Half 2 started off with a Rashad Bishop 3, a Tim Abromaitis 3, and a Deonta Vaughn 3. Bishop would score on and up and under fake, and Vaughn would hit a pull up jumper off the break and just like that, UC tied the score at 35. The Bearcats would take the lead, capping off a 9-0 run with a Bishop lay up off a long pass he was able to corral. Jackson would make a jumper and have a breakaway lay up his own to give the Irish a 39-37 lead with 15 minutes to go. The teams would trade the lead. My best friend Dion Dixon had a traditional 3 point play as part of his 7 points, but Harangody would make a 3 pointer to put ND back on top.   Jackson would make another shot to give ND a 46-42 advantage, but 3 Stephenson free throws and a tough lefty hook by Gates gave UC a 47-46 lead with 9:30 on the clock. Ben Hansbrough, 8-5 assists, and Stephenson traded baskets. Born Ready had 5 boards in the game, right on his average for the year. A big play would occur at 6:38 when Vaughn would drive the lane and pick up a block on Gody, his 4th. UC wouldn't be able to take advantage though. Jonathan Peoples hit a 3 to tie us at 51. Gates and Abromaitis traded jumpers. Abromaitis made 1 of 2 free throws to give ND the lead, but Vaughn would score to put UC back in the lead with 3:30 left. Tim Abromaitis was a 90% free throw shooter. He would miss 2 big ones and only shoot 5-8 at the stripe, with all the misses coming late. Ben Hansbrough scored seemingly all his points late, and made 2 free throws to give ND a 56-55 lead with 2:30 left. But after Jackson stripped Vaughn and Dixon fouled Hansbrough, he would miss 2 free throws, and he is a historically 78% foul shooter. Tyrone Nash was invisible due to foul trouble in this game, and fouled out at the 1:46 mark. The man he fouled was Rashad Bishop, who made both to give UC a 57-56 advantage. Harangody would take the shot on ND's next trip, but it was a 3 pointer that couldn't have been the shot Mike Brey wanted. Bishop would once again be fouled, but he only made 1 of 2. With 22.3 seconds left, Ben Hansbrough hit a jumper off the left elbow to tie the score. That would lead to the screen and roll mentioned earlier and the UC win.

This was a big win for UC in a number of ways. It keeps them in the middle of the Big East race. It had a nice, nice crowd fully behind their team. The Bearcats put the clamps on a really good offensive team. Notre Dame was 22-54 40%, 5-17 29% from 3, and a surprising 9-19 at the charity stripe. UC shot poorly as well 21-65 32%, 5-21! 23.8% and 13-18 72%. The Bearcats cleaned the glass, outrebounding the Irish 48-28 and holding the Irish to 2 offensive rebounds while gathering 16 of their own. Getting nearly half of their misses won the game for Cincinnati. That and good Notre Dame foul shooters going ice cold late. The Bearcats only turned the ball over 8 times, but had just 7 assists. The offense really needs to be fixed. It's crucial.com. The Bearcats have a couple days off before they get back in the grove Wednesday against South Florida and a chance at over .500 in the Big East.

Bearcats win battle against the Irish

(Enquier/Joseph Fuqua III)

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish played a tough game Saturday afternoon won by Cincinnati 60-58. Yancy Gates made the game winner on a put back with 2.4 seconds left. Gates the chance for the put back after he missed pretty much an alley oop from Deonta Vaughn. Gates screened for Vaughn, and when Notre Dame switched, Vaughn tossed it up to Gates, guarded by Tory Jackson instead of Luke Harangody, who initially missed. The win puts UC at 12-6 and 3-3 in the Big East. Notre Dame falls to 14-4 and 3-2 in conference. The Bearcats were lead by Deonta Vaughn's 15 and 7 rebounds. Gates put 11-13. Rashad Bishop scored 10, and Darnell Wilks had 8 rebounds. For the Irish, Tim Abromaitis had 16-8, Harangody 14-11 and Tory Jackson had 12. This was a big win for the Bearcats following losses to Seton Hall and St John's. Full write up tomorrow.

Know Your Opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish edition

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish bring their non coach stealing basketball team to the big fraction to play a Big East game against the Cincinnati Bearcats this afternoon at 4. It's a big game for UC. After falling to 2-3 in the Big East, the Bearcats need a win to get back to .500. Notre Dame is playing their 3rd Big East road game out of 4 total, and are looking to go 4-1. The UC football team will be honored at halftime begging the question of whether or not this is the Brian Kelly Bowl. Except whatever you call basketball games that isn't bowl. The teams meet twice this season, the second meeting coming on February 4. This should be an interesting test of where the teams are in the Big East. Is Cincinnati going to fall towards the back of the pack? Will Notre Dame make a surge to the top? Let's look at the numbers.