Cincinnati-Toledo: The Rashad Bishop Show Leads Bearcats to 92-68 Win

Jux Berg — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:01:18 -0500

Rashad Bishop's 20-point, eight-board, five-assist night led the way for sweet-stroking Cincinnati in a 92-68 rout of the Toledo Rockets at Fifth Third Arena.

The game was much easier to watch than the opener on Monday night, a butt-ugly 69-62 win over Prairie View A&M.

Freshman sensation Lance Stephenson showed glimpses of smoothness, finishing with 16 points (three dunks, two bombs) and a beautiful dish through Toledo's 2-3 zone to Bishop on the block that caused Kris Volpenhein to swiftly and immediately rewind his DVR to get another look.

Cincinnati (2-0, 0-0) shot the ball extremely well tonight, finishing 52 percent from the field, thanks to a balanced attack and unselfish play. Two-time all-Big East guard Deonta Vaughn dished out nine assists, while the team finished with 27 assists on its 37 made field goals.

Toledo (0-2, 0-0) had a couple of creamers of its own. Freshman guards Stephen Albrecht and Jake Barnett combined to knock down 15 of 26 from the field, including eight out of 13 triples.

Sophomore monster Yancy Gates laid down a nice Dr. Dre-type beat tonight. The 6'9" power forward began by nutting two 15-footers, one from the baseline and one from the top of the key. He then scored twice in the post on turnaround jumpers, one over each shoulder.

Larry Davis then found Yancy cutting down the lane in the second half for a giant two-hander plus the foul, as the big man finished with 14 points (6-of-8 FG), three swats, and four assists.

All in all, you've got to think head coach Mick Cronin is happy with the first two games, in terms of teaching opportunities for his young team. UC struggled against PV A&M in the opener, mainly because of horrendous offense. Too much passing around the perimeter and chucking like George Costanza.

Tonight, the 'Cats got the ball inside, attacked the offensive glass, and shared the ball well.

Cronin can't, however, be happy with his team's defense. Toledo shot 48 percent from the field tonight, including a ridiculous 11-of-21 from long range.

That will need to be tightened up in a hurry, as Cronin's crew is now heading into the Maui Invitational next week. UC will take on dangerous Vanderbilt on Monday (2 PST, ESPN2) to begin the Hawaiian excursion. Go 'Cats.

Box score

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Cincinnati-Prairie View A&M: For Season Opener, It's Survive and Advance

Jux Berg — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:39:46 -0500

Juniors Larry Davis and Rashad Bishop kept colder-than-a-polar bear's-toenails-shooting Cincinnati afloat as the Bearcats clawed their way back from a 15-point deficit to Final Four contender Prairie View A&M, pulling away down the stretch for a less than comfortable 69-62 win at Fifth Third Arena.

The game had the feel of an 'upset alert' NCAA Tournament game between the No. 2 and No. 15 seeds in the first round. Through the first 15 minutes of the ballgame Cincinnati couldn't buy a shot (even a wide open dunk on the game's first play bricked off the back of the rim for Yancy Gates).

Meanwhile, Prairie View A&M (representing the SWAC), was busy draining three-pointers and taking care of the ball.

The game seemed to turn late in the first half when Lance Stephenson, the highly touted freshman from Brooklyn, scored a tough leaner in traffic to cut the lead down to six points. But, the Panthers banked in a jumper as the first half ended to take an eight-point lead into the locker room.

After a below average start to the second half, Mick finally found the defensive lineup he wanted with Deonta Vaughn, Larry Davis, Dion Dixon, Steve Toyloy, and Rashad Bishop, enabling the bricklaying Bearcats to hold A&M scoreless for over six minutes—until a gigantic, loud, "monstery" dunk-tip by Toyloy's replacement Yancy Gates, gave UC its first lead since 3-0.

From there, senior Deonta Vaughn (15 pts, third all-time on the UC scoring list) and redshirt freshman Cashmere Wright (12 pts) led the Cats to the seven-point win in the season opener.

As for Stephenson, it was a so-so college debut. "Born Ready" did manage a few highlights, but his outside shot was vanquishing paint from the rim. The freshman finished with just seven points on an icy 2-10 from the field.

All things considered, we'll take the win. It wasn't easy to watch, but we'll take it. Mick Cronin's squad was applying massive pain to the rims and backboards, but UC was able to battle through adversity and a 15-point deficit to grind out a win.

Mick has said many times that you've got to know how to win when the shots aren't falling if you're going to survive in the Big East. I'm sure on some level the fiery head coach is glad the game was a close one versus a meaningless blowout, where the defensive stops aren't as critical.

Game One. It's early. Let's get back to it Wednesday at home against Toledo. The game will be at 7:30 PM EST, 6:30 PM PST, and 4:30 PM PST (or whenever you crack open an ice-cold green Rainier Ale and flip on the DVR) on FSN Cincinnati , the Big East Network , or possibly online. Go 'Cats.

Box Score

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Bleacher Report - Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball

Cincinnati-Toledo: The Rashad Bishop Show Leads Bearcats to 92-68 Win

Cincinnati-Prairie View A&M: For Season Opener, It's Survive and Advance