Bearcats Breakdown: Darnell Wilks

Happy Memorial Day everybody. I hope your extended weekend went great. I spent mine on a boat. I didn't really, I just love that song. I did spend the weekend getting linked to by the Enquirer's UC blog, which was pretty cool. Thanks to whoever did that at Cincinnati.com. I also updated the blog roll, which should have been done a long time ago. Sorry Voodoo 5 and Down the Drive. There is also some potentially big news coming down the pipeline, but we can never be sure about such things. What we can be sure about is this edition of Bearcats Breakdown. This features a player who was frustrating, flashy, fixed to the bench, and finally broke out. That player is Darnell Wilks.

Scoring

Darnell Wilks averaged 3.4 points a game, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Wilks averaged less than that before the Big East Tournament and NIT, where he averaged nearly 7 points a game. Wilks didn't get his chance to play because he was position blocked by Rashad Bishop. Wilks averaged 10 minutes a game, and used 18% of UC possessions his time on the floor. Wilks had an offensive rating of 106, up dramatically from his first 2 seasons in a Bearcat uniform. His effective field goal percentage was right on line with last season, 56. His true shooting percentage was also 56. Wilks took more shots this season than he had his whole UC career up to this point, 98. He made 49, for 50%. A third of those were 3 pointers, 32, of which Wilks made 12, 37%. That made him one of the better UC 3 point shooters because the rest were horrible. Wilks only got to the free throw line 13, making 6. He got to the line 17 times his sophomore season, but his free throw rate was 34%. This year, it was 13%.

Wilks started the season playing sparce minutes, but when the Bearcats came back from Maui, Darnell scored a career high 12 against Texas Southern. Wilks scored 8 against Xavier, making 2 of 4 triples. I remember the two he missed being bad shots. Wilks then didn't do anything until the bench stat stuffing game against Cal St Bakersfield, where he poured in 8 points. Most of them like this.

And

The almost dunking Wilks picture is definitely from the Bakersfield game if you check the recap. I have pictures of Darnell Wilks dunking, and I'm going to use every last one, you can bet your bottom dollar on that.  After CSB, Wilks didn't do anything until the Providence game. Wilks led a Bearcats rally with 10 points on 5/7 shooting. Wilks went back to gathering dust on the bench until the Big East Tournament. With Bishop suspended, Wilks got thrown into the fire. Let me go back a second. Wilks didn't play much, but it always seemed like he would take a bad shot. He took 4 against Seton Hall, 1 against Louisville in losses, so maybe that's not true. Back to the Big East Tournament. Wilks played 13 minutes against Rutgers and dropped in 9 points, all in the first half. The next day against Louisville, Wilks was more assertive, matching his career high of 12. Wilks shot 5-11 in the game, also a career high in shots. Wilks didn't score much against West Virginia, making a three. He scored 7 in the NIT win over Weber State to close out his good games.

Rebounding

Wilks averaged nearly 2 rebounds a game, 66 total. He had 32 offensive, nearly 1 a game, which was 10% of the UC o boards when he was on the floor. Wilks averaged 1 defensive board, but only got 11% of them, down from 13% his sophomore year. Wilks best rebounding game was against Notre Dame, where he pulled down 8 boards in 12 minutes. The 8 is a career high. Wilks pulled in 7 in the Big East Tournament win against Louisville. He had 6 against Texas Southern and CSB, and 5 against Xavier and Prairie View.

Other Things

Wilks had 15 assists this season, down from 20 the year before. Wilks had 7 steals, down from 15. He turned the ball over 3 times less than the year before, 22 times. Wilks had 11 blocks, 2 coming in the Big East Tournament game against West Virginia.

Overall

Overall, I have to say that Darnell Wilks had a nice season. We were teased a little at the end of his sophomore year when he started getting minutes late, and I hope that we aren't teased again with this performance. Wilks seemed to finally put it together, and it was great to see. Darnell still has some areas to improve his game, but I think some of that is going to have to come with him getting more play. I think that he will, regardless of Bishop coming back. I think Wilks has earned some minutes. Mainly because he can do this.

