How the Cincinnati Bearcats Earned a Lottery Ticket

 

After Cincinnati lost its top three scorers from last season, everyone knew the 2014-15 season was going to be a challenging year for the Bearcats. Just making the tournament after losing three starters, especially All-American Sean Kilpatrick (20.6 PPG), would be difficult. There were no McDonald’s All-Americans coming in to replace them — the highest-ranked incoming freshman was four-star Gary Clark, the No. 87 overall recruit according to Rivals. Also coming in was JUCO transfer Octavius Ellis (More on him later).

The young Bearcats adjusted well, starting the season 7-2 with a win over then-No. 19 San Diego State, but on December 20th their season changed in a major way: head coach Mick Cronin was diagnosed with an aneurysm that was revealed just hours before UC was set to host VCU. Dealing with the unexpected loss of their coach, the Bearcats lost by 21 points on their home floor. On January 5th, it was announced that Cronin would not coach for the remainder of the season while recovering from a non-life-threatening vascular condition known as arterial dissection.

Cronin has remained a part of the program during his absence from the sidelines. He still shows up to the basketball office to assist with day-to-day operations and offer guidance. He is still recruiting and fulfilling his weekly radio show responsibilities, but has stayed away from coaching in practices and games at the request of his doctors. The man trusted with coaching this young team, of which not much was ever expected of even before its coach was sidelined, is longtime Cronin assistant Larry Davis.

Under Davis, the Bearcats won 10 of their next 13 games after the VCU loss before hitting a wall and dropping three straight: to Temple, Tulane and crosstown-rival Xavier. The NCAA Tournament was very much in doubt at that point — you could have called it a longshot — but the Bearcats won their final five games of the regular season to secure a bid, which Cincinnati sports radio host Mo Egger called a lottery ticket with undefeated Kentucky looming.

But first the Bearcats had to get by Purdue, which proved to be far from easy. I told you I would talk more about Octavius Ellis. Well, back in 2012 he was suspended four games for his involvement in the Crosstown Throwdown with Xavier. He was later dismissed from the team after a separate incident. He rejoined the team this year after a JUCO stint and has led the team in scoring.

With 17:53 left in the second half, Ellis’ temper got the best of him again when he elbowed Purdue’s A.J. Hammons in the neck. Ellis, the Bearcats’ leading scorer, was ejected. Cincinnati has enough problems scoring at full strength — now its leading scorer was out with almost a half to go.

Then the Bearcats trailed by seven with 48.5 seconds to go… and you know the rest of the story (because you were angrily waiting even longer for the Kentucky game to start). An improbable 10-3 run forced OT, capped off by Troy Caupain’s driving layup at the buzzer. Caupain’s layup bounced and rolled around the rim before falling in, a la Patrick Sparks against Michigan State nearly ten years ago.

Thursday night’s game was a microcosm of the entire Bearcats’ season. There was adversity, they did stupid things to fall behind, time was running out… but in the end they prevailed. Their reward is that previously mentioned lottery ticket (h/t @MoEgger1530): a chance at making their mark on history against that despised undefeated team from across the river.

From Mo Egger’s blog post earlier this week:

A matchup with the Wildcats would be the equivalent of the basketball fan’s lottery ticket. If you lose, there’s no harm. No one will care. No one will hold it against them. They’ll likely be just another statistic on the way to 40-0, a footnote in history. But there is that chance, that 0.0000001% chance that fate, the basketball Gods, referees so inept that they allow UC to play with three extra players, all work in the Bearcats favor.

This team would go down in history. There’s be legit debates about whether a school can erect a statue of its Associate Head Basketball Coach. The players on this team would become legend. No second round victor would get as much run as this deeply flawed and often frustrating UC team.

And I would probably be kicked out of my family (Egger, a UC fan, lives in Northern Kentucky).

I know playing Cincinnati is not a big deal to most Kentucky fans, but as a Northern Kentuckian, I can attest that it’s huge for UC and it’s big for UK fans in this region. And despite what you may think after reading this, I don’t like UC. I’ve been known to call out its fans on Twitter. During the Bob Huggins era, living around UC fans was as bad as living around UofL fans (they have since mellowed).

However, I know a good story when I see one — and these Bearcats are a good story. The story ends tomorrow.