Overall 2010 season

The overall 2010 season had many ups and downs. It started out very successful with beating Vanderbilt and Maryland in the Maui Invitational. This had many Bearcat fans excited. They started the season off on the right foot. But that came crashing down when they got to the Big East play. The Bearcats had some impressive wins in the Big East by beating Uconn twice and winning three games in the Big East. The Bearcats just had to many losses where they should have won to make it to the Dance. They lost a lot of games to the bottom of the league. You cannot do that in the Big East and have a chance at the post season. But as an overall season I feel that the Bearcats have sent the program in the right direction. So hopefully the Bearcats can build on their successful season they had last year and move in the right direction towards the NCAA tournament.

Trying to get back to the NCAA Tournament

The Cincinnati Bearcats have not been to the NCAA tournament since 2005. The Bearcats have to set this goal as a high priority in this upcoming season. This will take hard work and dedication. The Bearcat players are going to have to do more than just show up this season. They play in the toughest conference in Basketball. So being in the Big East is a good thing for them, but also a bad thing. It is a good thing because it gives them a level of competition that no one else faces in the nation. It is a bad thing for the same exact reason. They can lose to the worst team by ten or beat the best team by 10. So the Bearcats have a lot of work to do this off season. If everything goes right for them then they will be participating in the BIG DANCE!!!

Final Big East Standings

After a hard fought season the University of Cincinnati finished eleventh out of sixteen teams. This is not what the Bearcats were hoping for in the beginning of the season. They were really hoping to finish in the top 5 so they could make the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years. The Bearcats were only two games away from finishing in the top 10 of the league. It may not seem like a big step for the program but it was a huge missed opportunity. If they could have finished in the top 10 of the league it would have been a huge confidence booster for the program. It definitely would have been a huge step in the right direction for the program. Now they will just have to fight even harder for next year to finish in the top 5 of the Big East Conference.

Bearcats 2011 Returners

The University of Cincinnati only has two seniors graduating this year. With Deonta Vaughn and Steve Toyloy leaving the Bearcats have a lot of players coming back. Also leaving is freshman guard Lance Stephenson. Coming back for the Bearcats are a lot of good players. Including Larry Davis, Dion Dixon, and Yancy Gates. These will be the three players that coach Mick Cronin will look to build his team around. Also Cashmere Wright is coming back, this is good for the Bearcats because he ended the year playing very well. With these main players coming back, the Bearcats look to build a successful and positive program.

Sad day for Bearcat Fans

In a previous post I said that Lance Stephenson would be staying at Cincinnati after his freshman year. I am disappointed to say that Lance will forgo his Cincinnati career and attend the NBA draft. Lance will hire an agent and will be eligible for the NBA draft on June 24th. The last Bearcat taken in the draft was James White. This is a big loss for the Bearcats for the upcoming season. Lance was named defensive player of the year for the team and was chosen as the Big East Rookie of the year. He would have been a key part to the Bearcats team in the 2011 season. Mick Cronin is going to have to go back to the drawing board and put his team together without one of his key pieces.

End of the year Awards for Bearcats

At the end of they year banquet several Bearcats received awards. Deonta Vaughn was the front runner winning three awards at the end of the year banquet. He took home the Oscar Robertson award for the third straight year. He was also awarded the free-trow-percentage and assist awards. The Oscar award is about on and off court accomplishments. Yancy Gates took home the rebounding award. This is the second year straight that he has won this award. This is a good confidence booster for Yancy Gates in the upcoming year. Lance Stephenson won the team's defensive award. The awards given out are a great honor to the players and they should be very excited with their awards.

Vaughn Invited to All-Star Game

Senior Deonta Vaughn has been invited to the 2010 Reese's All Star Game. The game is being held at Lucas Oil Stadium. This is also where the final four is held. This is especially good for Deonta because his hometown is Indianapolis. The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) is the association that chooses the senior players to play in the game. This will be Deonta Vaughn's final game as a college basketball player. He is finishing his excellent career at the University of Cincinnati. Vaughn was first in assists, three pointers made, and minutes played. He was also third overall in points scored.

Bad way to end the season

The Bearcats played the Dayton Flyers in the second round of the NIT. The got out to an early lead when Jaquan Parker hit a three to put the Bearcats up 8-4. This was the last lead the Bearcats would have throughout the game. The Flyers were shooting the ball extremely well. They hit 9 three pointers in the first half. At one time they led by 17 in the first half. The Bearcats did fight back though, riding the hot hand of Deonta Vaughn. He scored 11 points at the end of the first half bringing the Bearcats back within five at halftime. The second half started out very physical, as you would expect because these teams are so close to each other. The Bearcats cut the lead to one. But that was as close as they would get. The Flyers were just too much for the Bearcats to handle. The final score was 81-66. Knocking the Bearcats out of the tournament and ending their season. The Bearcats say goodbye to graduating seniors Deonta Vaughn and Steve Toyloy. With a lot of people coming back next year the fans should be excited for a good season.