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. West Virginia Big East Tournament Preview

Fresh off back to back wins, the Bearcats move on to day 3 of the Big East tournament. Awaiting them? The 3 seed West Virginia Mountaineers. The teams will do battle in yet another late game, look for the tip at around 9:25 pm. And, Cincinnati is playing yet another team that they played on the road this season. Will the third time be the charm? Let's hit the preview.

Minutes

1. Deonta Vaughn 30
2. Lance Stephenson 28.3
3. Yancy Gates 24.9
4. Cashmere Wright 17.8
5. Steve Toyloy 17.5

Points

1. Lance Stephenson 12
2. Deonta Vaughn 11.2
3. Yancy Gates 10.5
4. Ibrahima Thomas 5.7
5. Cashmere Wright 5.6

Rebounding

1. Yancy Gates 6
2. Lance Stephenson 5.3
3. Ibrahima Thomas 4.9 
4. Steve Toyloy 3.7
5. Deonta Vaughn 3.4

Assists

• Deonta Vaughn 3.5
• Lance Stephenson 2.4

Steals

• Deonta Vaughn 1.1
• Lance Stephenson 1

Blocks

• Yancy Gates 0.9

Minutes

1. Da'Sean Butler 35.8
2. Devin Ebanks 33.9
3. Kevin Jones 32.8
4. Darryl "Truck" Bryant 25.2
5. Wellington Smith 22.9

Points

1. Da'Sean Butler 17.2
2. Kevin Jones 13.5
3. Devin Ebanks 12.4
4. Truck Bryant 10.6
5. Wellington Smith 6.8

Rebounds

1. Devin Ebanks 8.3
2. Kevin Jones 7.4
3. Da'Sean Butler 6.3
4. Wellington Smith 3.7
5. John Flowers 2.4

Assists

• Da'Sean Butler 3.3
• Truck Bryant 3.3
• Devin Ebanks 2.5

Steals

• Devin Ebanks 1.1

Blocks

• Wellington Smith 1

Notables

• Da'Sean Butler was first team all Big East.
• West Virginia outrebounded UC by 11 in the first meeting. 
• Kevin Jones had 15, Truck Bryant 14, Devin Ebanks 12-10 for West Virginia. For UC, Deonta Vaughn had 15-5-5 assists, and Lance Stephenson had 14-9.
• If you recall, UC was hosed by the refs in that game pretty hardcore.
• Darnell Wilks has made me pee my pants happy the last 2 games. 
• West Virginia has made the semi-finals the last 2 seasons.
• Oh and they have some coach you might have heard of.

While I would love to be a homer and pick UC, I'm sticking to the prediction I made Monday. This has been a great ride, and I've enjoyed the hell out of it and don't want it to end, but I think it will. 

Prediction: West Virginia 79 Cincinnati 72

Cincinnati 69 Louisville 66

F

How can you not love that picture? Lance Stephenson and Bearcat celebrating after a hard fought victory over Louisville in the second round of the Big East tournament is the stuff March is made of. It was a great, great win for the Bearcats, and one of the reasons that basketball is so much fun. Not only is it so much fun, but it's March, and the fun is taken to a higher level. A higher level is exactly what the Bearcats played at in the second half against Louisville Wednesday night. Let's get right into the recap.

