Top 25 worst UC losses I remember. 14-1

I had to cut this into 2 parts because it was starting to get long. Part I is right here.

14. 72-69 vs Canisius December 9, 1994
One of the most inexplicable losses in the history of Cincinnati basketball came on this night. In the Bearcat Invitational, or whatever it was called, the Bearcats overlooked a large thing called playing the game in route to winning that title. The Bearcats built up a 20 point lead and went on coast mode as the Golden Griffins made a dramatic comeback. Michael Meeks hit a 3 and Darrell Barley hit 2 free throws to ice it. UC played 8 players this game, and that's still no excuse for blowing a 20 point lead to Canisius. This was in the era where Scott didn't think UC could lose to shitty teams like this. Canisius is undefeated against Cincinnati. Big ups to the Seattle Times for having this info in their archives.

13. 69-66 vs Louisville January 15, 2005
I remember this game quite clearly for a game that happened so long ago. Cincinnati had bounced back from the Illinois loss mentioned in part 1, and was 3-0 in Conference USA. Louisville rolled into the Shoe, and proceeded to roll over early. The Bearcats raced out to a huge lead, highlighted by James White throwing down a nasty dunk on Taquan Dean's head. The Cards chipped at the lead and tied it up with 6 minutes left and took the lead. With 1:32 left, Juan Palacios got a tip in to give Louisville a 67-65 lead. Jason Maxiell drew a foul, but only made 1 of 2. Larry O'Bannon got a lay up for the Cardinals, and Jihad Muhammad raced down court and put up a 3 that nearly broke the glass on the right side of the backboard. Virtual 04-05 Louisville also beat Cincinnati at the buzzer as Francisco Garcia hit a 3 to give the Cards the win. I remember being quite pissed during both the real, and video game losses.

12. 79-76 vs Arizona February 11, 1996
I remember watching this game and working on a project for school with one of my best friends at the time. We kept taking breaks, or we were done when this game started. I remember this game for the Damon Flint self alley oop where he had the ball in his right hand and threw it over his crossed left arm for the dunk. I would replicate that dunk many a time on any rim that I had. This game is more remembered for the Miles Simon ending, you know where he threw up a halfcourt shot at the buzzer. I was deflated. My friend said something like "at least they lost in a cool way" and I wanted to punch him in the face. If you read this Matt Post, I want to punch you in the face now thinking about it.

11. 76-72 vs Michigan April 4, 1992 NCAA Tournament Final 4
The only time the Bearcats made the Final Four in my lifetime, and the reason this one isn't higher is because I can't remember the whole thing. My family watched the game at some place out in public and I was proudly wearing my Final Four shirt. I remember hating Michigan because raised in Ohio, we are taught to hate Michigan. Being at a public place with other people hazes the memory of the actual game. I remember watching the end and everyone being sad that UC lost. But not terribly sad because they were drunk.

10. 52-50 at St John's January 13, 2010
You are damn right that this game is in the top 10. Out of all the games mentioned so far, how many of them ended in true gut punch fashion like this? How many ripped out your soul? How many did you say "I will quit watching basketball if UC loses?" I know one person who did. The context of this one is the only question of where it will ultimately end up. What an epic choke job by UC. Throwing away 2 inbounds passes, and having a possession end in a blocked shot and foul with 25 seconds left is still insane.

9. 66-64 at Xavier December 18, 1999
The Bearcats rolled into this one ranked #1. It was the final Crosstown Shootout at the Cincinnati Gardens, and Xavier closed the building in style. This was the second time that Xavier beat Cincinnati when the Bearcats were ranked #1. I remember watching this game with my parents, lame is right, and being more and more aggravated by this game. Cincinnati fouled Xavier shooting 3s twice, and I believe it was the second time I ever cussed in front of my parents. The first I remember distinctly. My mom, brother and I were watching Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, and I said 'what the hell was that' and my mom shot me a death stare. Xavier won a tough one and once again ruined everything that was good with the world. The fans storming the court like idiots while Dick Vitale yelled "Upset city, ohhhhhhhhhh baby!!!!!" made me hate him. The Bearcats had a chance to get the ball back with 3 seconds left, but Lloyd Price got the rebound of his bricked free throw and evil won that day.

