Cincinnati Basketball: UC Swept By Temple As Bearcats Fail To Close Out Owls In Double Overtime

For what seems like the 19th time in as many games, the Cincinnati Bearcats failed to hold onto a close lead late the game and found themselves on the losing end, this time to the Temple Owls 67-65 in double overtime.

As we noted last week after UC was buzzer beat at then-#15 SMU last Thursday night, Cincinnati’s knack for collapsing late in games is a statistical anomaly. But apparently this team’s inability to hold onto late leads doesn’t just end with top 25 teams. It’s trickled down to opponents who hover around the .500 mark, like Temple. And maybe these collapses aren’t just outliers, their the norm.

This time against the Owls, it happened again. The Bearcats made a comeback to send the game to overtime, with Troy Caupain tying it up at 56 on a classic tip in. But once the extra periods started, UC twice found themselves unable to put Temple down for good.

In the first overtime, Cincinnati, by way of Troy yet again, went up 60-59 with 47 seconds to play. But the Bearcats allowed the Owls to grab three straight offensive rebounds on three misses shots with the sequence eventually leading to Octavius Ellis committing a foul. A Jaylen Bond free throw sent the game to a second overtime, which UC again blundered.

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A pair of Troy free throws pushed Cincinnati’s close lead to 65-62 with 1:58 to play. But, naturally, 22 seconds later Temple’s Devin Coleman tied the game at 65. Then for the next 1:35 the Bearcats simply couldn’t make a bucket. Troy missed once, turned it over another time, and Farad Cobb’s three pointer clanked off the rim. And that was that for UC, as they went down 67-65 yet again to the Owls, completing Temple’s sweep.

Oh, Cincinnati went 1-18 (6-freakin’-percent!) from beyond the arc today, by the way. UC only shot 37% from the field and 63% from the free throw line. They also committed 16 turnovers while only forced 11 themselves. Shaq Thomas, in 25 minutes of work, scored just two points and grabbed four rebounds.

Are any of those numbers indicative of a team that is primed for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament or even be slotted come Selection Sunday? At 13-6 with losses to every top 25 team they’ve faced and a pair to 9-7 Temple, they most certainly don’t.

Look, it’s possible Cincinnati turns this around. They could very well win the AAC Tournament and get hot at the right time. But with just a month and a half of the regular season left, the window of picking up quality wins, or any wins at all, is rapidly closing. The Bearcats’ margin for error is razor thin right now and unfortunately I’m not sure they have what it takes to rise to the challenge and push themselves into the Big Dance. Not after performances like today’s, that’s for sure.