First Round NIT Weber St.

This was a dominating performance from the Bearcats. They were ahead the entire game. The Bearcats basically destroyed this Weber St. team. The Bearcats had a sixteen point lead and they knew they had the game in their hands. So they started playing laxidasical. Weber St. Fought back and brought it to a eight point game. But in the end the Bearcats had enough determination to pull off the first round win. They will play Dayton in the second round of the tournament.

The shot Heard Round the World

It took a buzzer beater shot to end the Bearcats run in the Big East tournament. The Bearcats Big East tournament ended when De'sean Butler hit a buzzer beater with no time left on the clock to beat the Bearcats. UC played extremely hard with a lot of heart against West Virginia. Throughout the whole game UC battled throughout the whole game and it was a battle. Back and forth the game went. West Virginia had a three point lead with thirty seconds to go. Until Lance Stephenson hit a three point shot to tie the game. The Bearcats got a stop with six seconds to go and had the ball. Vaughn threw the ball in to Dion Dixon who dropped it out of bounds. Giving the ball back to West Virginia with three seconds to go. The pass went to De'sean Butler and he hit a three with no time left on the clock. Dion Dixon collapsed to the ground and was crushed. The Big East Tournament and their NCAA tournament hopes are gone. Now it is the NIT the Bearcats will be looking to win.

2nd Round Louisville

Still fighting, it was not very pretty but it got the job done. The Bearcats were able to scratch and claw and fight back from down 13 at one point to beat Louisville 69-66. This is a huge win for the UC program. It gets them their second win of the Big East Tournament. And a very big matchup against West Virginia. The Bearcats played ok in the first half but did not have the heart it looked like to pull it out. Yancy Gates and Lance Stephenson led the Bearcats in the second half to a victory. Still Fighting!!!!

Big East Tournament Starts with Rutgers

Finally the Bearcats win a Big East Tournament game. The Bearcats defeated Rutgers 69-68 in the first round of the Big East Tournament. After being named the Big East Freshman of the year Lance Stephenson hit the game winning free throw with 1 second to go. This is a huge win with for the Bearcats. They lost their previous three tournament games. They are still alive.

Played Hard But Fell Short

The Bearcats new what was on the line for them when they played Villanova at home Tuesday night. It was their tournament lives that were on the line. They were tied at halftime 31-31 with the number 9 team in the nation. The Bearcats were struggling from the three point line only shooting 7-31. The Bearcats came out extremely flat in the second half and ended up going down by fifteen at one point. But there was no quit in the Bearcats. The Bearcats kept fighting and cut the lead to 2 points with 3.4 seconds left in the game. The comeback was due mostly to Jaquan Parker. A freshman from Virginia. He scored five straight points to make it a game again then Deonta Vaughn hit a three to get it even closer to five points with 7 seconds to go. On the insuing in bound Villanova traveled turning it over to the Bearcats. Then Rashad Bishop hit a three making it a two point game. They then fouled Scottie Reynolds who iced the game with two big free throws. The loss crushes the Bearcats. But they are not done yet. They have one game left at Georgetown and the Big East tournament. If they could win some games they could stir the NCAA tournament selection up.

Senior Night for the Cats

The bearcats will host Villanova on their senior night. Everyone is asked to wear red tonight to the game for the "Ring of Red" game. We will be watching Steve Toyloy and Deonta Vaughn play their last home games of their great careers. They have to come out and play with extreme passion and heart to beat this impressive Villanova team. Villanova has lost three of their last four, but don't let that fool you they will be ready to play. So I would just like to say congrats to Vaughn and Toyloy on great careers at the University of Cincinnati. Go Cats!

Finally Something Good For the Bearcats

Well heavily recruited Lance Stephenson was supposed to be one and done this year. Meaning he was only going to play his freshman year then he would go pro. But Lance isn't having the year that most of us were expecting. So Lance announced that he will be coming back next year for the UC Bearcats. This is great news for the Bearcats. Lance is a key contributor and with a year of experience under his belt and most of our team coming back next year the Bearcats could really be a team to make a run. So with all the bad news of the Bearcats losing lately, with Lance Stephenson staying for his Sophomore year Bearcat fans can still have hope of returning to dominance.

West Virginia Rallies to win

UC had the game in their hands. Playing in Morgan Town West Virginia against their once coach Bob Huggins. Mick Cronin is 2-0 against Bob since he left the Bearcats. The Bearcats were up ten points with about two minutes gone in the second half. But their offense went stagnant and they could not score. The biggest lead the Bearcats had was thirteen points. But on the back of Kevin Jones who scored 10 out of his 15 points in the second half the Mountaineers were able to come back and win. Bad loss for the Bearcats.

