The Cincinnati Bearcats are officially cursed. If the buzzer beater against Butler, failing to close out Iowa State and SMU, and the double overtime loss to Temple didn’t prove it, last night certainly did.
I can’t even begin to understand what this team did to deserve this much horrible luck. Did the horse Art Long punch cast some wicked horse curse on the program? Did Bob Huggins cut off the wrong voodoo witch doctor while speeding around Cincinnati on one of his maybe-maybe not drunken tirades? What could it possibly be?
At this point it’s explainable beyond the point of reason. There must be something supernatural working against the Bearcats right now and after the better part of the last 24 hours to process what happened last night, I’m convinced that’s the only rational explanation.
I mean, how is it possible that the same team can get killed by a three over and over again late in a game? Last night was even worse as Cincinnati actually owned the final possession following Isaiah Miles’ clutch trey with 11 seconds to play. Plus UC drew up the perfect play, posturing with Troy Caupain that he would take the final shot but at the last second he passed it to Octavius Ellis under the basket for an easy, game-tying dunk. But, in classic 2015-16 Bearcats fashion, the senior released the ball 0.1 seconds after the buzzer had sounded and the refs were forced to call it off.
And that’s how Cincinnati’s season of hell came to an end.
Hopefully with this season mercifully in the rear view mirror it will finally lift whatever curse has befallen this program. One can only hope that the dues UC paid over the last several months will result in them karmically winning something like 30 games and earn a trip to the Final Four next year. Who knows? These players and us fans have certainly earned it.
But that’s not to say some good didn’t come out of last night’s game. Jacob Evans had himself a coming out party, putting up a career high 26 points and absolutely carrying a team that was getting next to nothing from their typical scorers Troy Caupain and Gary Clark. It’s just yet another reminder that the young man (a true freshman!) will have a very bright future as a Bearcat.
Plus the resiliency this team has continued to show this season is unmatched. Despite Gary Clark and Octavius Ellis running on two legs between them and Shaq Thomas unable to play, UC fought tooth and nail to beat a very difficult Saint Joseph’s team. My heart goes out to the players who gave everything they could to keep the Bearcats alive in the NCAA Tournament but fell 0.1 seconds short.
If there’s one thing we can say about this team and program under Mick Cronin, it’s that they never give up no matter how dark things look. That’s something we as Bearcats fans should be extremely proud of.