Cincinnati Big East Schedule Announced

The big news of the day is that the Big East released the list of conference games for this upcoming season. The full list is here.

Home: DePaul, Georgetown, St John's, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, Seton Hall, South Florida, West Virginia

Road: DePaul, Georgetown, St John's, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, Syracuse, Villanova

The schedule looks brutal as always. Going on the road to 3 of the conference favorites is a bitch.

I have a little more free time, so here are the mirror opponents for each school.

UConn: Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame

DePaul: Cincinnati, South Florida, West Virginia

Georgetown: Cincinnati, St John's, Syracuse

Louisville: UConn, Providence, West Virginia

Marquette: UConn, Notre Dame, Seton Hall

Notre Dame: UConn, Marquette, St John's

Pittsburgh: South Florida, Syracuse, Villanova

Providence: Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida

Rutgers: Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova

St John's: Cincinnati, Georgetown, Notre Dame

Seton Hall: Marquette, Rutgers, Syracuse

South Florida: DePaul, Pitt, Providence

Syracuse: St John's, Seton Hall, Villanova

Villanova: Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse

West Virginia: DePaul, Louisville, Pitt

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 26 West Virginia 23

This Memorable Bearcat Game took place during the magical 2008 season. It was a battle of 6-2 teams, Cincinnati and West Virginia. The Bearcats came into the game 1-1 in the Big East, but were coming off a huge win at South Florida the week before. West Virginia had been rolling since starting the season 1-2. At this point in the season, we didn't know for sure if the Bearcats were going to be contenders in the Big East. This was their big chance to show their stuff. Every year it seems that the conference champion has to go through West Virginia to the crown, and it certainly was the case in 2008. Pat White even had a championship belt.

 The stage was set. Morgantown, West Virginia. 60,00 crazy fans. A night to remember.

The Bearcats took advantage of the opening kickoff. By took advantage, I mean Mardy Gilyard returned the kick 100 yards for a touchdown. Here's a picture of Mardy running.

Suffice to say, that stunned the crowd. Also stunning the crowd was when WVU went 3 and out. Cincinnati couldn't do much on their possession and punted back. The Bearcats defense stifled WVU yet again, forcing a punt. This time Pat McAfee shanked it, setting UC up at the Mountaineer 33. John Goebel popped a 5 yard run on first down, but the drive stalled there. Jake Rogers calmly nailed a 46 yarder to make the score 10-0.

That score seemed to wake the Mountaineers up. Starting at their 23, Pat White took over. He busted a 15 yard run, and an 8 yard run around a 4 yard run by Noel Devine to get WVU to midfield. The Bearcats forced a third and long, but White hit Jock Sanders for 30 yards to the UC 19. White hit Alric Arnett on the next play for a touchdown and it was quickly a ball game at 10-7. The Bearcats drive went nowhere, ending in a sack. The defense would end up making a big play. Facing a 3rd and 1, WVU gave the ball to Devine, who tried to go up the middle, but was stripped. Brandon Underwood recovered for UC at the WVU 34. Tony Pike hit Dominick Goodman for 12 yards, John Goebel for 6, and ran for 11 getting the ball to the WVU 5. This was the first full game Pike played in after his broken left forearm. He left the previous UConn and South Florida games. The Bearcats ate a false start, and couldn't get closer, settling for a 31 yard field goal to make the score 13-7 to end the first quarter.

WVU started quarter 2 with a little drive, going from their 23 to their 47, before a holding penalty, and a false start forced them into long yardage plays. They punted UC back to the 21, setting the stage for maybe the biggest drive of the game.

Pike started things off by hitting Goodman once again for 25 yards, followed by a 6 yard run by Jacob Ramsey and another 7 yard pass to Goodman. That put the ball at the Mountaineer 39. But things went back on the Bearcats, getting hit with an illegal use of hands and a holding penalty to make it 1st and 30 at the UC 41. A pass to Ben Guidugli  for 7, and a 6 yard Ramsey run set up a 3rd and 17. Pike found Goodman yet again for 18 yards and a Bearcat first down. Pike hit Kazeem Alli for 6, another Ramsey run for 5 yards netted a first down, and another pass to Goodman for 9 put UC at the 8 yard line. Pike hit Marcus Waugh for a first down to the 5. After a 1 yard Ramsey run, Pike scrambled the last 4 yards on a looking left, looking left, run right play for the Cincinnati touchdown, capping a 12 play, 73 yard drive that took 9 minutes plus. It also made the score 20-7.

WVU went 3 and out on their next possession, punting to the UC 25. The Bearcats popped a 66 yard pass to John Goebel to get the ball to the 13. The Bearcats could only move the ball 2 yards, setting Jake Rogers up for a 29 yard FG. Unfortunately for UC, Rogers jaked it off the upright for his first miss of the season. That was lame, but the lameness makes you like it. Neither team did anything special to end the half. We went to the locker room with UC up 20-7.

The third quarter pretty much played out like this. Incomplete pass, short run, sack, penalty, punt. The first 4 drives the teams went 3 and out with their punters Pat McAfee and Kevin Huber drilling 50 yard punts. McAfee ruined it by hitting a 49 yarder, and Huber followed with a 33 yard punt. McAfee boomed his next one 56 yards however. Huber's leg must have been tired, because his next punt was shanked, going 28 yards to the WVU 47.

The Mountaineers got the first 1st down of the quarter, when following a 7 yard White run, White passed to Sanders, who did a lateral to Devine for 10 yards. Following a sack by Curtis Young that ended quarter 3, White hit Devine for 7 to set up 3rd and 8. White rushed for no gain, but drew a personal foul penalty on the Bearcats to keep the drive alive. Runs by Sanders, and Devine set up 1st and 10 from the 11. White threw the ball three times, 2 incompletions around a 5 yard pass to Devine, setting up a big 4th and 5. WVU decided to go for it. White tried to run to daylight on a bootleg left, but was pushed out of bounds shy of the first down, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Cincinnati took over at the 3. Brian Kelly decided to ride Jacob Ramsey. Ramsey picked up 4, 4, 2 (resulting in the first UC first down of the half), 5 and 2. The last 2 yards resulted from holding, making it 2nd and 13. Goebel couldn't run for those yards, setting up a 54 yard Huber punt that was returned 7 yards by Sanders to the WVU 40. The UC drive took 4:32, leaving WVU with 6:49.

West Virginia would drive again. White hit Bradley Starks for 24 to the UC 37. After an incompletion and 8 yard pass to Starks, Devine converted a 3rd and 2 with a 4 yard run. White hit Devine with 2 passes of 4 and 5 yards around an incompletion, setting up a 4th and 1 at the UC 15. Once again White ran, but this time, he got the first down. His next pass attempt drew a pass interference, giving WVU a 1st and goal at the 2. White threw an incompletion, ran for a yard, and ran for a loss of a yard, setting up another huge 4th down. This time, WVU went for a pass. White stared down Jock Sanders, threw, and was intercepted by DeAngelo Smith. Smith played White and the ball perfectly. It looked like WVU had just blown their best opportunity to come back.

UC had 3:22 on the clock, the ball at the 3, and 0 timeouts for West Virginia. The Bearcats gave the ball to Goebel twice, but he only got 4 yards. On 3rd and 6, Ramsey picked up 4. UC took a delay of game. Not wanting to risk a blocked kick, and playing for field position, Kelly did the smart thing and had Huber take a safety. That made the score 20-9 with only 1:11 remaining.

The free kick by Rogers was returned to the WVU 39 by Sanders. After an incompletion, White hit Sanders for 14 to the UC 47. The biggest play came on the next play. White hit Dorrell Jalloh for 23 yards, but UC was hit with a backbreaking personal foul putting the ball at the 9. White's first pass was incomplete. On second down, WVU had a false start, making it 2nd and goal at the 14. White hit Sanders for 11 to set up 3rd and goal at the 3. White's pass was incomplete. All UC needed was one more stop to finish the game. Instead, White converted with a pass to Jalloh. White ran in the 2 point conversion to make the score 20-17.

WVU got another break when Mortty Ivy recovered the onside kick. WVU's special teams made a big blunder to start the game, and a big play to save it. With 18 seconds left, White hit Jalloh yet again for 21 yard to the UC 35. An incomplete pass set up a field goal attempt for McAfee, which would tie his career high. The strong footed kicker made the pressure kick, sending the crowd into a frenzy, and sending the game into overtime.