Things didn't start so well for the Bearcats. Edgar Sosa scored the first 5 on a lay up and NBA 3, before Deonta Vaughn scored an NBA 3 of his own. Sosa hit a long 2 that Yancy Gates would follow with a put back. It was the first of many, many UC offensive rebounds. Terrence Jennings made a tough shot in the lane for Louisville, to be followed by an Ibrahima Thomas follow for UC. Sosa once again got to the rim, giving Louisville a 11-7 at the under 16. Darnell Wilks entered the game and knocked down a triple for the Bearcats, only to be countered when Reginald Delk scored 5 of his own off a pair of free throws and three. The 16-10 lead held to the under 12. Out of the break, Peyton Siva got a steal, raced up the floor and dropped a pass back for a Jennings jam. Cincinnati kept jacking up jump shots, namely 3s, but Wilks hit another one to cut the lead to 5. Lance Stephenson followed by getting fouled and making a pair of free throws. Preston Knowles made his only shot of the game, a 3 pointer, to push the lead back up. Stephenson was able to score on a beautiful reverse lay up, but Louisville came back with a Siva pass to Delk on the baseline for a lay up. Siva stripped Stephenson on the next trip, found Knowles who found Delk wide open for a 3 and a 26-17 Cards lead. UC was forced to call timeout. Out of the break, Larry Davis found Gates under the basket for 2, but Louisville got it back on a Rock Buckles follow of a Knowles miss. Wilks scored on a UC put back, but UC gave up more points when Buckles found Delk open for 3. At 6:53, Louisville lead 31-21. Gates drew a foul before the timeout, and after made both foul shots. He was immediately taken off the dribble by Samardo Samuels though. Jaquon Parker followed that action, with a good play and a freshman play. The good, a lay up high off the glass over Samuels on UC's third shot. The bad, he blew a 3 on 2 break by driving right in the middle of the 2 defenders, getting stripped by Knowles and losing the ball out of bounds. Sosa got the lead back to 10 by driving and dishing off to Samuels for a dunk. The lead went to 12 after the under 4 timeout, as Sosa made 2 free throws. Cincinnati missed about 3 tip ins on their next trip, but were able to score with a Thomas bucket after holding Louisville. Cashmere Wright drew a foul, but made 1 of 2. UC blew more easy points when Ibby couldn't convert a bunny off a behind the back pass from Stephenson. Louisville followed that with a Sosa 3 off an offensive rebound. UC got a Thomas dunk from Wilks as the last field goal of the half. The remaining points were scored by 1 Sosa free throw, and 2 Vaughn free throws for a 41-32 Louisville advantage.

The Bearcats were 11-41, 3-11 from deep, but 7-8 at the free throw line, with 20 rebounds, 11 offensive. Darnell Wilks led the way again in the first half with 8, Ibrahima Thomas 6-5, Yancy Gates 6, Deonta Vaughn 5, Lance Stephenson 4, Jaquon Parker 2, Cashmere Wright 1. For Louisville, the Cards shot 15-29, 6-9, 5-6 at the stripe, with 16 rebounds, 5 offensive. Louisville had 9 assists. Edgar Sosa powered the Cardinals with 15, Reginald Delk 13, Terrence Jennings 4-4, Samardo Samuels 4-3, Preston Knowles 3, Rock Buckles 2, and Peyton Siva had 4 assists.

