Another loss has come to our doorstep with a 62-55 defeat at the hands of the Georgetown Hoyas. Georgetown moves into first place all by their lonesome with the win. Cincinnati is now 19-7, 7-6. They've lost 3 of 4 and 4 of 7.
I really don't know what to say besides teams that shoot jump shots almost exclusively will miss jump shots and when they do, they will lose. Cincinnati made 1 field goal the last 7 minutes. UC attempted 4 three pointers from the time they were down 12 to the time they were up 1. From the 2 minute mark to the 38 second mark, they attempted 4. In a time where you think they would try to extend the game by going to the basket, UC attempted ONE two pointer. It was a meaningless layup. They should have had 2 attempts. Cheikh Mbodj pulled down an offensive rebound 3 feet in front of the basket. Instead of turning and trying to score, he attempted a panic pass outside. It was stolen and that was pretty much that.
The problem with this team is execution. Flat out. Defensive execution was lacking in the first half. The Hoyas shot nearly 50% and carved up the UC defense to build a 6 point lead.
Offensive execution down the stretch was
- bad jumper
- offensive foul
- bad 3
- good look at 3 but a horrible actual shot
- forced 3
- bad 3
- turnover
UC had Georgetown in the bonus pretty much halfway through the second half. The Hoyas were crippled by foul trouble. UC attempted 9 free throws the last 17 minutes. Georgetown had just 1 player foul out. And that was on a double foul. The free throws themselves were poorly executed. UC went 17-30. Jackson was 3-8. Parker was 6-9. Rubles was 0-3. Georgetown knew who they were fouling.
I don't know what else to say. If you are going to attempt 3 pointers on half your field goals, you damn well better make more than 4. If you don't, you aren't going to beat anyone. Sean Kilpatrick and Cashmere Wright were 3-15. Sanders was 0-5. Parker was 1-3.
Maybe the upcoming road trip is just what this team needs. Maybe playing 2 good teams will get them focused on the task ahead. There is the story from the Louisville game last night where Dieng, Siva and Hancock made the team practice during the time they couldn't be with the coaches. Dieng said they weren't going to lose again. Something like that needs to happen now. Cash, Kilpatrick and Parker need to grab the team by the scruff of their neck and get things in line. Cincinnati shouldn't lose 5 home games in a season. Not with this talent. At UConn, At Notre Dame, Connecticut, At Louisville, South Florida. Those are the next 5 games. It's time for someone to put their foot down and demand perfection. The season is running out. This is the time to come together or the time we watch the Bearcats bounce out of March early. I don't feel as negatively about the team as that sounded, but something has to be done. You are who your record says you are. Cincinnati is 8th place team in the Big East. They are better than that. Have to play like it.
More on Monday. Photo via ESPN/AP. Box score from SI
GEORGETOWN| MIN | REB (O/D) | AST | FG-A | FT-A | 3P-A | PF | ST | TO | BLK | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starks * | 36 | 1 (0/1) | 3 | 5-10 | 6-8 | 1-3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 17 |
| Lubick * | 34 | 7 (1/6) | 4 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Porter Jr. * | 32 | 7 (2/5) | 1 | 4-8 | 7-7 | 1-2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Trawick * | 30 | 4 (1/3) | 0 | 1-7 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Hopkins * | 17 | 4 (0/4) | 1 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Smith-Rivera | 33 | 4 (0/4) | 2 | 5-10 | 3-4 | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Ayegba | 10 | 0 (0/0) | 0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bowen | 8 | 0 (0/0) | 0 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 27 (4/23) | 11 | 20-48 | 19-25 | 3-12 | 21 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 62 |
| 41.7% | 76.0% | 25.0% | |||||||||
| * Starters | |||||||||||
CINCINNATI| MIN | REB (O/D) | AST | FG-A | FT-A | 3P-A | PF | ST | TO | BLK | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilpatrick * | 38 | 6 (1/5) | 4 | 3-13 | 5-6 | 1-7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Wright * | 35 | 3 (0/3) | 3 | 5-14 | 0-0 | 2-8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Parker * | 31 | 6 (2/4) | 0 | 4-9 | 6-9 | 1-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Mbodj * | 31 | 7 (4/3) | 0 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Jackson * | 21 | 8 (5/3) | 2 | 1-3 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Rubles | 20 | 3 (1/2) | 1 | 2-6 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Sanders | 17 | 2 (0/2) | 0 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nyarsuk | 3 | 0 (0/0) | 0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Guyn | 2 | 1 (0/1) | 0 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas | 2 | 0 (0/0) | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 36 (13/23) | 10 | 17-54 | 17-30 | 4-24 | 20 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 55 |
| 31.5% | 56.7% | 16.7% | |||||||||
| * Starters | |||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| GEORGETOWN (19-4) | 31 | 31 | 62 |
| CINCINNATI (19-7) | 25 | 30 | 55 |
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