8. 67-66 vs Iowa State March 15, 1997 NCAA Tournament 2nd Round
The Bearcats were the pre-season favorites to win the NCAA title. Danny Fortson was on the cover of SI. Times were good. The Bearcats were a 3 seed in the Midwest region and went up against the 6 seeded Cyclones. Kenny Pratt and Dedric Willoughby lead the way for Iowa State putting up 21 and 19 respectively. Cincinnati trailed from the mid point of the first half to the last minute when Melvin Leavitt made 2 free throws to give UC the lead and make me ecstatic. That would turn into pure rage when Darnell Burton had a loose ball under the basket and was tackled by an Iowa State player, only to have it be called a travel. It was one of the worst calls in the history of the world if I remember correctly having not seen the play since. Klay Edwards made the shot to win with 32 seconds left. Damon Flint had 2 chances to give UC the win, but came up short on a lay up attempt. I was deflated.

7. 74-73 vs Syracuse March 8, 2006 Big East Tournament
The Bearcats and Orange were playing for a shot in the NCAA tournament in the eyes of everyone watching. The game was controlled by Syracuse until mid way through the second half when the Bearcats roared back. With 3:40 left, Devan Downey made a steal and a lay up to give UC the lead. It was nip tuck down the stretch, but UC took the lead with 10 seconds left on a James White jumper. UC would force a steal and Downey would make 1 of 2 free throws for a 2 point lead. The fun would be short lived as Gerry McNamara raced down the court and threw up a 3 pointer over Eric Hicks that ended the Bearcats NCAA hopes. It was a tough way to go out, and UC hasn't come close to making the big dance since.

6. 73-63 vs Mississippi State March 24, 1996 NCAA Tournament Elite 8
This was the last time Cincinnati made a run in the tournament. I remember being so fucking pumped because Mississippi State had beaten UConn and was a lowly 5 seed playing the 2 seed Cincinnati, who had been kicking ass. The Final Four was in the bag.  I had a little basketball that I took a sharpie to and UC pimped it out. 2 and a half hours later, that boy would not be so happy. The game was in Lexington, and was like a UC home game. Mississippi State got out to a double digit lead that carried over to the second half. UC made a run and the crowd was into it. But, the Cats wouldn't get over the hump. The Bulldogs would go on a run with Danny Fortson and Art Long in foul trouble and never look back. I remember CBS showing the Bearcats looking sad and everyone down on the bench and I was sad and down on my couch.

5. 75-68 (OT)  vs North Carolina March 28, 1993 NCAA Tournament Elite 8
I remember being so pumped for this game, that I busted out the Final Four shirt. I was excited about the possibility of UC going to back to back Final Fours. Alas, it was not meant to be. The Bearcats and Tar Heels were the 2 and 1 seeds and had an epic showdown here. The Bearcats got out to a 15 point lead in the first half that sent the party my family was having crazy. Carolina would cut the lead to 1 at the half, and it was close to the end. There was a controversial play with 0.8 left. North Carolina's Brian Reese drove to the basket and missed a dunk that took longer than a second, but the buzzer didn't sound and the ref said that if it went in, it would have counted. Crazy. In overtime, the Tar Heels would show they were better. Donald Williams made back to back 3s that would rip my heart out. Nick Van Exel had 21 for Cincinnati, but only 1 basket the second half after outscoring UNC at one point 15-14. I remember having to be picked up off the floor by my dad. Bad times for young me.

4. 75-74 vs West Virginia March 14, 1998 NCAA Tournament 2nd Round
This loss followed the Iowa State loss and was the Bearcats 4th early exit in 5 years. The Bearcats were the 2 seed, WVU the 10 seed. UC struggled in round 1 against Northern Arizona, and struggled in this one. D'Juan Baker hit the game winning 3 to beat NAU, and hit 2 3s in the last minute to give UC the lead here. Baker's second 3 came with 7 seconds left. West Virginia didn't call their last time out. Jarrod West raced down the court in the madness, and banked home a 25 footer, that Reuben Patterson might have tipped, to topple the Bearcats. The West shot is one of the luckiest shots that I have ever seen hit against a team that I liked. Another example of pure joy to pure disappointment. I got mad just now remembering it.

3. 71-69 vs Xavier November 26, 1996
I don't even need to tell you this was the Lenny Brown game. You knew it from the score.