Dustin Grutza was the starting QB for UC in 2008. He suffered a broken leg against Oklahoma, and watched Tony Pike turn into, well, Tony Pike. Grutza was the captain for UC on this day. His fateful call of I'm guessing tails, because tails never fails, allowed UC the option for overtime. UC took defense. At first, it didn't look good. Devine rushed for 9, 2, 3 and 4. That brought 3rd and 3 at the 7. Terrill Byrd made the biggest play for the defense, as he corralled White for a 3 yard sack. McAfee was true from 27, giving WVU a 23-20 lead.

UC took possession, and finally remembered that they were allowed to play offense. Pike hit Goodman for 10 yards and a first down, followed by a WVU personal foul that was half the distance to the goal. Jacob Ramsey busted for 5 yards. On 2nd and 2, Pike went play action. Every Mountaineer went left, Pike rolled right. Kazeem Alli was wide open. Earlier in the game, Pike overthrew a wide open Alli on a sure touchdown. This time, Pike was right on the money.

Pike for the game was 16-30 for 178 and the 1 TD. Goodman had 6 catches for 81 yards. Ramsey led UC in rushing, 18 carries for 83 yards. Aaron Webster had 13 tackles, and was big everywhere on defense for Cincinnati. On the WVU side, White was 20-38 for 219, 2 TDs and 1 INT. White had 41 yards rushing, and the conversion. Noel Devine led WVU with 58 yards on 19 carries, but fumbled. Jalloh was the leading WVU receiver, with 54 yards on 4 catches and a TD. Sanders had 52 yards on 5 catches. UC 260 yards, WVU 317. But WVU had 98 rushing yards, which was the first time they had under 100 yards rushing since 2001.

As you know, UC won this game and never looked back. This was the win that gave UC legitimacy. It was Brian Kelly's 5th win against a ranked team, UC had 4 it's entire history before him. It was the second win for UC ever over West Virginia. It was the win that gave confidence to the players, and especially fans, that UC was onto something special. That's why UC 26 West Virginia 23 is a Memorable Bearcat Game.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 67 St Louis 65

This week's Memorable Bearcat Game involves a history lesson. For those of you who forgot, or didn't know, Cincinnati used to play in a conference called the Great Midwest. The conference started after the old Metro dissolved. The Metro consisted of Cincinnati, Louisville, Georgia Tech from 75-78, Memphis, St Louis, Tulane, Florida State (starting in 76), Virginia Tech (starting in 79), and Southern Miss (starting in 82). Cincinnati and Memphis joined the Great Midwest, while Florida State and South Carolina went to the Big East and SEC respectively. Cincinnati was joined in the GM by Memphis, UAB, DePaul, Marquette, St Louis, and in 1993, Dayton. Yeah a 6 team basketball conference was weird, and then they made it weirder with 7. It was so weird that the conference didn't have an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. That would never happen now. Now we are in the era of superconferences, with soon to be 20 team leagues. Just look at the Metro, Florida State and South Carolina didn't join their conferences until 1991 full time. Florida State football was independent. South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992. Conferences weren't a big deal 20 years ago like they are now. Virginia Tech was in the Metro and then joined the A-10 for basketball until 2000. How weird is that now? That's just 10 years ago when V. Tech was no one in basketball, and now we get to see Seth Greenberg bitch about not making the tournament every season. It's one of the rites of March. You know the NCAA tournament is coming when Virginia Tech starts getting talked about as a bubble team. Especially when they beat North Carolina or Duke or NC State and people say "This is the signature victory." I put NC State in as a historical nod.

The Great Midwest Conference, now referred to as the GM, lasted from 1991-1995. It would reunite with the Metro, minus the Virginia teams (V. Tech, VCU yeah VCU) to form Conference USA. TCU joined after the SWC broke up. If you ever wondered how South Florida ended up as a big program, it's because they were in the Metro and were in the right place at the right time twice. Same with Southern Miss and Charlotte. But enough about how C USA was formed. The GM was owned by Cincinnati when it came to tournament play. The Bearcats shared the first season championship with DePaul before winning the tournament title. The second year, Cincinnati swept both. In year three, Marquette won the regular season before Cincinnati bounced them out of the GMT, and won the tournament.

The final season of the GM was won by Memphis. Cincinnati had a down year, finishing 4th, and entering the tournament with a 17-10 record. That was the year UC lost to Canisius. Cincinnati came into the tournament having lost 6 of 9. UC was matched up in the first round with DePaul. The game went into overtime. LaZelle Durden made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Bearcats a 96-95 victory. Durden had memorably nailed 3 free throws with no time on the clock earlier in the season to beat Wyoming. Cincinnati was matched up with top seed Memphis in the semi finals. The Bearcats got 22 from Durden to upset the Tigers, who had beaten them twice. On the other half of the bracket, St Louis was dominating. They whooped Dayton, well everyone whooped Dayton that season. UD won 7 games, 0 in the GM. St Louis also beat down Marquette, who was hosting the tournament. In the regular season, the teams split, both winning at home.

The game was both ugly and tough. The teams shot terribly in the first half. Cincinnati was 10-29, 34%, while St. Louis was 10-32, 31%. The Bearcats led by a point at the half, 27-26. The game was close through the second half as well. Cincinnati was powered by a herculean effort by Danny Fortson. The power forward scored 31 points and had 6 rebounds. The Billikens trailed much of the second half, including down 64-63 with 16 seconds left. Erwin Claggett took the ball from the top of the key and drove on Durden. He got all the way into the lane, making a runner with 7.5 seconds left to give St. Louis the lead. Durden raced the inbound pass up the court. He got the left wing, turned, which in turn backed off his defender, which allowed Durden to drill a 3 with 1.2 seconds left. The celebration ensued on the UC sideline. It almost was all for naught, as Carl Turner threw up a 60 footer that hit the rim. Luckily, Durden's 14th point was another game winner for UC. The Bearcats finished the Great Midwest going 10-0 in the conference tournament. A streak that carried over to Conference USA.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Arizona 79 Cincinnati 76

This Memorable Bearcat game is quite painful. I remember this big Cincinnati v. Arizona clash being on a Sunday afternoon. My best friend and I were working on a huge project for school that was probably due the next day. For the life of me I can't remember what it was about. I do remember that it took all fucking day and it was boring as shit. Arizona came into the game rocking a 17-4 record, and Cincinnati an 18-1 mark. The Bearcats had been dominating since their 1 point loss to UAB, winning every game by at least 10 points. Arizona  was starting to get the ship right after some early Pac 10 struggles. Both teams had big time NBA talent. Cincinnati had Danny Fortson, Arizona Jason Terry (who didn't play) and Michael Dickerson. Both teams made runs deep into the tournament. Arizona went to the Sweet 16 where they lost to Kansas, and Cincinnati went to the Elite 8, where they lost to Mississippi State. 

The first half was a barn burner. The Wildcats played without standout center Ben Davis, who was in foul trouble, but that didn't stop them from putting 41 on the mighty Bearcat defense. The Bearcats hung in there, scoring 38. Cincinnati pounded Arizona on the glass, 26-16 in the half. The Bearcats won the rebounding 46-32, but Arizona must have gotten some rebounds in the second half that were huge, because Lute said "We got got killed on the boards, but as soon as Ben came back in the game the second half, he gave us strong rebounding." Davis had 6 rebounds, so that's kinda a weird thing to say. I'm going to go ahead and guess that Damon Flint had a huge first half, because he had 16 points. The highlight of the first half would have to have been when guard Reggie Geary got a steal and bent the rim on a breakaway dunk.


The second half saw Cincinnati dominate. Darnell Burton scored 9 of his 12 points in a big Cincinnati run that put the Bearcats up 68-59 with under 6 minutes left. Arizona would make a run. Obviously you knew they would make a run because hello, the score is in the title. Spoiler alert much. Michael Dickerson scored on a put back to cut the lead. Next trip, Geary drilled a wide open lead to cut the lead to 2 with 4 minutes left. Cincinnati was able to push the lead back out to 4. I'm guessing they got the ball to Fortson. I have no idea because no one says how Cincinnati scored, and all the youtube videos are of Arizona points. The score was 73-69 with 2:20 left in favor of the Bearcats. Dickerson got the ball after a pass inside to Davis, and knocked down a trey. On UC's next possession, Keith Gregor tried to get the ball inside to Fortson. The only problem was that Gregor was being trapped, and Danny was surrounded by 7 Wildcats. The bad pass turned into a breakaway lay up attempt by Simon that was blocked by I think Monroe, but Davis got the put back for the lead. Cincinnati took the lead on a 3 pointer. Or a 3 point play. Let's say it was Flint, since he made the most 3s in the the game. The Bearcats forced Arizona into a wild, tough shot by Dickerson. Dickerson fell on the floor. It appears UC tried to slap the rebound out of bounds, but the ball went right to Dickerson, who threw it back out top. Simon drove, found Davis on the wing, and he splashed one home in Fortson's face for the tie. UC raced the ball up the court. Keith LeGree drove to the rim and had his shot blocked by Davis out of bounds with 3 seconds left. It could have been a charge, but there was no call. LeGree for some reason tried to bounce pass the inbound to Fortson. The ball was tipped. Fortson couldn't bring it in. Simon wrangled the ball, took a dribble and threw one in from 65 feet for the win. It was terrible. There was a smashed chalkboard in the UC locker room, and a smashed face for my friend who said the shot was awesome.


