The first post of 2012 is a sort of live blog recap of the Cincinnati at Pittsburgh game. Sort of live because it’s 8:40 on Sunday night and the game is probably happening now. Unless it’s the fastest game of all time. I’m sure it’s not. What I’m not sure of is anything that will happen during the game. Pittsburgh had a horrible second half in their loss to Notre Dame. Trey Woodall is not playing. Cincinnati is coming off their worst performance with the 4 guard look against Oklahoma. The game could go either way. It’s going to be a tough game. I know that for sure. It’ll be tough because it’s a Big East game. No picnics there. Unless it’s DePaul at home. Let’s get to it.
UC wins the tip with Jackson taking it. That’s rare. Jackson drives and is blocked. He gets the loose ball, uses the rim as his friend and scores. 2-0. UC putting on the press. Cash went for a steal on Robinson. He missed and Nasir got an easy bucket to tie. Cash a kick to the corner off a screen to Parker for 3. Nice start. Cash a steal on the press and he walked. Gibbs an open look in the corner is missed. Offensive rebound Pitt and a foul on Parker. Wright was fouled. Make miss. Dixon a break on the miss but is blocked by Wright. Gibbs saves it to UC. Parker misses a 3. Pitt rebound. Patterson gets a look but misses. UC went zone the first 2 possessions, then man that time. Killa lost Patterson. Jackson turnover trying to make a move. Robinson misses inside, Jackson boards. Jackson a jumper no good. Not a good shot because it was a 15+ footer. Jackson knocks the ball out of Zanna’s hands on the press. Pitt misses 1 shot, misses a tip but Patterson gets a 3rd shot and makes. That’s 3 points off offensive boards. I’ll try to keep track of that. Killa misses a 3. Jackson a steal and is fouled by Zanna. 5-5 at the under 16.
UC shot 42% before the suspensions, 49% since. That’s pretty good. More importantly, 10.9 assists to 17.6 assists. I think getting more guys involved is important. Especially with no Radfords or Chicago States left. Cash brings the ball up. Screen for Dixon, he passes to Parker. UC works it around and Kilpatrick takes it from the right wing down the middle but misses. Killa on Gibbs. Pass deflected to Robinson who scores. Cash misses a quick 3. 4 tries a quick pass but it hits Dixon’s feet and goes out of bounds. Moore gets the ball open for 3, fakes, steps in and misses, put back no and UC takes away. Guyn is in the game misses a 3. UC slaps the rebound out of bounds. The Cats even putting man pressure on the inbounds. No easy ups. Gibbs off a curl. 7-0 run. More like a walk. Nearly 5 minutes since UC has scored. SK drive and kick to Parker, who steps in and misses. Pitt runs off the rebound. Parker picks up a charge on a drive by Johnson. Good D by Parker. Parker drives and misses a bad looking shot. Screen and roll for Johnson, he drops for Zanna for a dunk. UC defended that very poorly. Wright drives and missed. Gaines rebounds and is tied up because he took the ball low instead of right back up. He’ll learn not to do that. Pitt ball. Gibbs all the way for a layup but misses. Dixon an open 3 and he misses. Pitt pushes and Johnson kicks to Moore for a dunk. 11-0 run. Timeout Mick. UC all kind of out of sorts on defense. Parker shoots a 3 from the top of the key. Drilled it. Took 7 minutes between FGs. Pitt misses a 3. UC rebounds. Parker another 3 and he makes it. He’s hit 3 of those tonight. Very aggressive on offense is JaQuon. Moore an open 3 missed. Pitt rebounds. Johnson shows 3, but drives and scores. Dixon up to Killa, pass down low knocked out of bounds. 10:07 left in the half, Pittsburgh up 15-11.
Nice play for UC, Jackson screened for someone and got the ball for a layup on the inbound. Cash steal and an alley oop to Dixon off glass to tie the score. The announcers talk about the Shootout instead of any of the points. They are not good at their jobs. Uc good defense until they give up 2 shots off a miss. Pitt back in front. Parker travels on the UC end. Gibbs back in for Pitt, Jermaine Sanders in for UC. Cash another steal but he misses a layup. Jeremiah Davis fouls on the rebound. Another steal on the press for Cash. Davis misses a jumper. Rebound out of bounds to Pitt. Patterson gets a shot off the press, rattles out. Robinson goes over the back on the rebound. UC ball. SK starts a drive from the wing by not dribbling. That’s a travel. He comes out of the game at the 8:11 mark. UC going zone. Gibbs misses a 3. UC the other way. Cash a 3 that’s long. Rebound batted out and goes all the way past the Pitt basket. Under 8, 17-15.
