The Cincinnati Bearcats lost a quadruple overtime thriller to UConn in their opening game of the 2016 AAC Tournament 104-97. And I do mean thriller.
Let’s get this out of the way first, though. Despite the loss, UC is very much still in the NCAA Tournament. UConn beating the Bearcats today moved them up into the top 50 in RPI, which means Cincinnati’s two wins over the Huskies earlier in the season are now top 50 wins to go along with those over SMU, VCU, and Tulsa. So while this loss didn’t necessarily help the Bearcats for Selection Sunday, it doesn’t hurt them either. Considering Cincinnati was in the 9-10 range before the AAC Tournament even began, they should be fine when the field is announced in a couple of days.
But to the actual game. Regardless of the outcome, this was one of the most exciting games in UC history. I mean, all you need to do is watch the two plays that caused the Bearcats to be 0.8 seconds away from winning it in the third overtime.
Yea, that’s pretty much how the four extra periods went; two AAC heavy weights going punch for punch without giving an inch until a slew of injuries and some questionable officiating calls swung the game in UConn’s favor.
To their credit, the Bearcats gave all they could in this game. Troy Caupain put up a heroic 37 points, shattering his career high 25 he set earlier this season. Shaq Thomas tried to gut out in the first half but had to be helped off floor due to his recurring groin injury. Farad Cobb and Octavius Ellis each suffered in game injuries that had them limping for most of the game. Then there’s Gary Clark, whose ankle injury he suffered in pre-tournament practices, kept him limited to basically playing defense, grabbing rebounds, and shooting free throws.
Really, it was only Troy Caupain and Kevin Johnson who were relatively healthy down the stretch.
So while this was a gut puncher, something Cincinnati’s suffered more than a few times this season, it won’t affect their NCAA Tournament hopes.