Yancy Gates scored the first 2 of the half for the Cats, but Edgar Sosa hit a 3 and a 2 for the Cardinals, putting them up 12. That seemed to wake Cincinnati up. Deonta Vaughn hit a 3, Gates got a cherry pick lay up from Parker after a wild Sosa lay up attempt, and Gates got a cherry pick dunk from Vaughn after a terrible Sosa pass intended for Jennings. It was 46-41 at 15:09. Gates added 2 more free throws to complete his 6-0 run, before Stephenson drove the lane, kicked back to Thomas for an open jumper to complete Cincinnati's 11-0 run to cut the lead to 1. Samardo Samuels made 1 of 2 free throws for the Cards to push the lead back to two. But Stephenson drove inside to tie the score. Louisville got their first basket in 6:15 on a Samuels dunk from Sosa to retake the lead. Stephenson had a lay up attempt blocked excellently by Delk, and the Cards took advantage as Jared Swopshire found Samuels for another dunk. The Cats answered back with Stephenson getting to the rim, and Stephenson finding Wilks for a dunk and a foul at 9:48. Out of the media break, Wilks missed the free throw. But Cincinnati would take the lead on a Jaquon Parker put back, 53-51. Samuels scored over Gates on a hook shot that rattled home to tie again. Cincinnati retook the lead as we went into the under 8 timeout as Cash drove to the basket, scored, and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but Parker stole away the rebound. UC ended up turning the ball over, but Parker's effort was great to see. And he wasn't finished. Peyton Siva was stripped by Parker, who threw ahead to Lance Stephenson for a dunk. Parker then stole an offensive rebound away from Kyle Kuric on a Wilks airball, scored and was fouled. It was all effort on Jaquon's part, and he drilled the free throw for a 7 point lead, 60-53. That capped a 25-7 Cincinnati run. Out of a Louisville timeout, Samuels drew a foul, and made both shots. Lance Stephenson was bumped a little as UC tried running their motion, and fell down. While he bitched at the official, Sosa canned an open 3. UC got some momentum back with a Wilks follow on a offensive rebound. Wilks forced Samuels into a tough shot while playing great man to man defense, and when Samuels fell, Gates raced up the floor for UC, letting the Cats take advantage of the numbers with a dunk. Edgar Sosa cut the lead to 64-61 with 3:19 left on a 3 pointer. UC's toughness on the night was apparent for the next minute, as they missed 2 shots, but got both of the rebounds. One was thanks to Jared Swopshire going up one handed and batting the ball, instead of using 2 hands, allowing Parker to take it down. Parker was tremendous. UC couldn't get a third shot up. Mick Cronin called a timeout and reinserted Deonta Vaughn, who did not play much during the UC run, it was all Parker, Wright, Stephenson, Wilks, Thomas and Gates. Vaughn had the ball near the time line, got double teamed, turned and tried throwing a pass. The bad thing was Preston Knowles hand was right there, and he forced a steal, got the ball to Sosa, who raced down, drew a foul, and scored a lay up with 1:45 left. Sosa missed though. Jaquon Parker drew a foul on Knowles, but only made the front end of a 1-1. Knowles came down for Louisville and missed a long 3 pointer, but Samuels was able to tip the ball back out, only for Cash to chase it down. A bullet dodged. For some reason, with 57 seconds left, Sosa fouled Cash. Cash missed the front end, causing a rash of f bombs in UC fans homes. The Cardinals shot was taken by Jared Swopshire, who short armed a 12 footer from the left wing, causing a rash of f bombs from UofL fans. Especially since Delk was wide open. Lance Stephenson wanted the ball, and with 29.7 left, he got it. Lance made both free throws for a 4 point lead. Sosa raced down and took a wild NBA 3 that missed. Stephenson grabbed the rebound and was fouled again. This time, he missed both. Delk hit a Louisville 3 with 9.7 seconds left. UC got the ball in to Deonta Vaughn. Vaughn wasn't immediately fouled, and almost traveled. The foul came with 5.9 seconds left. The senior calmly nailed both and iced the game on defense. Sosa took the pass and seemed like he was expecting to be fouled from halfcourt on. When he went up for a shot high off the left wing, Vaughn stripped him, and UC took the victory, 69-66.

Cincinnati shot 25-72 34.7%, 4-18, 15-22 from the stripe, with 46 rebounds, 21 offensive. Jaquon Parker had 8 points, 9 rebounds, 7 offensive. Yancy Gates 16-5, Lance Stephenson 12-4-3, Darnell Wilks 12-7,  Deonta Vaughn 10, Ibrahima Thomas 8-8, and Cashmere Wright 2-5. Louisville was 24-55 43.6%, 10-18, 8-14 at the stripe, with 29 rebounds, 8 offensive. They were led by Edgar Sosa, 28-6, but 3-8 at the stripe, Reginald Delk 16, Samardo Samuels 13, Terrence Jennings 4-5, Preston Knowles 3, and Rock Buckles 2.

It was a great game, probably the best of the Big East tournament. Cincinnati showed so much heart, so much determination, so much desire the second half. They weren't going to lose, and they forced Louisville into their game. It was the best half Cincinnati played this season. I was proud watching them play that second half. Some of you can bitch and ask where this was all season, and while that's your incentive, and fair, you should chill out and enjoy the ride. The team has played hard the last 2 days, and they've won. Darnell Wilks has been out of this world the past 2 games. I don't know where this came from, but I'm glad it's here. And I'm even more glad we get to play tomorrow.

Cincinnati 69 Rutgers 68

(AP/Henny Ray Abrams)

Lance Stephenson saved the day for the Cincinnati Bearcats, as they were able to take home a round 1 win in the Big East tournament Tuesday night. Stephenson netted the game winning free throw with 1.8 seconds left following a furious Rutgers rally. Cincinnati plays the Louisville Cardinals tonight at 9:30ish, 20 minutes after the 7 pm game ends. Cincinnati was without Rashad Bishop, who was suspended for the Big East tournament due to conduct detrimental to the team. It's a shame. Hopefully Rashad realizes the error of his ways and plays in the next tournament UC is in. 