Still Alive

The bearcats pulled it off beating Depaul 74-69. They were up nine at half and pulled it off in the second half. This is a great win for the bearcats, keeping their hopes alive of making the NCAA tournament. Every game is a big game in the Big East. So it didn't help the bearcats but it didn't hurt them either. If they can some how win two out of their next three games and get some wins in the Big East tournament they will likely make the tournament. But that is going to have to take a lot out of Mick Cronin's squad. They are going to have to depend on Deonta Vaughn's senior leadership and experience. Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope they can pull it off.

Must Win Against Depaul

The bearcats play Depaul tonight. They have to win this game if it is by a point or by fifteen points. Depaul's record is 8-18. So the bearcats have to win this game if they want to have a shot at the NCAA tournament. This is not a game that is going to help the bearcats get in, but it is a game that will kill them if they lose. UC is by far the better team but they have lost four out of their last five. The game will be played at Fifth-Third Arena tonight so the bearcats will have the home court advantage. The game is tonight at seven o clock. So we will have to wait and see if the bearcats can keep their tournament hopes alive.

Tough Loss to Swallow

Today in front of a big crowd at fifth third arena the Bearcats lost by three in overtime. They lost to Marquette in one overtime. This could have been a big boost to UC's tournament resume. But instead it's just another loss in the Big East. I can say this though, the Bearcats battled from beginning to end. They were down nine at one point in the first have and surged back to lead by six at half. The second half was back and forth the whole game. The cats had the ball with 27 seconds left and took a bad three point shot from Rashad Bishop. Forcing it to overtime where they could not hang on. They were down three with seven seconds left and Deonta Vaughn could not make the big shot. They battled but fell short, still holding on for hopes of the tournament, they have to shock the world and win some big games.

Bad performance

In a must win situation the Bearcats could not pull it off. Down one at halftime to South Florida they came out the second half extremely flat. They started the second half off with five straight turnovers. Allowing the South Florida Bulls to pull away and never look back. Before the game the Bearcats were a team that was in the tournament. Now that they lost this game they are looking from the outside in. They are going to have to win at least two of their last three games. In which they play Georgetown, West Virgina, and Villanova. Good Luck Bearcats, we can only hope they shock the world.

Rough Week For the Cats

The Bearcats dropped two games last week. They lost to Notre Dame at Notre Dame. Which it was not even close, the Cats played terrible the whole game and never had a chance. After that terrible performance the followed it up by losing to Syracuse. This game they faught the whole game. They just struggled in their offense. They really could not get anything going offensivly becuase of their 2-3 defense. They had no answer. The Bearcats are looking to shake off a rough week and still have a shot at the NCAA tournament. They cant lose many more basketball games and still have a shot. Hopefully they can get their game together and string some wins together.

Cashmere Wright

Cashmere Wright was named Big East Rookie of the week for his performance against Providence. This is the third Rookie of the week honors that the bearcats have earned this year. Wright went 9-11 for 24 points. This lead all scorers in the game. Wright who sat out last year as freshman because of medical purposes has provided a spark for UC. He has a bright future with UC and all bearcat fan should be extremely excited.

Big Win for the Bearcats

January 30, 8:00 P.M. on a Saturday night. The Providence Fliars rolled into Fifth Third Arena expecting to beat the Bearcats. Providence was coming off a huge win against number 18 Connecticut. And the Cats were coming off of a disappointing loss to Louisville. The stands were filled up for the most part, I think it was because it was a night game on a Saturday. The game was back and forth throughout the entire first and second half. With the help of Cashmere Wright scoring a career high 24 points the Bearcats were able to win the game 92-88. This win puts the Bearcats at 14-7 overall and 5-4 in the Big East. Still hoping to get an NCAA tournament birth.

Tough day for the Cats in Louisville

It was not a really good day for Bearcat fans. They jumped out to a quick start in the game against Louisville. The largest lead they had was eleven. Lance Stephenson coming off an ankle injury was very hot in the beginning of the game. But was held in check after a hot start. The arena was sold out with Louisville fans as well as Cincinnati fans. At halftime it looked like the Cats could end up winning the game, only down by one at the break. Overall the Cats did not come out with a lot of energy in the second half and lost the rebounding battle. The final score was Louisville 68 Cincinnati 60. Ending a two game win streak and dropping UC to 13-7 overall and 4-4 in the Big East.


Here are some pictures from UC's website.
http://www.gobearcats.com/view.gal?id=62141

Bearcats Basketball

This is my first of many posts about UC basketball. I attended that game last night against South Florida. Overall it was an impressive game. It was back and forth the entire game. But the cats ended up pulling it out in the end and winning by eight points. Which was a really big win considering Lance Stephenson did not play because he rolled his ankle during a practice in the week. Also Yancy Gates only play minimal minutes because he was in foul trouble. The win took the cats to a 13-6 overall record and a 4-3 record in the Big East. The crowd was a little disappointing, which I expected because South Florida is not a very good team in the Big East.