Unbelievably, it's hard to find information about a random February basketball game from 1996. You would think that it would be incredibly easy. But no, it's not. The AP didn't bother to say how UC scored to take the lead at the end of the game for crying out loud. Sadly, there is video of the shot that sucked. It's video of Arizona's run the last few minutes, making it even worse. View it if you want to punch something.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 64 DePaul 62

Today's Memorable Bearcat Game comes from the year 2000. As you can suspect, that makes it a good one already. The subject of today's game is the Kenyon Martin lead comeback against DePaul.

Cincinnati came into the game at 26-2, 14-0 in C-USA. DePaul was 18-9, fighting for an NCAA tournament bid. The teams played a couple weeks earlier in Cincinnati, with the Bearcats thrashing the Blue Demons by 23. The Bearcats were without Pete Mickeal, who was suspended by Huggins. Mickeal was benched during the previous game against Louisville, didn't see action in this one, but he came back to play out the string relatively well. This may sound a bit crazy now, but the Bearcats walked into a hornets nest in Chicago this night. The Blue Demons needed this game for their NCAA lives, something that seems strange when you look at how bad of shape that program has been the past few seasons.

The Bearcats missed Mickeal early. Pete guarded, nay, hounded Quentin Richardson into a 3-13 night in the first meeting, but with him out, DePaul rained threes early. The Blue Demons hit 5 in the first 8 minutes, charging out into the lead. Richardson was loving the change, drilling 3 triples and having 11 points at the half. DePaul shot 56% going into intermission, and held a 36-29 lead. There were 18,253 fans filling the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, a then record. Needless to say, they were all pretty excited at the way things turned out in the first half. You might be saying to yourself, Bearcats Blog, want to get a little more specific with the first half? That's a great, great question and I appreciate the fact that you asked it. The answer is no. Let's move on to the second half.

DePaul jumped right back on the Bearcats to start the second frame. The Bearcats helped by playing pretty terribly and fouling a whole lot. The Bearcats had 6 fouls the first 7 minutes, including 3 on one possession. They put DePaul in the bonus with 12 minutes to go. The Blue Demons demanded it though, as they hit 5 of their first 6 shots out of the break. Rashon Burno, DePaul's point guard, was supposed to be guarded by Kenny Satterfield, but Kenny left him to double on Richardson. Burno thanked him for the open shot by draining a 3, pushing the margin to 46-31. Burno had 7 in the game. The Demons got the lead to 16 when Lance Williams scored inside. UC got a basket that neither the Enquirer, CNNSI, nor ESPN cared to mention, when Richardson drilled his last 3 of the game to push the lead to 51-34. Cincinnati faced it's largest deficit of the season. Kenny Satterfield would have none of it. He scored 5 points, and I'm just going to assume that he assisted Steve Logan for a 3 to cut the lead to 51-44. Cincinnati also remembered to play defense, getting 7 stops. Cincinnati had 10 steals in the game, 4 blocks, forced 17 DePaul turnovers, but the Demons shot a piss poor 6-15 at the free throw line. NBA players Richardson and Bobby Simmons were both 1-5, and 70%, and 75% foul shooters respectively.

Down 7 with 10 minutes left, it looked as if the Bearcats had used everything to get back into the game. The lead ballooned up to 10, 60-50, with 3:46 to go. That's when Bob Huggins told his team one thing, "Get the ball to Kenyon." I'm sure there were other words in there, and Bob didn't just say that, drop his clipboard, get a soda and adjust his tie. Sure enough, Satterfield took the ball upcourt, passed to Martin who was guarded by Williams, and watching as Martin hit a turnaround off glass. Burno, who was a midget, couldn't deal with the UC pressure and threw the ball away to DerMarr Johnson. After some quick passes, Johnson missed from the top of the key, but Satterfield pulled home the rebound. UC pulled back out, getting the ball to Satterfield on the left wing. Martin called for the ball on the block, got it, and hit another turnaround on Williams. DePaul looked rattled. They couldn't get into their offense. A deflection by Johnson gave the Demons the ball out of bounds with 3 seconds on the shot clock, but they couldn't do anything off the inbound, and committed another turnover on a shot clock violation. The crowd remembered they were allowed to make noise as UC brought the ball up court. Satterfield waved away a Jermaine Tate screen attempt, looking to get the ball to Martin. He did. Martin this time took Williams left, dropping a little pump fake jumper from the bottom of the circle in his face. That made the score 60-56 with 2 minutes left. Cincinnati threw on a very sloppy press that was broken. Burno hit Richardson high off the left wing, and Q saw an open Paul McPherson under the basket. By the time McPherson went up with his left hand, Martin crashed the rim from the top of the key blocking the shot. Maybe the pass was short armed a little, but it was a pure hustle play by Martin on an amazing block. That started a UC break, as Satterfield raced up court and dropped off for Johnson driving from the right baseline. Johnson was fouled on his dunk attempt, and drilled both, making it 60-58. DePaul called timeout, but looked discombobulated on offense, getting 3 guys in the paint. The man taking the shot was Bobby Simmons. This happened.

UC took about 15 seconds off the clock running their offense, but there was no doubt where the ball was going. This time, it was Logan who fed Martin on the right block. Martin took a dribble, then dropped another turnaround jumper in Williams' face to tie with 1:11 left. UC went back to the trapping defense. Martin and Johnson ended up with a trap on McPherson, but they left room in the middle. McPherson stepped through, finding Williams all alone under the basket for a dunk. Cincinnati took a timeout, but the Bearcats were stunned when DePaul went zone. With no easy entry to Martin, they worked the ball around the perimeter. Martin worked his way over to the left wing. He got the ball with 5 on the shot clock. Kenyon went baseline on Williams, blowing right by him. Simmons came to help at the basket, but was too late, as Martin banked home the tying shot.

DePaul had 22 seconds, 20 after a timeout. DePaul tried some kind of weird play where Burno brought the ball up, Simmons and Williams stood side by side at the free throw line, probably going to screen for each other I dunno, they just stood there, while Richardson screened for McPherson behind that in the paint, and came up top while McPherson went to the wing. Whatever the weird play was, it allowed Tate to jump into the passing lane, where Burno threw an ill, ill, ill advised pass Richardson's direction. Tate handed to Martin, who took the ball up the court, and dropped off for Johnson. In a play a little similar to the Northern Iowa play the beat Kansas, Johnson looked like he was going to pass, the defense went away from him, and he drilled an open 17 footer with 2.6 left. DePaul got the ball into Richardson, who flew up court. He lost a behind the back dribble for just a half of a second, but that was too long, as the buzzer sounded before he drilled a 35 footer.

It was a great, great win for Cincinnati. It was the game that got Kenyon the player of the year award. It made UC one of the favorites for March. It gave the fan base a sense of destiny for this team. Martin had 33-9-2 blocks, but he had one in the highlight package ESPN showed and 2 during the game. Whatever. Johnson was the only other Bearcat in double digits with 10. Satterfield had 7-9 rebounds-4 assists, playing nearly the whole game. After those 3, BJ Grove was UC's next leading scorer with 6. DePaul had Richardson with 17-11, Williams with 14, and McPherson and Simmons (8 rebounds) with 8.