The game started with a 5 minute stalemate after the fireworks of Seton Hall and Providence. We had a 5-5 tie after a Gates put back, an NBA range 3 from Deonta Vaughn, Jonathan Mitchell scoring inside and a James Beatty triple. Hamady Ndiaye dominated the paint, as he had 4 blocks in the first 6 minutes, setting the Rutgers career record. Congratulations to Hamady. After the 4th block, he was fouled on the other end by his best friend Ibrahima Thomas and made 1 free throw. Gates followed by making 1 of 2, but the teams didn't make a field goal until the 13 minute mark when Mike Rosario hit a 3. That was followed by a Mitchell 3 and a 12-6 lead. Cincinnati scored 4 quick on a Cashmere Wright jumper, and on a Gates dunk from Wright when Rutgers turned the ball over after Dane Miller dribbled the ball off Rosario trying to break UC pressure. Rutgers scored 6 of the next 8 on threes by Rosario and Beatty around a Darnell Wilks jumper. But UC went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-18 lead off a Wright jumper, a Wilks lay up around a defender from Stephenson, a Parker 3 from passes from Lance and Wilks, and a traditional 3 point play by Cashmere Wright. The Scarlet Knights tied it on a Ndiaye dunk and a Coburn lay up. Rutgers and Cincinnati would play tight the rest of the half. UC scored 4 on a Wilks dunk back, and a Stephenson baseline jumper. RU got a Mitchell 3. UC got a Toyloy bucket off a drop off from Vaughn, answered by 2 Rosario free throws. A Darnell Wilks 3 to give UC a 4 point lead was met by a goaltend by Stephenson on a Coburn lay up off a great outlet pass by Rosario, and another Ndiaye dunk off a zone break. Rutgers took the lead into intermission after Cash had a lay up blocked, and with 1.8 seconds left, Coburn was fouled and made 1 of 2 for a 32-31 Rutgers lead. 

Rutgers shot 50% for the first half on 11-22 shooting. They were 6-12 from 3 and 4-8 from the foul line. The Knights grabbed 15 rebounds, 2 offensive and had 8 assists. They were lead by Mike Rosario 10, Jonathan Mitchell 8-5, James Beatty 6, Hamady Ndiaye 5-4-2, or 4 blocks, and Mike Coburn 3-2 assists. Cincinnati shot 35% on 13-37 shooting, were 3-8 from deep and 2-3 from the foul line. The Cats grabbed 19 rebounds, 9 offensive. They were lead by Darnell Wilks 9-3, Cashmere Wright 7-2 assists, Yancy Gates 5, Deonta Vaughn 3, Jaquon Parker 3, Lance Stephenson 2-6-3 assists, and Steve Toyloy 2.

