Crack open the green Rainier Ale tallboys; the Cincinnati Bearcats have finally knocked off the Georgetown Hoyas (No. 23, 12-7, 3-5 Big East), 65-57. In the previous four matchups between these two teams Georgetown had dominated UC, winning by an average margin of 16 ppg.
“We’re learning how to win,” Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin said. “Our boys showed that they have some giant stuff in their shorts tonight.”
Junior guard Deonta Vaughn, who is currently fifth in the Big East in assists despite never playing point guard before, led Cincinnati (14-7, 4-4) with 20 points as the Bearcats eclipsed their win total from all of last season with ten Big East games remaining.
The Hoyas, once ranked in the top ten, have now dropped four straight.
“Mick has some horses now,” Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said following the upset. “They two freshmen, Gates and Dixon, boy, they both got ice water in they veins.”
Gates, the 6’9” 265-pound giant of a freshman, set the tone early with three mad rejections in his first two minutes of court time. His three offensive boards and two swipes gave his Bearcats valuable extra possessions. Meanwhile, freshman pimp Dion Dixon wetted three 3-pointers in the second half to help the cause.
After a rough 0-3 start to the Big East slate, the Bearcats have now won four of the last five conference games. Rashad Bishop, a fazed-by-nathan sophomore from Newark, NJ, has been a big reason why. Bishop leads the entire Big East conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at right about 4:1.
“I’m just gettin’ in my flow,” Bishop said in the post-game press conference. “I’m takin’ what they give me. Newark, 9-7-3 son.”
Cronin’s squad travels to Philadelphia next Sunday to battle the Villanova Wildcats (9:00 am PST, ESPN Full Court), who just knocked off No. 3 Pitt tonight by ten.
Deonta Vaughn and the resilient Bearcats prevailed in a close game last season at home over Villanova. The Newark Nack, Rashad Bishop, hit a clutch three-pointer in the final minute to seal it for Biggie McClain and the crew.
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