Just remembering this game makes me remember this season and the love I had for this team. This, and the 01-02 teams will always be my favorite UC squads. Things didn't turn out for either one of them, but they were incredibly fun to watch. The 00 team had it's season derailed, but it had a UC legend give amazing performances like this. The Kenyon Martin game, the comeback, whatever you want to call it, this was a Memorable Bearcat Game.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Xavier 83 Cincinnati 79

Yesterday's post about Lance Stephenson got me to thinking about this past season. While this wasn't the greatest year for Cincinnati basketball, there sure as hell were some entertaining contests. One in particular was exceptionally great. That game was the Crosstown Shootout. Now I know what some of you are thinking.Why that game happened in December, how you can you wax nostalgic about that? I thought this series was about football games? I thought this was about wins? No to all of those. It's about memorable games, and sometimes the most memorable are the losses. The old poker saying is that you can't remember the hands you win, but you remember with absolute clarity the hands you lost. This is kinda like that too. Plus, like 4 people read what I wrote in December, so this is new to you.

The Crosstown Shootout didn't have as much luster as normally, partially due to a Sunday night start time on a weird station, ESPNU. That didn't stop the teams from putting on an instant classic. I know it was an instant classic, because when it replayed on ESPNU, it said instant classic. Xavier got off to a solid start, jumping out to a 12-5 lead. The Muskies blocked 4 of the first 8 UC shots, 1 by Jamel McLean and Kenny Frease and 2 by Jason Love. As Charles and Kenny say on Inside the NBA, it was a block party and the Bearcats were invited. Xavier scored point 12 at the 14:35 mark, and that's when Cincinnati's defense shut down the Muskies. The Muskies didn't score until the 7 minute mark, 2 free throws by Dante Jackson, and didn't get a field goal until the 6:52 mark. Cincinnati went on a 14 point run during that span, getting buckets by Larry Davis, Deonta Vaughn, a pair of threes by Darnell Wilks, an assist by Wilks to Yancy Gates, and a Lance Stephenson lay up. Xavier closed the half on a 20-7 run of their own, and lead 31-26. Terrell Holloway scored 11 points in that span for the Muskies, getting to the line and drilling threes. The fireworks came in the middle of the half. At the 7 minute mark, Jordan Crawford and Rashad Bishop got into a war of words, both receiving technical fouls. The chippyness helped the Musketeers, as you can see from when they started scoring again. Things got even more high strung with 3:30 to go in the half. Lance Stephenson was driving in for a lay up, when Jason Love gave him a hard foul. It was called intentional. The benches cleared going into the media timeout. Terrell Holloway pushed Ibrahima Thomas away, leading to this

Cooler heads would prevail after, but the tension was underlying the rest of the game.

The second half started where the first half ended, with Xavier in charge. The teams traded buckets, but Xavier held on to their lead, with Cincinnati chipping the lead to 4 a couple of times. The Muskies got a Jason Love lay up, a Frease free throw and a Crawford triple to push the lead to 10. The Bearcats slowly chipped away at the disadvantage, at the under 12, the score was 45-39. A pair for Mark Lyon freebies pushed the lead to 7, 51-44, before Lance Stephenson took over. Stephenson scored a lay up, a three pointer from Vaughn, and pulled down a rebound, drove down court and calmly sank a jumper to tie. Cashmere Wright gave UC the lead on a lay up, followed by a Vaughn lay up for a 4 point lead with 5:44 to go. Cincinnati would go on a cold streak the next 3 minutes, allowing Xavier to go on a 6 point run to take the lead by 2. Rashad Bishop tied the score seconds before Holloway would drive for the Xavier lead. Yancy Gates hit 2 free throws with a minute left to tie. Holloway gave X the lead with 26 seconds left on a jumper. Stephenson hit a jumper for UC with 15 seconds left to tie. Holloway drained the clock, but missed a last second runner. Dante Jackson pulled down the rebound, threw up a shot that fell, and celebrated. But, it was after the buzzer and we went to overtime.

Cincinnati took the early overtime lead by 4. Gates hit a shot, and Lance Stephenson crossed Holloway over badly and hit a step back j. Here's proof.


Nasty wasn't it? Lyons got Xavier back into the game with a jumper and a pair of free throws. Gates and Frease exchanged scores before UC took a 3 point lead on a free throw by Bishop and another silly move by Stephenson. Lance shook the defender, spun, and hit an up and under lay up. Watch.



The video kinda sucks, but the move is still sweet. Deonta Vaughn pulled down a rebound and drove for a lay up, giving UC a 5 point lead with 55 seconds left. Holloway took over. He drew a foul on Vaughn and made both shots. Rashad Bishop had the ball stolen by Love, leading to Holloway getting fouled by Gates going to the rim. Holloway hit both again. Xavier had to foul, and they fouled my best friend Dion Dixon. Dixon calmly nailed both to push the lead back to 3. For some reason unknown to anyone, and completely illogical, Mick Cronin tapped Jaquan Parker off the bench. Parker didn't play any of the second half, or any of the overtime. He had Holloway blow by him earlier in the game and was benched. 19 seconds to go, Holloway has the ball. Of course he drives to the rim. Of course he makes a lay up. Of course he's fouled by Parker. Of course he ties the score. Of course he does. UC had a chance to win. Stephenson missed a step back three, and Dixon missed on a put back. That sent us to double overtime.

Cincinnati jumped out to another lead to start overtime. Cash hit a free throw, followed by a Vaughn lay up. Holloway scored for Xavier, but Gates scored on a lay up to push the lead back to 3. Xavier would tie the score thanks to sloppy play by UC. Crawford hit a free throw, followed by a Gates travel. On the Xavier possession, Love made a lay up for the tie. Stephenson would get called for a charge, but X couldn't take the lead. UC held the ball the next minute, but were unable to score. Vaughn missed a lay up, foreshadow, and Steve Toyloy bricked a couple of huge free throws. Holloway drove down the lane and dropped off a pass that Love converted for the Xavier lead. Lance Stephenson played really hard and smart in this game, but he made a silly move with about 25 seconds left. Instead of circling back out and making a strong move with the ball, he passed to Dixon. Dixon threw up a horribly ill advised three that was a brick leaving his hand. He fouled Dante Jackson, who made 1 of 2. Vaughn took the inbound pass and decided to go for the lay up to cut the Muskie lead to 1. Great plan, but terrible execution, as he blew a wide open lay up. Love got the rebound, his 19th of the game, and iced things with a free throw. Desperate threes by UC missed, and that lead to this vomit inducing photo.

Ok, I couldn't find the real picture, but Mick looking like he's taking a dump will do. This was a wild game. Stephenson and Yancy Gates dominated for UC. Stephenson had 22 on 9-19 shooting, with 6 rebounds. Gates had 18 and 6. Vaughn was the other Bearcat in double digits with 13, but he was 6-19. He did have 9 rebounds. Holloway had a career high 26 for Xavier, while Crawford put up 16 on 5-16 shooting.

This wasn't the prettiest Crosstown Shootout, despite the pretty moves by Stephenson. X shot 41%, and UC 37%, but this was the game that brought the intensity back out. This was a blood and guts Crosstown Shootout. We had pull aparts, hard fouls, trash talking, big shots, clutch moments, and breakout performances. Unfortunately, it was a UC loss. But, it was one hell of a game, and that's why it's a Memorable Bearcat game.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 30 Rutgers 11

Today's memorable Bearcat game is the November 18, 2006 victory against Rutgers. I think it's safe to say that this was Mark Dantonio's finest hour as Cincinnati coach. He would springboard to Michigan State just one game after this, so this victory was pretty huge. It was also pretty huge because at the time, Rutgers was ranked in the top 10, and undefeated. The Scarlet Knights were coming off an epic victory over undefeated Louisville, while the Bearcats were coming off a loss at West Virginia. Starting QB Dustin Grutza was injured, giving way to first time starter Nick Davila. The stage was set for success.

The first snap Nick Davila took, he fumbled. Rutgers couldn't capitalize. Jeremy Ito, who beat Louisville with a last second FG, missed from 31 yards. The Bearcats went on an 11 play drive that resulted in a field goal of their own, as Kevin Lovell was true from 32. The Scarlet Knights high powered rushing attack was held in check, and QB Mike Teel was pretty bad early. That resulted in quick possession. UC took over at their 20. 10 plays later, led by the sharp Davila, UC would score a touchdown. Davila took it in himself from 1 yard out. Nippert Stadium was in a frenzy. The big play on that drive was a 38 yard pass from Davila to Derrick Stewart to take the ball down to the 2.

Rutgers quickly bounced back on their first drive of the second quarter. Ray Rice started breaking out for some yards. Teel hit James Townsend to with a pass to get the ball to the UC 29. After a couple 4 yard runs by Rice, DeAngelo Smith did this

Adam Hoppel got pressure on Teel, wrapped him up, causing Teel to throw a desperation pass. Don't believe me?