2. 105-101 (2 OT) vs UCLA March 17, 2002 NCAA Tournament 2nd Round
I went to UC during this season, and this is the UC team I might have loved most. It's a tie really. Steve Logan, Lenny Stokes, Immanuel McElroy, Donald Little and the boys had a great, overachieving squad earning a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins were an underachieving 8 seed who were ranked 4th in the preseason. The teams played an epic contest leaving it all on the court. Stokes played out of his mind scoring 39. Steve Logan struggled with 18 on 6-18 shooting. Dan Gadzuric had 26, Jason Kapono 19, and Matt Barnes 17. The teams put up 66 3 pointers, which was a record at the time. The heart breaking play came in the 2nd OT when, down 1, UC couldn't get the rebound off a miss and Billy Knight got a 3 point play. This one really hurt because the Bearcats were up 10 at the half, and 11 with 9 minutes to go. Tides turned when UCLA made a 3, UC fouled as the ball was rattling home, and UCLA got another 3 to cut the lead to 5. The Bearcats had chances to win in regulation, and especially in overtime. Stokes gave UC a lead with a minute left, but Cedric Bozeman tied to score with 38 seconds left. UC missed at least 3 shots as overtime ended, and I started feeling a sense of dread. This second round defeat was the toughest to take for me, because I really loved this team.

1. 68-58 vs St Louis March 9, 2000 Conference USA Tournament 2nd Round

Top 25 worst UC losses I remember. 25-15

There is a saying that in poker, you don't remember the hands you win, you always remember the hands you lose. After reflecting on the suck that was the St John's game, I decided to come up with a list of the 25 worst UC losses that I can remember. It was going to be 10, but I thought of 10 off the top of my head and decided that it was not enough. I used the great, great, amazing, great statsheet.com to look up the schedules of UC back to 1990 and any game that I remembered being a horrible loss, I wrote down. I said that the St John's game was one of the 5 worst UC games, but will it be? Read the list, that's why I made it. See Part 2 here.

25. 71-69 vs DePaul February 20, 1992
I wouldn't have thought of this game, but JKeating23 mentioned it on twitter. This game was bad enough that it caused Bob Huggins to have chest pains and check into the hospital. I don't remember, nor can I find, much about it, so it's 25. EDIT: From the comments Romanvan Gogh offers some perspective on the DePaul game. After reading this, I would place DePaul 9th. 
"The context is the most important part of the DePaul game. UC was emerging from the ashes of the Tony Yates years. They were coming off two straight NIT appearances. It looked like they were ready to make that jump to "NCAA Tournament caliber program." But they weren't quite there yet in February of '92. Think back to all those close calls in '90 and '91. Almost beat UK. Almost beat Oklahoma. Split games with Florida State and Louisville. '92 was going to be year they went over the top and started winning those games and making the tournament. But early in '92 they were clipped by Michigan State and crushed  by IU. DePaul (the preseason choice to win the Great Midwest Conference) won the first game. Maybe they weren't ready. Maybe it was another NIT year. But then they got on a roll. Killed Xavier. Beat Memphis. Were ranked for the first time in a million years. Maybe they were for real. That confidence came back. The second DePaul game would be the true test. I don't remember the specifics of the game, but I do remember that they should have won. There was some controversy at the end (I want to say a timeout call or clock problem) which caused Huggs to go berserk at the buzzer and end up in the hospital. Whatever happened, it was a crushing blow to the collective confidence of UC basketball. Of course, now that game is irrelevant. That was the last loss before the Final Four. UC beat DePaul something like 40 straight times after that. But at the time, it was absolutely soul crushing. To me at least, it was a Top 5 loss. Only the Kenyon Game, Lenny Brown, Jared F'ing West, and maybe Miles F'ing Simon were worse."


24. 63-61 vs. Southern Miss Conference USA tournament March 12, 2003
The 2002-2003 season wasn't really that memorable, but this loss is one that sticks out. I remember watching the game and the realization that this squad wasn't going to do anything in the NCAA tournament really bummed me out. I don't think I watched the rest of that C-USA tournament and can't tell you who won. I'm going to guess Louisville. Hey guess what? It was. This UC squad ended up losing to Gonzaga in the first round in the game Bob Huggins and awesome radio man Chuck Machock were tossed.