Deonta Vaughn started the second half with a 3 pointer to put UC back in front, but it was answered by 3 Ndiaye free throws. We stayed tied until the under 16 media break, but there was lots of scoring. Gates scored on a lob from Thomas on a nice press break by Vaughn, Rosario and Jaquon Parker traded 3s, Dane Miller made 1 free throw, followed by Parker making 2 free throws, only for Jonathan Mitchell to score a basket with a foul and covert the free throw. The Knights took advantage of Cashmere Wright falling asleep at the wheel when they got an open 3 from Rosario after a high pass. It looked like the ball was going out of bounds, and Cash turned and ran, but it didn't. UC crashed the glass hard all night, as Toyloy scored on a tip in of a Thomas miss, but Coburn went right to the rim in transition to score. The 46-43 Rutgers advantage would hold through the under 12 timeout, and grow after on a Coburn long 2. It was at this point, Lance Stephenson started taking over. Stephenson scored on a nice move inside and off a tip in, around a Mitchell 2. UC was in full bomb threes mode here, but Rutgers couldn't really capitalize much. Dante Rosario got to the rim by splitting the defense, but Cash found Gates for an interior shot to start a UC run. Ibrahima Thomas scored off a turn around jumper to pull UC to within 1, 52-51. At the 7:25 mark, Lance Stephenson pulled down a rebound, went on a one man fast break, scored a lay up, was fouled, and made the free throw. On the inbound, Stephenson stole the errant pass, drove to the rim and scored with a foul. And again he made the free throw to put UC up 5. Austin Johnson scored his only 2 on a jump shot off a ball screen, a play Rutgers ran all night. But, Jaquon Parker had a personal 5-0 run by picking up a loose ball off a Cincinnati shot attempt, and by drilling a 3. That 11-2 run put UC up 62-54 with 3:31 left. Rosario and Rutgers would come back. Rosario got the line and made 1 of 2. Gates wiped that out by making 1 of 2 for UC. But, Gates would miss an easy put back on the next UC possession, allowing Mitchell to get the rebound and hit Rosario with a beautiful baseball pass, drawing a foul on his lay up attempt. He made both. Rutgers fouled Parker after the inbound, but Jaquon missed the front end of a 1-1. Rutgers missed 2 wide open three chances by Mitchell and Rosario though. But, they hung tough and drew a 5 second closely guarded call on Deonta. Beatty immediately went to the rim and the lead was 63-59 with 54.7 to go. UC broke the Rutgers press, and when Mitchell fell down, Vaughn hit Thomas for a huge lay up. Rosario made a quick lay up for Rutgers, who called their last timeout with 38.7. Vaughn got fouled on the inbound, and made both, but UC fouled Coburn as he drove, and he made both keeping the lead at 4. With 2 timeouts left, Jaquon Parker, who played great, made a stupid play by not calling timeout when he couldn't get the ball in, had the ball slip out of his hands and onto the floor, where Mitchell dove on it and was fouled by Vaughn. Mitchell made both and with 29 seconds left, it was a 2 point game. UC called 2 timeouts in a row to get a good inbound play, and they did as Vaughn was fouled with 23 to go. He missed the first free throw, and made the second. Rutgers took the inbound pass up in a hurry, and Dante Rosario hit a twisting 3 as he was trying to jump into Larry Davis for a foul. With visions of St John's and the last trip to the Garden dancing in UC fans heads, Lance Stephenson gave us visions of UConn. Lance took the ball up court, and drove hard to the rim, drawing a foul. He calmly drilled the first before Mick Cronin told him to miss the second. He did, and Rutgers three quarter court heave was short and UC survived and advanced.

Cincinnati shot 26-69 37.7%, 6-20 from deep and 11-18 at the stripe. They gathered 44 rebounds, 19 offensive. UC was lead by Stephenson 13-9-5 assists, Parker, who started in place of Bishop, 13-5, Gates 10-5, Vaughn 9, Wilks 9, Wright 7-4-3 assists, Thomas 4-13, and Toyloy 4. What a beast Ibrahima Thomas has been on the boards lately. Him and Lance Stephenson are playing great, and give a lot of hope for improvement next season. Rutgers was 22-51 43%, 9-24, 15-23 at the stripe, with 28 rebounds, 4 offensive. They had 16 assists. Rosario had 26, Mitchell 15-10, Coburn 9, Ndiaye 7-8-5 blocks, Johnson 2, and lastly but not least, Miller 1-5-8 assists. 

This was a big win. The team hadn't pulled out a close game late in a long, long time, and this was important. It's on to bigger and better things, and those things are the Louisville Cardinals. It's tournament basketball, enjoy it friends. 

Bearcats too much for Friars

(Enquirer/Jeff Swinger)

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

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

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

UC 3 Point Shooting; How Bad Is It?

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


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

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

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

All the time

• Deonta Vaughn

When open

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

Don't shoot as much

• Dion Dixon

Drive to the rim instead

• Lance Stephenson

Cincinnati 87 Cal State Bakersfield 58

(enquirer)

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

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

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

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

Cincinnati 65 Rutgers 58

(Enquirer)