That made the score 17-0. The lead would be short lived however. The Bearcats forced a 3 and out. On the punt, Antoine Horton fumbled the kick, allowing Rutgers to get the ball at the UC 25. The defense held firm, allowing a 34 yard FG by Ito to make it 17-3. The teams traded 3 and outs. UC took over with 2 minutes to go in the half, and were content to run the clock out. After a first down, it looked like they would. But, Doug Jones coughed the ball up trying to make something happen at the UC 21. Rutgers had 12 seconds. Teel went for the end zone, and was intercepted by Mike Mickens to close out the half and leave things at 17-3.

Rutgers made a big comeback the week before against Louisville, so there was cause for concern in this match up. The Bearcats punted to start the half, and Rutgers marched down the field. With the ball near mid field, Teel took a shot deep. Once again, it was Mickens who picked him off at the UC 10. Davila converted a 3rd and 6 by hitting Dominick Goodman for 19 yards. The next play, he hit Butler Benton for 62 to get the ball to the Rutgers 4. The Bearcats were stoned at the goal line, but another Lovell FG (20) made it 20-3.

Rutgers got good field position on the kick return, but couldn't get the ball past their 44. The punt went to the 17. UC took over and iced it with this:

Fans smelled the upset. Overrated chants flew from the crowd. The good times for UC continued the very next Rutgers drive. After moving the ball to the UC 41, Teel was picked for the 4th time, this time by Anthony Williams. Cincinnati picked apart the demoralized Rutgers defense for a 7:30 drive that went 16 plays 47 yards. It ended with a 27 yard Lovell FG to make it 30-3.

Rutgers took 3:29 to march down the field and score, as Ray Rice poked it in from 1 yard. Rice became the single season rushing leader for Rutgers in this game, even though he only had 54 yards. Teel hit Taquan Underwood for the 2 point conversion. UC didn't do anything on their drive, and only took a minute off the clock. The last ditch effort by Rutgers failed, as Teel, 21-42 238 0 TDs 4 INTs, was off target. UC worked the clock leading to this.

Davila was 11-15, 277, 1 TD, 1 rushing TD. Greg Moore had 16-56 to lead UC on the ground, while Brent Celek led UC in yard with 83. UC's defense was the story though. Despite 3 turnovers, UC forced 4. They held Rutgers to 288 total yards. The third best rushing attack in the nation had but 50. It was a spectacular win for Cincinnati, and was one of the victories that has led the springboard to success. That's why this is a memorable Bearcat game.

Bearcats Bowl IV and NFL Draft Recap

It was a busy time for the Cincinnati Bearcats football program. Saturday especially. The Bearcats had 3 players drafted, and many more signed free agent contracts, and some others were invited to rookie mini-camps this weekend. Also, Bearcats Bowl IV took place Saturday night. I'm not going to do a full recap of the game, but mainly a recap of what, and who, looked good and what did not fare so well. Let's start with the draft.

If you visited the blog over the weekend, you already know that Mardy Gilyard was drafted in the 4th round by the St Louis Rams, and Tony Pike was drafted in the 6th round by the Carolina Panthers. The third man drafted was DT Ricardo Matthews, who went to Indianapolis in the 7th. Many congratulations Ricardo, sorry there wasn't a post about about you.

After the draft, the rush of free agents signings occurred. Aaron Webster signed with the Houston Texans. Jeff Lickenbach signed with Indianapolis. Long snapper Mike Windt signed with the hometown Bengals. And Alex Daniels signed with the Oakland Raiders. Attending mini-camps this weekend, are Brad Jones, who is going to Cleveland, and Craig Carey, who is going to Chicago.

Congratulations to all of those men. They busted their asses to make their dreams reality, and now they have a foot in the door. I have no doubt they will bust it down and earn a spot in the NFL. Bearcats Blog is proud of you guys.

The other big event of the weekend was the Bearcats Bowl. It is a little pointless of doing a full recap of every drive. Especially in the second half, when the rain started, the clock rolled continuously, and Coach Butch Jones looked ready to go. We'll roll out positives, and negatives. Ready for bullet points? I know you are.

Positives

• DJ Woods was making things happen against the second team D after every catch. He took short passes, and wrecked havoc in the open field. He busted one for 26 yards on the first drive. He and Zach Collaros worked very well together. DJ had 6 catches for 88 yards and a TD. 
• DJ also showed off the cannon on his right arm. On a fan called reverse pass, DJ threw a bomb to Vidal Hazelton, who was wide open, for 60 yards. Battle made a nice tackle saving the TD. The fan made the right call on the fan picked play, and DJ made a hell of a pass. 
• Zach Collaros was great. He was nearly perfect passing. He possibly could have had some runs, but the QB being tagged kept him in the pocket. He did scramble on one play and hit Darrin Williams for a 20 yard gain deep in UC territory. He got all 3 starting receivers, Woods, Hazelton, and Kenbrell Thompkins, involved to varying degrees of success. He also looked for the tight end well. He threw a couple of TDs to Woods, and Thompkins. He mainly threw short, but aired one out to OJ Woodard. 
• Payne played very well. He caught a long touchdown, and almost caught another on that drive that was ruled incomplete. 
• Darrin Williams ran effectively. He didn't break any huge runs, despite an 11 yard TD, but he was very solid. I don't know if he has what it takes to be the lead back just yet, but for a game or two, I think he can handle it. He had a couple of receptions, including the aforementioned 20 yarder, and could be a weapon in that aspect. Plus, he dyed the tips of his hair red and it looked awesome. 
• Hines ran pretty decent. He had a 26 yarder as his long, but he ran tough. He got thrown into action, and he got better as the game went on. 
• The defense played very well against the second team offense. They were able to get pressure against Chazz, limit the running game, and snuff them out. They forced a couple 3 and outs. Giordano had a sack. I kept bad records of the sacks, mainly because I don't remember if they said who got them. It's the spring game, I'll get better. 
• The defense had a big stop in the red zone. With the ball at the 4, they drew a holding penalty, got a sack, forced an incompletion, and got another sack. A 41 yard FG was missed. 
• The defensive highlight would have to be the one handed interception of a screen pass by McClellan. It was a very athletic grab, and he managed to take it inside the 10. 
• Bruce Horner blocked an extra point
• Artrell Hawkins was the sideline reporter. He did a pretty good job. Who knew?

Negatives

• UC had 10 men on the field for the blocked extra point. I'm sure in a real game there would have been a timeout, but that kind of stuff can't fly.
• Chazz Anderson looked pretty bad. He was very inaccurate. He made a couple nice plays, one a scramble to set up a FG, and a long pass to Payne for a TD. He was high with the ball. He held the ball too long. He seemed rushed all night. It was surprising to see that from him. He looked nervous or something. He played better in the second half. 
• The second team offensive line was unimpressive. They had Chazz under fire, and didn't really run block well. They sprung the 26 yard run by Hines, but overall, not great.
• The secondary, at least against Collaros, brought back visions of Florida. Receivers were running wide open, there were a couple of big long passes, and they got scored on nearly every time when Collaros was at QB. Granted, they were playing vanilla, but still. It brought back memories of that disaster, and that's a negative. 
• Milligan's attempt from 41 yards was so bad that it looked like they had a fan try and kick. Milligan could have used a Mulligan. Am I right?!?!?
• The fan who called the screen pass. You have 8 plays to call, including the reverse pass, and you choose a screen? Really? You call reverse pass every time. You suck guy who picked this play. 
• Rain. I didn't go to the game because the person I was going to go with didn't want to sit in the rain. Watching on tv was probably better, but I didn't have my chance to meet the Bearcat. Or call the reverse pass. Or ask to run the fumble rooski. It also forced the game to end early. 

Overall, it was a nice game. The white team beat the black team 57-55. The black team was the defense, they didn't go segregation. The offense looked Patriot like. If DJ Woods is going to play a Wes Welker type role, then I'm all for it. He was doing damage. The guys played hard, and were mostly successful. Thus wraps up the big weekend for UC football. Check back tomorrow, when we look back at another football game from the past.

UC Notes and Bearcats Bowl Preview

There are quite a lot of bits of this and that flying around surrounding the Bearcats today. We're going to hit some quick notes, and then a preview of what's going down at the Bearcats Bowl. Like the events and what have you, not exactly a straight up preview of what to expect on the field. I'll mention some things I want to see, but I'm not going to get too in depth about the battle to be the back up SAM linebacker.