It’s UC’s ball as we come back. Ok the announcers made New Year’s Resolutions for the team. UC’s are -Take the Freebies and – Restore the Crosstown Shootout. Pitt’s are – Be Yourself and – Improve Every Day. WTFuck? Dixon comes off a curl, drives to the elbow but misses. Wright drives the other way for a Pitt layup. Jackson tries to pass from the corner, but it was a lazy pass and knocked out of bounds. Cash inbounds to Dixon under the basket for a layup. Robinson stripped by JJ. Jackson makes a nice move on the block, misses and before his shot completely rolls off, he taps it. That’s a goaltend. Robinson passes out to Patterson for 3. Pitt by 5. UC goes around the perimeter. Parker holds, holds and drills a 3. That’s 4 for Jaquon. Nice. UC a steal on the press. Dixon stripped Robinson. Pitt lost it, Parker drives and is fouled. Johnson is down. Slid when he was planting to stop when Parker got the loose ball. Hope that’s nothing serious. He walked off. Parker makes both and we are tied. Pitt again inside out. Guyn fouls. Inbound to Gibbs. He gives it up. Patterson drive, pass to Wright. No good on 3. Rebounding foul on Guyn. Patterson goes to the line and makes both. UC is 8-26. SK short on a runner. UC grabbed the board, but turns it over. 3:51 left in the half. 24-22, Pitt.
Pitt ball. Pass to Gibbs on the wing and he drills a 3. Can’t give him space. SK too hard from the top of the key. Rebound. Cash misses an ope 3. Patterson misses a 3, SK board. Nice pass from Killa to Dixon, who was alone for a layup. Pass right to Dixon. Jackson takes a 3 in the corner for some stupid fucking reason. Zanna tapped it up and into the basket. SK gets credit. Zanna took a shot to the face. Back to action. Wright top of the key. To Moore. He drives an kicks to Gibbs. He steps to the elbow and is fouled by Dixon. Dion really didn’t think that was a foul. Ashton Gibbs doesn’t miss free throws. SK can’t get a 3 to fall. Jackson body bumps Moore trying to get a steal. UC in a 2-3. Pass inside is stolen by Jackson. SK drills a 3. His first bucket. Tie game. Jackson has been great on defense tonight. Can’t check the numbers, but he’s got at least 3 steals. Not doing much at the line. And there is his second foul. That one was silly. Gaines in with 39 seconds in the half. Why not bring in Sanders? You are taking 1 shot anyway. Robinson at the line. Bruised knee for Johnson. Zanna was hit in the nose. Make. Wright pounding nails up top. Screen from Gaines, pass to Dixon missed 3 but Parker taps it back. Pitt can’t score. Tie game, 31-31 at halftime. JaQuon Parker was fucking huge. He had at least half the points. Yeah, 15.5 points that half.
Second half starting with UC having the ball. Cash drives hard and scores. UC in the lead. Only have to burn the next 19:45. Wright has a shot from the elbow blocked by Jackson. Cash the other way and drills a shot from the left elbow. Biggest lead for UC. Patterson drops a 3. Parker lost the ball off his foot but gets it back. Dixon drives and throws up a horrible 1 hander that misses. Pass off of SK’s foot out of bounds. Dixon takes way too many drives with no finish. Johnson is back in the game. Gibbs a drive to the foul line and kick out to Patterson from 3. Pitt in the lead. SK from the wing for 3 from Cash. The announcers say that Parker made that 3 because they are stupid. UC kicks another pass out of bounds. That’s happened a lot. UC still in the zone. Johnson drives and drops to Robinson for a layup. Taylor blocks a Killa layup. Johnson 3 rims out. Cash to Dixon to Parker who drops to Jackson, who misses but slaps it in. Parker a steal and layup. Huge game for JaQuon. He’s got 15 or 18. Timeout Pitt. Pitt breaks the press but almost turned it over. Gibbs misses a 3. Board to the Cats. Parker misses a 3 short. 15:34 left. UC leads 42-39.
Pitt has the ball. They break the press. 2-3 from the Cats. Robinson to Johnson for 3, no. Pitt rebound. Robinson is fouled by Cash. Miss make. A foul going up the floor on Jackson. That’s just really fucking stupid on a make. Pitt turns it over. Cash steal. Killa 3 on the other end. Other turnover. Killa is fouled. SK misses a 3. Pitt has 14 turnovers. Gibbs gets a floater to fall. Dixon drives, throws back to Jackson, who drives and misses, tiop by Dixon no. Out on UC. That Gibbs layup was on a screen. Johnson assists on a layup. 1 point game. Foul on Pitt. Parker dives and makes a runner. So much confidence from JaQuon. Johnson resets for Pitt. Moore to Johnson. Drive and drop to Robinson for a layup. Johnson has 4 assists off that this half. Pathetic interior D. Killa misses. Gibbs a pull up and Pitt takes the lead, 48-47. SK 3. Buries it. Press broken. Johnson to Gibbs to Johnson. Patterson drives, fakes Parker out of bounds, and dishes to Robinson for a layup. That was nice. SK has a 3 rattle out. Rebounding foul on Guyn. He’s been a big negative. 10:46 left, 50-50.
