Cincinnati-St. John's: Bearcats Gift Wrap Win for Red Storm

What was that?  What the **** was that?

The Cincinnati Bearcats, in the midst of a two-game Big East losing streak, put forth an embarrassing, horrendous, pitiful, Bengals-like non-effort in Madison Square Garden last night.  Previously 0-3 in conference play, St. John's accepted the gift and beat UC 52-50 inside the Mecca of Basketball.

Cincinnati (11-6, 2-3 Big East) turned the ball over 21 times.  Twenty-one turnovers.  I don't care if you're playing Roseanne Barr State, if you commit 21 turnovers on the road, you ain't winning the game. 

The worst part about the lackluster, possession-trashing effort was that the Red Storm managed only seven steals.  That means that nearly every turnover was unforced and horrifically puke-inducing. 

I've been trying my best to stay positive this season, chalking up narrow losses to inexperience and circumstance.  But you know what?  After the game last night, it is apparent to me that this Bearcat team, as a whole, has no balls.

"What's the matter, McFly?  You got no scrote?"

This team plays scared down the stretch.  Scared, and well, to put it bluntly, stupid.  There is no other explanation needed. 

Last night, UC miraculously held a 50-47 advantage with 30 seconds to go, with the ball.  Head coach Mick Cronin inexplicably calls two timeouts on the same possession.  No explicability available for that decision. 

Then on a broken inbounds play, UC has a shot blocked.  A fast break ensues for St. John's with a foul on UC.  The Red Storm player hits one-of-two, making it 50-48 with UC on top with 14 seconds left.  Then, on the inbound, UC, for some unknown reason, throws a home run pass into double coverage, which gets intercepted by St. John's.  Foul on UC on the resulting break.

St. John's makes both, 50-50.  Eight seconds to go, UC throws away the inbounds pass!  St. John's hits two free throws.  Un-f*****'-believable. 

Then, Deonta Vaughn gets a clean look at a game-winning three, and he bricks the mule s*** out of it.  UC ends the game 0-12 from three-point range (none were even close) with 21 turnovers.  Beautiful.

UC wants to get back to the NCAA Tournament this season.  I'll leave you with one question.  Do the Bearcats look like a tournament team?

If you're out of syrup of ipecac, here's the box score

Next up: vs. Notre Dame, Saturday 1:00 PST ESPNU