Cincinnati vs Georgetown: Is It Time for the Bearcats to Shop for Dancing Shoes?

Cincinnati's quest to an NCAA tournament bid is considerably close in reach. After a 58-46 victory against Georgetown Wednesday night, the school locked its first road win over a Top 25 team in seven years.

Yancy Gates had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the nation's capital, and the Bearcats held the No. 11 Hoyas to 25 percent from the field, including four field goals in the second half.

Georgetown's worst shooting performance in 15 seasons ended Cincinnati's 20-game road losing streak against ranked teams, and the Bearcats (22-6, 9-6) advanced into a tie for seventh in the Big East standings.

Seventh place in the Big East would give Cincinnati a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

Dion Dixon also had 17 points, Rashad Bishop added 12 and the Bearcats' cutthroat defense played exceptionally, holding the Hoyas to their worst shooting game since at least the 1996-97 season.

Georgetown (21-7, 10-6) lost its senior point guard Chris Wright with 15:54 remaining in the game to a broken hand. The injury could be a serious loss to the Hoyas' postseason expectations. Wright is second on the team behind Austin Freeman, averaging 13.1 points a contest.

However, with or without him, the Hoyas were hog-tied; a comeback was out of the question. 

"I just thought we were out of sync...I thought we went through a phase where we started feeling sorry for ourselves, which we don't need to do," said head coach John Thompson III.

Coming into the game, Georgetown was second in the nation in shooting percentage at 49.7.

They hadn't met Mick Cronin's defense yet.

The Bearcats entered the game leading the Big East in scoring defense, allowing 58.7 points per game, and holding Georgetown to 46 is only going to improve that statistic. The Hoyas shot 12-of-48 from the field, along with 5-of-23 from three-point range.

The Hoyas didn't make a shot coming out of a halftime tie until there was 9:31 remaining. By then, the Bearcats had opened with a 43-28 lead.

Gates monstered his way into a three-point play that put the Bearcats ahead 48-35 with 4:43 left. A quick five-point spurt gave the Hoyas some life, but Bishop banked in a three-pointer to restore the double-digit lead with 3:13 to play. This seemed to have sucked the remaining breath out of the Georgetown players, and the game ended with the Bearcats on top, 58-46.

Cincinnati will look to continue improving its tournament resume on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 12:00 P.M. ET when Jim Calhoun's Connecticut Huskies travel to the Bearcats Fifth Third Arena.