Pitt gets the ball up court. Moore turns it over. Cash a 3 from Killa in transition. That was a big time shot. Johnson drives, misses, Taylor rebound and misses. Rebound to UC and Johnson fouls. Zanna will not return. That’s a good thing. All the best to him in future games. UC hasn’t won in Pitt since 1979. Jackson drives but is stripped. Save by Pitt to Jackson. Pitt knocks the ball out. Parker turned Jackson’s head to get his attention about something. That’s leadership. Love you JaQuon. Cash drives on Gibbs, drops to Parker. JaQuon draws a foul. Miss make. Career high 21. UC is playing a weird looking zone. Very extended. Jackson deflects a pass out of bounds. 8 on the shot clock. Gibbs drills a step back in Parker’s face. That’s talent. 3 by Cash no. Rebound right to Parker. SK drives and throws up a HIGH 1 hander that falls. Patterson to Robinson inside. Jackson went down, which left the lane open. 56-54. Killa a step back 3. Nasty. He’s got 19, almost all this half. Gibbs a 3 off some zone offense. Cash drives, lost the ball to the corner where SK misses a 3. Rebounding foul on Davis. 6:28 left, 59-57 Cincinnati.
Pitt takes the shot clock under 10 before Dixon blocks Gibbs and gets a dunk on the other end from Parker. Nice D that set. Timeout Pitt after the Panthers do nothing for 10 seconds. Johnson takes a late drive, blocked by JJ. Pitt has 1 on the shot clock. 11 throws up a long ass 3 no good. UC takes it away. Dixon drives and pulls up from 6 feet. 6 point lead for UC. 4 and a half to go. Robinson to Taylor, who is blocked by Jackson. They blow a very late whistle. Make make. That was 4 on JJ. Dixon drives, nearly throws it away. Cash got it and misses a shot off the glass. Rebounding foul on Parker. That’s the 6th team foul. Don’t get rattled, boys. Pitt takes teh clock to 10 again. Gibbs an awkward looking shot from the elbow no good. SK knocks the board out of bounds. 3:33 left, UC up 63-59.
Inbound pass is lazy and stolen by SK. A score here would be gigantic. UC slowing it down. No Jackson. Dixon drills an NBA 3. Fuck yes, best friend. Leave that hand in the air. Gibbs got inside but lost it. Parker takes the ball out of a pile. Gibbs had a guy in the air but didn’t shoot. Odd choice. Dixon drives but a lefty layup rolls off. 2 minutes left. Gibbs an easy drive for a layup. 1:57 left. Timeout Pitt. Cash running nearly all the shot clock. Drive and dish to SK. 3 rattles out. Parker knocks the ball off Pitt. New shot clock. No turnover. Dixon drives and is called for an offensive foul. 1:08 left. That was bad. Patterson 3 long. Robinson boards. Johnson takes a 3 and IS FOULED. Don’t even get close to him, SK. Second time this year SK has made a bonehead play late. Sorry, but it’s true. Miss make make. 66-63. 40.7 left. Pitt has 5 fouls. Dixon fouled at 37.9. Pardon, now Pitt has 5 fouls. Cash was trapped and for some reason no one did anything. Dixon called a timeout because he’s smart. Foul at 33 seconds by Pitt. Dixon will trigger. Interesting. Johnson goes out because he has 4. Parker fouled after some nice passing at 28 seconds. He’s shooting 1-1. Knock ’em down, Park. Short. Robinson board. Johnson charge!!! Way to make a play, Sean Kilpatrick. Big play. 18.7 left. Get it in. SK fouled with 17.2 left. 1-1 still. Short again. Shit. Gibbs a step back no. Patterson board. Gibbs gets the ball back in the corner and a timeout was called. Holy shit, I thought a foul was gonna be called because Gibbs went up with a shot. 2.4 left. Here we go. Patterson NO GOOD. UC GOES INTO PITTSBURGH AND KICKS SOME FUCKING ASS. 66-63. Sean Kilpatrick 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists. Parker had 21, 7, 3 assists. They balled out.
This win was awesome. I don’t care that Woodall didn’t play and Pitt sucks right now. UC hasn’t won at Pitt as a member of Big East play. They don’t do road games well. They went and won this one. It’s a game they had to win. They took the lead early in the second half and didn’t let it go. I don’t know what happens when Yancy Gates comes back. I’ll write more on that later this week. But I do know this, you can’t take the 4 guard lineup away. That’s gotta stay. People are giving UC a lot of “They’ve won 6 in a row, but…” Fuck that noise. This team as is wouldn’t have lost to Presbyterian. I’m going to say they wouldn’t have lost to Marshall. Winning road games in the Big East isn’t easy. This was a big one. Let the nay sayers say nay. I’ll be saying fuck yes, Cincinnati Bearcats.
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