Well isn’t this a nice mid-winter surprise? I’m excited to report that the young, resilient Cincinnati Bearcats have just completed a season sweep of the Georgetown Hoyas, placing Mick Cronin’s squad smack dab in the middle of the conversation for an NCAA Tournament bid.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Think back to about a month ago. UC (16-8, 6-5 Big East) was in the midst of getting roasted by Rutgers, down 29-13 at home, struggling to shake free from the death grip of a brutal four-game losing streak.
Then, junior banger Steve Toyloy calmly creamed two free throws and the lid was off. Helium-legged sophomore Darnell Wilks canned a 25-foot three-pointer to end the first half to cut the deficit to seven and swing the momentum in the Bearcats' direction.
UC came out on a mission in the second half, as juniors Deonta Vaughn (16.1 PPG, 4.6 APG) and Mike "Everything's Jelly" Williams (9.6 PPG, 70.4 percent FT) took turns wetting jumpers, and the Bearcats went on to win, going away, 71-59.
Since that spirited comeback, Brandon Miller and the ‘Cats have been on a serious roll, claiming hard-fought victories in six of their last eight Big East games. UC now sits in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big East! Helluva turnaround, huh?
The come-from-behind triumph at Georgetown (13-9, 4-7) on Saturday was enough to make a Bearcat fan stream tears of joy. Seemingly down-and-out, time-and-time again in the second half, UC continued to hop up off the mat and throw vicious left hooks at the grills of the Hoya players.
The spark came from sophomore marksman Alvin Mitchell (36.5% 3-pt FG), who drained a deep bomb to shave the 11-point deficit to single digits with 15:17 to go. Minutes later, Mitchell again pasted a deep three, then stole the subsequent inbound pass, and found Larry Davis, who splashed another three-point bucket from the left corner.
In a matter of fourteen seconds, a ten-point deficit was cut to four, and the battle was on.
“I’m just out there fightin’,” Mitchell said. “If you leave me open, I’ma stick it. I saw my boy LD in the corner and knew I had to get the rock to him, because he can stick it too. DaJuan Summers cain’t hold me! Representin' the 9-5-4 son!”
Back and forth it went, as both teams dug in defensively down the stretch. With two minutes left in regulation, the Bearcats found themselves trailing by five to the desperate Hoyas, a team ranked in the Top 10 just a month ago, but now fighting for an NCAA bid. Vaughn then got his man in the air and calmly popped a fifteen footer to cut the deficit to three.
Then, after a DaJuan Summers turnover, Mitchell again made his presence felt. Sprinting hard off a baseline screen, the sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale swished the sh*t out of a catch-and-shoot left-wing three-pointer to tie the game at 59!
The Bearcats would then go on to win in overtime, holding the Hoyas without a field goal for the entire period. Unbelievable. F***in' unbelievable.
What a difference a month makes. I wrote an article following the Providence loss a few weeks ago questioning the cajones of these Bearcats. At the time, it appeared that they weren’t quite big enough...yet.
After the win on Saturday in D.C. though, nobody should be questioning this team’s heart…or balls. That was an incredible victory, and no matter what happens the rest of this season, Bearcat fans everywhere can be proud of our boys.
Next up: Wed, Feb 11, vs. St John’s (12-10, 3-7)
-- 4:30 PST, ESPN360
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