• The biggest news of the week was Isaiah Pead getting injured yesterday. Pead had a knee collision with a teammate, left the field under his own power, and is waiting an MRI to find out if there is major cause for concern. He's on crutches now. It's just a knee bruise. Isaiah will be ready to go for when things get serious. He's not going to play tomorrow.  Darrin Williams is going to get a lot of the touches from reports.
• The NFL draft is going down tonight at 6pm for rounds 2 and 3. Mardy Gilyard has been projected to be a late second-third round pick. It could be Mardy's big night, and we here at Bearcats Blog wish him the best. Hopefully, he stays in Cincinnati. He has seemed to want to, and I would like him to. 
• Tony Pike has also been talked about as a third round pick. 2 quarterbacks were taken in the first round, Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow, and I'm not quite sure how things are going to shake down. Tony is grouped on the, I guess third level, of QBs, after the previously mentioned first rounders, and Colt McCoy and Jimmy Claussen. I have no doubt Tony Pike will get drafted. I hope it's tonight. We also wish Tony Pike the best in his future NFL success. Hope you don't go to Cleveland.
• There will be posts up when the players get drafted. In case you have a life tonight, Bearcats Blog has you covered. 
• The following bits are a couple weeks old, sorry, but I haven't covered them in much detail, so they'll go here. Offensive lineman CJ Cobb had ankle surgery a couple weeks back. Everything went swimmingly for CJ. He got injured the first Saturday spring practice. He will return when fall practice starts, much to the delight of the Cincinnati offensive line. 
• Demetrius Jones, former Notre Dame QB, and linebacker, has left the program. There is no news on where he is heading. It could be a Division II school, or whatever they are calling it these days. It would be his third team. Too bad things didn't work out for him. Here's hoping he finds success and happiness on his next stop. 
• The following notes are from the hoops world. As you recruiting gurus have heard, Marquis Teague has spurned Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville and Purdue, and is going to attend evil Kentucky. Teague said he almost chose Louisville a couple times, but waited. This would have been a huge get for UC, but they were never really in the race it seemed. Teague was going to play his ball in Kentucky, and now it's at Kentucky.
• The NCAA Tournament is expanding, but to 68 teams. Rush the Court has some great blurbs from other great writers about the expansion. The Tournament will be on CBS and Turner Sports. The weird part is that in 2016, the finals will be on TBS. They have playoff baseball now yes, but that's just fucking weird. The pregame show will follow Saved by the Bell reruns at 5:05. 

The Bearcats Bowl is tomorrow night. It's going to be televised by FSN Ohio for those of you who can't make it to Nippert. There is plenty of motivation to do so though. If you have kids 8th grade or younger, show up around 2 and register for the on field kids' clinic. It's free. Some UC players will be there to teach the youngsters a thing or twelve, as will the UC coaching staff. After that's over, the players will sign autographs from around 4:30-5. Starting at 5, the Family Zone opens up. It's what you normally get for pregame Bearcats entertainment. You only have to worry about that for half an hour, because the Nippert gates open at 5:30. The first 5K fans get a poster. The more important thing is to try and get behind the bench, because Coach Butch Jones will let a few fans call plays. I recommend a fumble rooski. The game starts at 7.

Here are a few things that are worth taking a look at. The defense is going to be rebuilt. It's going to be very interesting to see what they have in store for the, what should be, high powered offense. Zach Collaros and Chazz Anderson are competing for the starting job, more like 'competing' am I right, and that should be interesting to watch as well. Like mentioned up top, Darrin Williams is going to see quite a bit of the ball, as he is the last running back left standing it appears. The new look Butch Jones offense has me very excited. All in all, it should be an exciting day. It's our first look at the new Bearcats. It's our introduction to Coach Butch Jones. It's football.

Memorable Bearcat Games: Cincinnati 17 Wisconsin 12

The first edition of Memorable Bearcat games starts with one that is near and dear to my heart. It happened way back in 1999. The opponent? The Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin came into this game ranked #9. This Badger team would lose the next week to Michigan, but run the table and won the Rose Bowl. They had Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. The Bearcats team? They were coming off a loss to Division II Troy. Troy is respectable now, but back then, they were hot garbage. Of course, there is no record of that game at all, besides the score, so I can't tell you more about it. I can put more commas in sentences though. I had a friend who lived in Wisconsin at this time. I sent him emails every day for a week that Cincinnati was going to beat Wisconsin. He laughed it off because the Badgers were really good and the Bearcats were not. But ladies and gentlemen, that's why they play the games.

I was at this game with my dad. We were on the Wisconsin side, because every time you buy tickets at the gate you are always on the visitor side. In fact, I don't remember any time I've been behind the Cincinnati bench. Always visitor side or end zones. I almost caught an extra point once. It wasn't at this game, so I don't know why I brought it up. The game was pretty slow starting. It was dominated by Wisconsin in the first quarter. Cincinnati had the ball to start the second. With the ball at their 49, the Cats handed the ball to this man.

Robert 'Sterling' Cooper. Only Cooper didn't get tackled. He ran 51 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 Cincinnati lead. Cooper had 143 yards on the day. After a Wisconsin field goal, the Badgers looked like they took the lead, but an 81 yard punt return by Nick Davis was called back. The Bearcats added the lead in the third quarter, when Deontey Kenner ran a QB draw 5 yards for a touchdown. I loved Deontey Kenner. I wonder what happened to him? Apparently, he's a golfer. No joke. He's on the Golf Channel Amateur Tour or something. See?

 That's incredibly weird to find out. He had a little write up in Sports Illustrated after the Ohio State game. It's here. Try to shake off that crazy turn and let's get back to the game.

After the Bearcats drove to make it 14-6, Wisconsin went on a 96 yard, layin the smack down, drive for a score. Ron Dayne, who had 28 carries for 231, ran in from 18 yards out. Believe it or not, Dayne was injured with a sprained ankle and didn't play the whole game. And he had 28 carries for 231 yards. Pro Ron Dayne was a bust, but college Ron Dayne was special. In this game, he passed Archie Griffin for most yards by a Big 10 back. Wisconsin ended up going for 2, but the pass was broken up by Tinker Keck!!! Another blast from the past there. Tinker Keck would have another big play in the fourth quarter.

With 8 minutes left, Wisconsin punted. Captain Tinker Keck, known for his near recklessness, was set to return. The kick went back to the 10, as did Keck. The ball bounced off his facemask. Wisconsin recovered. The Badgers gave the ball to Dayne on the second play. It looked like he was going to score. Bobby Fuller had other ideas, and popped the ball out. Jeff Burrow recovered, and Cincinnati avoided a big one. I remember sitting there and seeing the ball come flying out of Dayne's hands and jumping up and down like a spaz when UC recovered. The Bearcats wouldn't convert a first down, but on their punt, Davis muffed it, was blown up by LaVar Glover, allowing Carlton Sykes to recover. When Davis dropped the ball, the whole side of the stadium across from me jumped up at once. It was really cool to see. I still remember it, that should show how cool it is. UC would go 3 and out, but Jonathan Ruffin showed why his number is retired by drilling a 41 yard field goal with 5 minutes left.

The Badgers drove down the field for their game winning drive. They stalled late and had to make a play on 4th down. For a second, it looked like they did. Scott Kavanaugh threw to the end zone, and found a familiar name, Lee Evans. The touchdown was wiped out by an illegal motion penalty as Nippert gave a sigh of relief. With 6 seconds left, Kavanaugh went back to pass again. This time, he threw too high for Nick Davis. The Bearcats did this:

the crowd did this in like 2 seconds:

and also this:

I was one of the people who stormed the field. I even shook Rick Minter's hand. It was pretty awesome. It was all pretty awesome. The win over Wisconsin was the first win over a top 10 team in Cincinnati history. I was happy to be there for it. That and the sheer awesomeness of the whole thing is why Cincinnati 17 Wisconsin 12 is a memorable Bearcat game.

Questions and Answers

So much has been going down with Cincinnati athletics that it's time to bust out some questions and answers. Is this just a lazy writing device so that I can throw up a post on this Thursday? Maybe. Let's jump into it.

Where does UC stand without Lance Stephenson and Deonta Vaughn?
Great question. I have no idea who is the 'man' on next season's Bearcats. Obviously the answer is Yancy Gates, wait put down the shotgun you just put in your mouth. Yancy is the best player coming back. Sean Kilpatrick was redshirted for this reason. The Bearcats are going to need progress from Cash, My best buddy Dion Dixon and Jaquan Parker. They also need Larry Davis to snap out of whatever funk he was in last season. I don't know if his dog died, his girlfriend and him had a rocky relationship where they fought all season, made up before his good games, and broke up before every other game, if he sucked in school or what. He has a nice shot, last year excluded, and I think he can bounce back.