The Cincinnati Bearcats locked down win 10 and improved to 2-0 following a mostly offensively challenged game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The teams struggled early and often getting shots to fall, and actually getting shots. The Bearcat who didn't have that problem was Deonta Vaughn. He followed his 17 point outing against UConn with 17 tonight to lead all scorers. It's great to see Deonta getting it going as the conference season has started. The Bearcats aren't going to do much of anything if 5 isn't leading the efforts. I love Lance Stephenson as much as you if not more, but he can't be Superman every night. Like tonight. Born Ready didn't have a great game his first game back in the New York area. He had a solid game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. He also made the requisite highlight play. With the ball under the basket, he up faked 2 Rutgers defenders, as they came down, he went up and flung the ball at least 2 feet over the rim and it fell perfectly into the net. Great play that not many can do. For the game Scarlet Knights, Jonathan Mitchell lead the way with 14 and 7 rebounds. Mike Rosario had 12 points, all 3 pointers. Dane Miller had a solid 10-6 off the bench as well.

The first half of this one was rather dull. Neither team shot well. At one point, Rutgers was 6-26. Despite that, they only trailed by around 5 or 6 seemingly the whole half. That was until the Scarlet Knights caught fire from 3. Mike Rosario missed 8 of his 9, but hit 2 triples in a row, and Rutgers took the lead. Rutgers would add a couple more baskets, and take a 5 point lead into the locker room. The offensive bugaboos that have haunted the Bearcats all year shined in this half. The team turns the ball over too much, and the offensive sets aren't that great. The team tends to stand around and hoist up jump shots. It's frustrating to watch because the talent is there. The discipline is always there on defense, and it really lacks on offense. The Cats are bizarro Notre Dame.

The second half was a dog fight for the most part. The Bearcats would grind their way back into the game, pulling to a tie at 41. The team locked down Rosario, who didn't have a basket in the 2nd half. The team also hit the offensive glass and got multiple second chance opportunities, 21 points from 11 offensive rebounds. The Bearcats held the good offensive rebounding Rutgers squad to 7 for the game. The Cats posted a 12 rebound advantage for the game, and it seemed like many of them came in the second half. The action would stay nip tuck until a huge foul turned things. Rashad Bishop was fouled shooting a 3 with the score tied at 51 and made all 3 shots for a third of his total. The Bearcats would not relinquish the advantage. Rutgers big man Hamady Ndiaye got into foul trouble, and the Cats pounded the ball inside to Yancy Gates, 10-8, and Darnell Wilks who played a lot down the stretch and had 6. At least 2 of those were dunks, including one to make it a 5 point game. The lead would stay around 5 coming down the wire, and it was Deonta Vaughn who iced from the free throw line for the victory. They all can't be pretty, but as long as they are wins, they are good in my book.

I hit most of the negatives earlier, so I'll highlight some positives. The free throw shooting has boosted the past few games, and did again today with a 14-18 effort. Yancy Gates and Steve Toyloy just aren't getting to the line, and that has a huge impact because they are the worst free throw shooters we have. I love Dion Dixon. No one seems to play harder than him, and he offensive rebounds like a mo fo. 66% of his boards were offensive tonight. I like what I see from Ibrahima Thomas rebounding and on defense, but his offense has a ways to go. He needs to add some muscle. The Bearcats held Rutgers to 37% shooting and 38%, 7-19, behind the arch. The Cats shooting was once again horrible. 41% overall, a terrible 3-16 18.8% from 3. Either the team needs to stop shooting 3s, or they need to practice more. Lance Stephenson especially. His 3 point shooting is horrible. He needs to work on that for the NBA. I would say it's worth staying another year to do that, but the money talks. 6-30 though. Six of thirty!

I would like to thank everyone who has come to the site this weekend. The live blog seemed to be a success, and it's something that I'll try again for a big game. I'll look to add more features for you all to enjoy, and don't be afraid to post comments or send emails. Thanks for checking things out. Look for a Pittsburgh preview on Monday afternoon around 2 or so.

Know Your Opponent: UAB Blazers edition

The Cincinnati Bearcats look to get back on track after losing a tough one Sunday night against Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout. On top of that, this is the first true road game outside of Cincinnati. UAB is a old Conference USA foe, and I relish the opportunity to kick their ass once again. All of my UAB memories are mixed.. Since 1991-1992, the Bearcats are 15-8 against UAB. The last loss in 07-08 at UAB. The last win was last year. That was the Deonta Vaughn off the bench game. He scored 16. Let's get to the breakdown and prediction. The fun is after the jump.