23. 61-60 (OT) at DePaul February 6, 1999
This was back at a time DePaul was good at basketball. I remember being aggravated at this game because UC should have won and were hosed by the refs. Looking at the stats, DePaul shot 24 free throws to UC's 14. Kenyon Martin fouled out in 18 minutes and had only 2 points. I'm sure this was a game that Quentin Richardson did something annoying.

22. 71-69 at Xavier February 3, 2004
The Bearcats were ranked #10 going into this Crosstown Shootout and held a 10 point lead in the first half. Xavier stormed back to take the lead going into intermission. It was tight the whole second half with neither team leading by more than 4. Jason Maxiell hit 2 free throws with 55 seconds left to give UC a 69-68 lead, but Lionel Chalmers scored on a jumper for Xavier with 22 seconds left. UC would take another tough loss in this series. But it wasn't the worst Xavier loss.

21. 67-45 vs Illinois December 31, 2004
This loss put me in a bad mood as the New Year rang. I was sick and watched the game while coughing up my lungs. The game was more disgusting than that. The Bearcats were undefeated going into this game, and it was a big test. Illinois was up 8-10 seemingly the whole first half before pulling away near the end. The Illini would go on a run to start the half and win going away. This was a how good are ya game, and it showed the Cats weren't elite that year.

20. 86-75 vs Belmont November 9, 2007
Cincinnati had not lost a home opener in 42 years before this game. The 07-08 team wasn't very good, 13-19, but this was a bad loss. Getting routed by Belmont quelled all optimism for this season, and most fans wrote the team off then. Looking at the score now, it's crazy to see.

19. 67-57 vs DePaul March 10, 2009 Big East Tournament
The Bearcats of last season collapsed down the stretch losing 6 of 7, capped off by this disgraceful performance in the Big East tournament. DePaul won 0 Big East games last year, and then kicked the uninterested Bearcats in the ass the second half. DePaul had lost 18 in a row, and UC rolled over for them on national tv. This was one of the rare UC games I turned off out of disgust before it was over.

18. 73-71 (OT) at Xavier January 19, 2006
The Musketeers were the favorite in this one against Andy Kennedy's UC club. The game was sent to overtime when Jihad Muhammad of all people hit a 3 to tie the score at 64. Xavier would have a 2 point lead seemingly all of overtime with the Cats fighting back. The lead got up to 5 with 1:10 left when Devan Downey hit a 3, and then Cedric McGowan got a steal and dunk to tie the score. Jihad Muhammad would foul Stanley Burrell and I threw a little plush basketball I had at the wall. It knocked a picture down and the frame broke. It wasn't a good moment. UC's shot to tie was missed by James White and the Musketeers won another one.

17. 83-79 (2 OT) at Xavier December 13, 2009
This game is covered in much more detail here. After near 2 near brawls, Lance Stephenson's ridiculous crossovers, and Terrell Holloway's becoming a star, the game would go to a second OT. The Bearcats jumped out to a quick 3 point lead, but couldn't hold on. Steve Toyloy clanked 2 free throws with 1:10 left and Jason Love would dunk one home after a good pass from Holloway. My best friend Dion Dixon would miss a 3, and Dante Jackson would make 1 free throw. Deonta Vaughn missed a lay up, and Jason Love iced it. This would be higher, but it was such a great game it didn't sting as much as some of the others. But, it stung, hence the reason it's 17 and over 2 other Crosstown Shootouts.

16. 69-67 vs Xavier December 14, 2000
The Bearcats once again were ranked and went down to an unranked Xavier squad. This game was an absolute brickfest, but came down to the wire. Kenny Satterfield missed a tying jump shot as time ran out, and David West, Kevin Frey and Romain Sato left this game winners. Xavier shot 40 free throws to UC's 15.   I was so pissed after this one, because UC had a much better team than X. And Xavier had lost to Princeton before this, and I was shit taking Xavier fans all day. Bad times

15. 91-90 vs Wofford November 21, 2006
The reason this game is here, and ranked so high compared to better games with better UC squads is because this was the realization game that UC was no longer UC. The Cats got off to a 3-0 start in Mick's first year, but that would all come crashing down as Wofford beat the Cats. Cincinnati was trailing by 7 with 2 minutes left before tying the score on a John Williamson lay up with 27 seconds left. Deonta Vaughn would foul Shane Nichols, who knocked down 1 free throw with 5 seconds left. Vaughn would miss a 3, and UC fans everywhere found out that days of 20 win seasons every year were over.