What recruits does UC have coming in so far?
They have power forward, Rivals 140, and ESPN Top 100, Justin Jackson coming. They also have center Kelvin Gaines. They played together at Arlington County Day School in Florida. Jackson was the 24th rated PF, while Gaines was 17 at center. According to the ESPN recruiting site, 4 power forwards are considering Cincinnati. Apparently, Marquis Teague has dropped Cincinnati off his list. I think his list is now Louisville, Indiana and Purdue, but I could be wrong.

What player do you think is going to step up next season?
I think it's going to be Jaquan Parker. If it were me running the team, my lineup would be Gates, Thomas, Kilpatrick, Parker and Cash. Maybe Jackson, maybe Bishop (if he returns). I think UC should definitely try to run more next season. Kilpatrick is a scorer, Cash can create, Parker can spot up, Ibby can run the floor. Darnell Wilks is promising. Yancy Gates is going to have to dedicate himself this offseason. He's going to have to be a monster next year. If not, put him on the bench and start Jackson with Thomas.

Do you agree with Anthony Buford that Yancy Gates should go?
Anthony didn't say it like that. The interview is here. He basically said what I just said, that Gates needs to be a monster or he should be on the bench. He also said Rashad Bishop was second to go, which he didn't elaborate on, but obviously I agree with. Anthony knows a hell of a lot more than me, even if he sounds like a moron on commentary, sorry AB, you suck. Wear it. I still like you though. Buford was a good player, and if he thinks someone is jaking and a coach killer, then by all means he should call them out. Why he did in that interview and doesn't do it on air, I don't know.

Is there anything better than rumors about how teams fell apart?
I assume you mean this rumor. Apparently, the rumor going around Flip-flip-Flipadelphia is that Corey Fisher knocked up Scottie Reynolds' girlfriend, and that's why they were suspended and that's why their season fell apart. I don't believe it, but it's fun stuff to speculate about I guess.

Mike Rosario is leaving Rutgers, now Fred Hill looks like he's going. Thoughts?
First off, Fred Hill is an idiot. If you don't know, he unleashed a profanity laced tirade at a Pitt-Rutgers baseball game after a close play at first base. Pitt's AD took offense, and now Hill could be fired as early as today. Moron. As for Rosario, it's interesting he's thinking about transferring instead of going pro. He put up nearly 17 last year. He must know he wouldn't get drafted, and has no plans to play in Europe or Russia or the Dominican right now. Good for him continuing his education. Come to Cincinnati Mike.

Who are the new coaches in the Big East?
Well, you really haven't been paying attention. Seton Hall hired Kevin Willard, formerly a Louisville assistant who helped recruit the Final Four team in 05 with Mick Cronin, and coached Iona. St John's hired former UCLA coach and ESPN talking head Steve Lavin. Rutgers is rumored to be after another ESPN talking head, Fran Fraschilla.

What awesome UC player asked you when Lance Stephenson turned pro, but you didn't check twitter to answer him in a timely manner?
Your boy Reuben Johnson. Sorry for not answering faster Reuben.

Lastly, we are going to close things out with an awesome thing. Former Bearcat legend Kenyon Martin had an April Fool's Day prank pulled on him. JR Smith's driver filled K Mart's car with buttered popcorn. Kenyon didn't take this lightly. Despite the lips tattoo, he unleashed his rage on his teammates. The audio, courtesy of TMZ, is here.

Dayton 81 Cincinnati 66

(Enquirer/Gary Landers)

This is a late recap of the final game of the Cincinnati Bearcats season. As so, I will spice up the action with personal stories of my experience at 5/3. It was the first game of the season that I had the pleasure of attending. The night got off to an ominous start. I met up with one of my friends and his parents at Mecklenberg Gardens only to find out that it was a UD alumni gathering. Sure, there was a UC side on the other half of the top level, but I was surrounded by Dayton fans. I did get a towel and basketball necklace, which was nice. Mecklenberg Gardens 2 meat dish should come with a paddles for the heart attack you are going to suffer later by the way. After the nice dinner, we took a bus over to the big fraction. I snapped this photo from section 209.

That was during warm ups obviously. Shout out to section 209. Not only was I there being handsome, but there were a couple of guys behind me who knew their shit, and there was a foxy lady sitting next to me that was also very knowledgeable. I bought a Deonta Vaughn jersey before the game. I think my not wearing it until about 3 minutes left was cause for the loss. Let's see how we got to the loss.

Yancy Gates scored the first basket of the game. It was the only thing Yancy would do positively all night. He got in foul trouble like 3 minutes in, and vanished the rest of the night. Kurt Huelsman, not liked by my friend Justin, but apparently loved by 2 kids wearing Huelsman jerseys, got a tip in for UD, before Chris Wright dunk made it 4-2. Jaquan Parker drilled a trey for UC's last lead. Rod Lowery connected for Dayton, starting an 11-2 run. Wright made a jumper, Stephenson a lay up for UC, and Paul Williams and Mickey Perry made 3 pointers. Deonta Vaughn added to his 3 pointers made number by netting one to make it 15-10 as we hit the under 12. The Flyers pushed the lead to 10 on a Williams jumper and a Luke Fabrizius 3 that brought out a Luuuuuuuuuke from the UD fans in attendance. The crowd was roughly a 1/4 UD fans. UC was putting up a ton of three point shots to no success, but Jaquan Parker connected on his second to bring the lead to 7. Huelsman scored inside, inciting a "That's his career high," from my UD friend Justin. Vaughn answered with free throws to make the score 22-15. That's when the Dayton 3 point party started. Lowery hit one, Stephenson drew a foul making both for the Cats, Perry made another, Lowery another, and Paul Williams another. From my recollection, they were all wide open. Dayton went up 34-17. The lead stayed at 15 to the under 3 timeout, with a Wilks jam, 2 Cashmere Wright free throws, a Marcus Johnson tip, a Thomas dunk, and a Wright jumper for UD. I should point out that Lance Stephenson got banged up and went down for a few minutes. Then, Jaquan Parker got hurt at the 7:30 mark or so, and didn't return. With the score 38-23, Cincinnati made a run. Larry Davis hit a pair of free throws after the break, and then Deonta Vaughn took over. Vaughn hit back to back 3s to cut the lead to 7, before Chris Johnson hit a 3 to push it back to 9. With 1 minute to go, Lance Stephenson was intentionally fouled by London Warren. Vaughn filled in, iced both foul shots, and on the subsequent UC possession, hit a jumper to make the score 41-36. That stayed the score though halftime.

The second half started with Stephenson getting to the basket, drawing a foul, making a free throw and cutting the lead to 2 a minute in. It was a very loud crowd for 6,300 or so. We can thank Dayton being our opponent, and their traveling fans for that. Anyway, UD got their first point on a Wright free throw, but UC cut the lead to 1 on a Thomas dunk from Stephenson. Chris Wright got it back for Dayton on a wide open dunk off an inbound play. The Bearcats cut the lead to 1 once again, when Cash got a steal, and passed to Stephenson for an emphatic dunk. Stephenson had a shot blocked by Wright for the lead, that turned into a Lowery lay up to push it back to 3, and started a 6-0 UD run. Matt Kavanaugh scored on a lay up, as did London Warren. All 3 lay ups were after UC missed 3 pointers. The Cats kept it close after a 3 minute draught with another Thomas dunk. Marcus Johnson answered that with a jumper, but UC got a 5 point spurt on a Cash lay up and a Vaughn 3 to make it 52-50. Paul Williams hit a 3 off an offensive rebound for the Flyers. Yancy Gates was stripped by Wright, which lead to a missed 3 by Marcus Johnson, but a rebound by Paul Williams, who found Devin Searcy, who in turn, dunked on Ibrahima Thomas' face. It was pretty impressive. Deonta drew a foul while shooting a triple, made all 3, cutting the lead back to 4. Cincinnati would go another 3 minutes without scoring, setting up a 6-0 UD run. Marcus Johnson hit a pair of 2 point jumpers, and Luuuuuuuuuuuke Fabrizius one for himself, causing a UC timeout with 6:24 left. There was no scoring until the 5 minute mark, when Stephenson scored a lay up. Off another UD offensive rebound, Chris Johnson scored a lay up. Ibby Thomas fought hard in the post, the only UC player who did, got 2 offensive boards and a bucket to cut the lead to single digits for the last time. Wright hit 2 free throws, got a steal, made another free throw to make it an 11 point game. After a Cash miss, Marcus Johnson made 1. Vaughn drew a foul and made both. London Warren made 1 of 2, Cash missed a lay up attempt, Warren ended up with the ball and made 1 of 2 again. It was all free throws late, Marcus Johnson 2, Wilks 1 for UC, Marcus 2 more, Vaughn 2, and Chris Johnson 1. The free throws stopped when Stephenson scored a lay up, Vaughn got a steal and a lay up, and UD a Marcus Johnson lay up, but continued when Marcus Johnson made 1, and Lowery 2. Before Lowery's second, Deonta Vaughn checked out of the game for the last time in his Cincinnati career to a standing ovation. It was not the way he, and all UC fans, wanted him to go out, but at least he got a big reception. The Lowery free throws were the last points, making it 81-66 Flyers for their biggest win over UC in 15 years.

