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

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