With a hard fought 61-56 win over the George Washington Colonials today, the Cincinnati Bearcats are the Barclays Center Tournament champions. Just like last night’s victory over Nebraska, the Bearcats were pushed to the limit. Once again they responded by making plays. Today it was Octavius Ellis scoring a huge tip in and nailing some crucial free throws. Troy Caupain gave the Bearcats the lead they wouldn’t relinquish with an ‘and 1.’
Caupain led the Bearcats with a game high 16 points, which included the game icing free throws. Farad Cobb chipped in 11, while Kevin Johnson matched that 11 off the bench. Many of KJ’s points came during the second half when Cincinnati needed someone to step up and score. The UC front line had solid lines. Ellis finished with 9 and 7, while Gary Clark had 6 and 11.
The Bearcats defense clamped down on GW during the second half. Looking at the box score, you’ll see that the Colonials went 11-22 from three. While that is great, GW hit 8 of 11 in the first half before going just 3 of 11 during the second. The looks GW was getting free in the first half simply weren’t there in the second. Joe McDonald scored 11 points in the first half, then didn’t do anything during the second.
With the offense coming back down to earth with UC playing some better competition, it’s incredibly encouraging to see the Bearcats not only playing great defense, but establishing themselves as one of the best defensive teams in the nation. GW was just 10-34 on two point shots. With Ellis, Clark and DeBerry, as well as Quadri Moore (Quad Squad), the front line is incredibly hard to get position and score on. They’ll give plenty of teams fits. As we’ve seen earlier, when the offense is rolling and the defense is performing, not a lot of teams can touch Cincinnati.
Unlike last season, we’ve seen Cincinnati play an early season tournament against a couple of teams that could be tournament squads and win. GW has the look and have a big win over Virginia. They are a legitimate foe. The Bearcats beating them and a decent Nebraska squad is nothing to sneeze at.
Things really start getting interesting now, with Butler on Wednesday and Xavier in two weeks. Both Big East squads are top 25 teams. The great thing about this season is that the Bearcats definitely are as well. This weekend only established that fact.
Photo by Getty Images / Mike Stobe
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