Dayton was 28-58 48%, 10-29 from deep, 15-24 at the stripe with 39 rebounds, 11 offensive. Marcus Johnson had 16-7-4 assists, Lowery 13, Wright 11-5-3 steals, Williams 11, Chris Johnson 7-7, Perry 6, Luuuuuuke Fabrizius 5, Huelsman 4-5, Warren 4-8, Searcy 2, and Kavanaugh 2. Cincinnati shot 20-60 33%, 6-31 from 3, 20-23 at the stripe, with 31 boards, 9 offensive. Vaughn lead the way with 28 points, 4 assists, 4 steals. He got 12-13 at the stripe, while shooting 6-18, 4-15 deep. But, Deonta Vaughn moved into third place all time in points in Cincinnati history, passing Danny Fortson. Congratulations on your achievement 5, and thank you for the great career. Stephenson had 13-6-4 assists, Thomas 8-9, Parker 6, Cash 4, Wilks 3, Gates 2.

A couple of bullet point thoughts to close this out.

• Thanks for nothing Yancy Gates. I know you were in foul trouble, but c'mon son. UC should have dominated inside, but got nothing from everyone not named Ibrahima Thomas. 
• Hey Darnell Wilks, stop shooting the 3.
• Hey Larry Davis, I like you a whole lot, more than section 209 did, but please work on that jump shot this summer. I don't think anyone, you included, had any faith in any of your shots falling. You d up hard, but you need to score.
• Lance Stephenson said after the game that UC took Dayton lightly. I don't understand how this team, who was favored to lose on the projections I saw, could take anyone lightly. That's on the players, and on the coaching staff. This is a rival who had a better record. UC shouldn't take Arkansas Pine Bluff lightly, let alone a 21 win team. 
• It's performances like that, that make it hard to be one of the people not disappointed that Mick Cronin isn't getting fired. 
• I was kinda surprised how many Dayton fans were there. I know there are a lot of transplants in the area, but they represented very well. It was a nice atmosphere. 
• This was one game where UC could have used Rashad Bishop. I was wrong on that one. 
• The bus taking us back to Mecklenberg Gardens smelled like shit. Plus, it was crowded and I had to stand. There was one point where the bus driver seemed to just gun it, and I stared at a car coming directly at me. Luckily, it stopped short instead of ramming into us. I had visions of that State Farm or whatever commercial where the car does crash. 
• Where do we go from here? Good question. I'm going to break down the season, the players, memorable games, and all that jazz starting in the next week. There will be an NCAA Sweet 16 breakdown tomorrow, and Friday, and Saturday and Sunday. There will be a Final 4 preview the following Friday, and a National title preview that Monday. 
• Also, there will be spring football news as it comes.

Since this is the last recap of the season, I want to thank you for reading. This season wasn't the best, wasn't the worst. It was fun at times, nerf basketball wall throwing times as well. It had memorable games, all nearly memorable losses though. More importantly, it had me and you. I hope that you enjoyed the basketball coverage. I enjoyed writing it. Thank you.

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. 

Cincinnati v. Weber State Wildcats NIT Preview

For the first time a few years, the Cincinnati Bearcats are ready to play in a post season tournament. It's the NIT, but hey, it's better than nothing. At least, I'm guessing that it's better than nothing. After last week's run in the Big East Tournament, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to this team, so the extra game(s) should be fun to watch. Unless Cincinnati pulls an Arizona State and doesn't care, then it would be no fun. The game tonight is at 7 pm on ESPN2. Also, Rashad Bishop is still suspended for this game. He may return later in the tournament. Before we hit the preview, let's run down the NIT action from last night.

• 4 Connecticut 59 5 Northeastern 57
• 6 North Carolina State 58 3 South Florida 57
• 2 UAB 64 7 Coastal Carolina 49
• 5 Texas Tech 87 4 Seton Hall 69
• 1 Mississippi State 81 8 Jackson State 67
• 8 Jacksonville 67 1 Arizona State 66

KenPom Offense/Defense Rank: 111/57
Notable Stats: 19 in Offensive Rebound % (38.8), 297 in Free Throw Rate (32.3), 330 in 3 pt % (29), 332 in FT % (62).

Minutes

1. Deonta Vaughn 30.2
2. Lance Stephenson 28.4
3. Yancy Gates 25.6
4. Cashmere Wright 18.3
5. Ibrahima Thomas 17.7

Scoring

1. Lance Stephenson 12.3
2. Deonta Vaughn 11.1
3. Yancy Gates 10.7
4. Ibrahima Thomas 5.5
5. Cashmere Wright 5.4

Rebounding

1. Yancy Gates 6
2. Lance Stephenson 5.4
3. Ibrahima Thomas 5.3
4. Steve Toyloy 3.5
5. Deonta Vaughn 3.5

Assists

• Deonta Vaughn 3.4
• Lance Stephenson 2.4

Steals

• Deonta Vaughn 1.1

Blocks

• Yancy Gates 0.8

KenPom Offense/Defense Rate: 74/160
Notable Stats: 271 in Opponent's 3 pt % (36.2), 263 in Opponent's FT Rate (263).
Also Notable: They are the team that blew the 20 point halftime lead in the second half to Montana.

Minutes

1. Damian Lillard 34.3
2. Franklin Session 31.4
3. Nick Hansen 29.5
4. Kyle Bullinger 25.9
5. Steve Panos 21

Scoring

1. Damian Lillard 19.7
2. Steve Panos 10.8
3. Franklin Session 10.6
4. Nick Hansen 9.2
5. Kyle Bullinger 8.9

Rebounds

1. Franklin Session 6
2. Steve Panos 5.3
3. Kyle Bullinger 4.2
4. Damian Lillard 4.1
5. Darin Mahoney 3.7

Assists

• Damian Lillard 3.7
• Franklin Session 2.8
• Lindsay Hughey 2

Steals

• Franklin Session 1.8
• Damian Lillard 1.1
• Nick Hansen 1
• Lindsay Hughey 1

Blocks

• Franklin Session 0.9

The Wildcats have a very short bench. Only 7 men have played every game, and only 8 have played 28. They only go 8 deep, so if Cincinnati can get them in foul trouble, one would think that it would pay off for the Bearcats. I expect UC to try and press this team, but it might not work that well with Weber St's good passing. The conference tournaments ended poorly for both teams, with Weber St getting bounced after blowing a huge lead, and Cincinnati getting beat on an infamous turnover and a buzzer beater against West Virginia.

The esteemed Ken Pom computer rankings have Cincinnati winning by 12. I think that's probably going to happen. Maybe that's a little arrogant, but I think UC should have little problem putting the Wildcats away. I say that knowing full well that Cincinnati has put no one away, but after what we saw in the BET, I think the Bearcats have turned a corner. With Rashad Bishop out, Darnell Wilks and Jaquan Parker should get some more run. Wilks was impressive in New York, and Parker continued to play solid. I would like to see Dion Dixon, my best friend, get some kind of redemption after his blunder, but that may be wishing too much. Should Cincinnati advance, they would play the winner of the Dayton/Illinois St game, also being played tonight. If Cincinnati loses, this is the last you'll hear of the NIT besides the game recap. I don't think the Bearcats run ends tonight though. I'm looking for Lance Stephenson to play on the higher level he's been, Yancy Gates to want the ball inside, and I'm going out on a limb and saying Ibrahima Thomas has a big game.

Prediction: Cincinnati 70 Weber State 57