With today’s 72-68 win over Villanova and some help from Bob Huggins and Marquette, the Cincinnati Bearcats are the 4th seed in the Big East Tournament. I have no idea how it happened either. At the beginning of the year if you told me that UC would be the 4 seed, I would have bought it. If you told me after the first 8 games of the season that UC would be the 4 seed, I would kindly ask you pass me whatever legal substance that was altering your mind so I could be so crazy. This team finished with 22 wins. The 12 wins in Big East play is a new high. This team won 12 Big East games. Just a remarkable season. The time for patience is over. Cincinnati is going to the NCAA tournament. It’s a good day.
As for the game itself, the Bearcats played a great first half where they were an offensive buzzsaw against the Wildcat defense. UC shot 52%. The second half was not as good. The offense went jump shot crazy, even though UC was getting a ton of points in the paint. Maalik Wayns continued to absolutely own the Bearcats. He put up 26 on 9-16 shooting. He killed Cincinnati this season. I hope he goes pro.
4 Bearcats had double figures lead by Yancy Gates’ 16. He added 9 boards. My best friend Dion Dixon dropped 14, including a huge 3 late. Sean Kilpatrick had 13 and JaQuon Parker 11. Cashmere Wright might have played the best. He had 9 points, 7 steals, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. He was selfless in giving up his starting spot to Justin Jackson because JJ continues to battle back spasms. That’s leadership.
Probably shouldn’t say it again, but I will. Today was a great day. It should put a smile on your face. Cincinnati basketball. Nothing like it.
ESPN box score
| Cincinnati Bearcats | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Yancy Gates, F | 34 | 7-9 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| Justin Jackson, F | 17 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Dion Dixon, G | 36 | 4-9 | 3-7 | 3-4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Sean Kilpatrick, G | 37 | 5-13 | 1-6 | 2-3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Jaquon Parker, G | 31 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 4-5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Cashmere Wright, G | 27 | 3-9 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Jeremiah Davis III, G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ge’Lawn Guyn, G | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cheikh Mbodj, C | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jermaine Sanders, F | 6 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 26-56 | 7-22 | 13-19 | 10 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 72 | ||
| 46.4% | 31.8% | 68.4% | ||||||||||
| Villanova Wildcats | ||||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Maurice Sutton, F-C | 29 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| JayVaughn Pinkston, F | 32 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Mouphtaou Yarou, F-C | 32 | 6-11 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Dominic Cheek, G | 37 | 3-9 | 2-7 | 2-2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Maalik Wayns, G | 40 | 9-16 | 5-9 | 3-3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| James Bell, G | 12 | 0-4 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ty Johnson, G | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Markus Kennedy, F | 13 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Achraf Yacoubou, G | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 24-52 | 8-22 | 12-14 | 8 | 26 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 68 | ||
| 46.2% | 36.4% | 85.7% | ||||||||||
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