Bearcat Sports Page

Cincinnati’s last home game of the season came down to the final seconds, but they could not pull through in the end.  The Bearcats faced a strong Villanova team, who are ranked 9^th in the country and are in 2^nd place in the Big East Conference.  Unfortunately, they lost following 14-point run in the last six minutes after trailing by as many as 16 in the second half.  Guard, Lance Stephenson converted a 3-point play with seven seconds left in the game. This was followed by a Villanova turnover, which led to a 3 by Rashad Bishop, to make it a 2-point game.  Nova’s Scottie Reynolds hit both free throws after being fouled on the inbounds pass to secure the win for the Wildcats.

Bishop had the game high 19 points, followed by Vaughn’s 18, which included 4 from beyond the 3-point line.  Big man, Yancy Gates has improved his free throw shooting lately as he went 7-7 from the line in this one along with 4 offensive rebounds.  Villanova had a balanced offensive effort with six players in double-digits led by Reynolds, who had 17.  This is the last home game senior’s Vaughn and Toyloy would play at Cincinnati.  Vaughn was quoted by ESPN saying, “I thought I played pretty good. It’s a terrible way to end your career, at home with a loss. Nobody wants to lose on senior night. I’m proud of us as a team that we didn’t give up. We didn’t make shots, but we kept it going. We just missed some shots.”

The Bearcats look to positively close out their regular season on Saturday when they take on the Georgetown Hoyas at 12 p.m.

For more information visit www.gobearcats.com.

With another tough loss, this one in overtime, the Bearcats tournament chances look less and less promising. With powerhouses West Virginia and Villanova left on the schedule, winning out will be anything but easy. Unfortunately, to have a shot at the tournament, that’s what they need to do. Mick Cronin and Deonta Vaughn sound off on the prospects for the rest of the season.

The Bearcats hoped to continue their opening day success, but they could not get the offense on track.  The sequel to Friday’s 11-hit performance was a total of 8 hits over the next two games, without putting a single run on the board. “We got some good swings on the ball today, but we just couldn’t get anything going” said Head Coach Brian Cleary following UC’s 3-0 loss to Florida Atlantic in the second game of the three game series.

Senior Beach Brooks

The Owl’s Mike Gipson held the Cats to just 2 hits, on 7 innings of work, to pick up his team’s first win of the season.  Senior captain, Tyler Smith, gave up 3 earned runs in the first 2 innings which was all Gipson needed.  The Bearcat’s bullpen shutout the Owl offense the entire game following the second inning, but with only 3 hits, the Cats could not get close enough.  Senior Jamel Scott and Junior Chris Peters both had singles, while Junior Justin Riddle had a double.

Freshman Chris McElroy took the mound on Sunday’s conclusion to the series, but he would have similar early game struggles as Tyler Smith the previous day.  A 2-run home run by the Owls in the first inning ultimately set the tone for the Bearcat’s 9-0 defeat at the hands of FAU.  For the second time in two days the Bearcat’s bats were scoreless held to 5 singles by Senior Jamel Scott, Sophomore T.J. Jones, Junior Chris Peters, Senior Beach Brooks and Junior Justin Riddle.

The Bearcats have a 4 day break before returning to Florida Feb. 26-28 for the 2010 Big Ten/Big East Challenge.  The team begins the 3 day tournament Friday the 26th at 1:00p.m. against Penn State before facing Purdue on Saturday, and closing the competition with Ohio State on Sunday.  All the games are at 1:00 pm

Cincinnati opened up its season Friday Feb. 19 with a 5-3 victory over Florida Atlantic behind the 5 innings of 1-run-pitching by Junior Dan Jensen.  In his first career start, Jensen struck out 4, allowing only 3 hits.  The UC bullpen, backed by Senior Brian Garman and Junior Brian Sand, combined for 3 innings of shut out baseball, not allowing a single hit.  Senior Andrew Burkett extinguished the Owls 9th inning rally with the bases loaded to earn the save.

The Bearcat’s bats produced 11 hits, including 2-hit performances by Senior Kevin Johnson and Sophomore Cory Hough, who both had solo home runs on opening day.  Freshman Logan Jackson also turned in a 2-hit game in his first appearance in Red and Black.

Sophomore Cory Hough

Johnson’s home run with 2 outs in the second inning put the Bearcats on top, but FAU answered by tying the game at 1-1 in the fourth.  Cincinnati recaptured the lead in the fifth inning on an Owl throwing error, scoring Johnson with no outs, and an RBI ground out two batters later by Sophomore T.J. Jones, provided some breathing room at 3-1. In the eighth inning, Senior Jimmy Jacquot’s RBI  single and Cory Hough’s home run provided enough insurance to secure the 5-3 victory.

Head Coach Brian Cleary described the win saying “We got a great start from Dan [Jensen] and we had some timely hitting.”  With inclement weather and a lack of quality indoor facilities the Bearcats baseball team executed well without much on-field preparation.

photo from gobearcats.com

After being up by as many as 15, Connecticut’s full court trap forced some Cincinnati turnovers late in the 2^nd half to close the gap to single digits.  Deonta Vaughn’s 4 free throws in the last couple minutes were clutch to secure Cincinnati’s first road victory in over a month.

After being tied at the half, the Bearcats came out aggressive in the 2^nd to push to a double-digit lead.  Cincinnati’s offensive rebounding was big in this game, which totaled at 17.  The Bearcat’s leading scorer was Lance Stephenson at 14 points. In addition, Vaughn and Thomas each had 10 points, with Thomas also being the team’s rebound leader at 11.  Coach Mick Cronin said before the game that, “Rebounding and defense on the road are like your luggage, you need to bring them both to win.”  The Bearcats did just that as they out-rebounded the Huskies and limited their opponents shooting to under 35%.

Tune in as Cincinnati looks to win back-to-back road games Tuesday night as they take on the South Florida Bulls at 7 PM.

For a complete wrap up visit www.gobearcats.com

The college football season has now officially come to an end.   Last Saturday the Texas vs The Nation All Star Challenge was the last game.   This all star game was played in El Paso Texas and sponsored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.    Two Bearcats were representing UC as part of the Nation team.  Here’s an exclusive look at how Alex Daniels and Aaron Webster practiced, and played the game.

We wold like to thank our friends at KTSM in El Paso for helping us get the video.

During Saturdays swim meet against Wright State the crowd was entertained during an intermission by some members of the football team in an event called “Cat Splash”.  Take a look ….and enjoy!

Next week the Bearcat swim teams head to Pittsburgh for the Big East swim meet.  The meet starts Wednesday and wraps up over the weekend.   Both the mens and women’s teams are coming off strong performances in their final dual meet of the season against Wright State last Saturday at the Keating Aquatic Center on campus.   The Cats head into their final meet with confidence, lead by senior super swimmer Josh Schneider.  Against Wright State Schneider set a couple of records for the Keading Aquatic Center.  Here’s a look at the men’s 50 yard freestyle and the men’s 100 yard butterfly.

The entire Wright State meet can be seen here:  Click here

Bearcat Sports Page would like to thank Waycross Communications for their help in producing the meet last Saturday.

After taking a lead into the middle of the second half against 23-1 Syracuse, the Cincinnati Bearcats Men’s Basketball team suffered a second straight loss on Sunday, 74-51. However, players and coaches take away a lot of positives from the game and feel they are beginning to put the pieces in place to begin to make a run at the tournament.

The University of Cincinnati football program has added 22 more able bodies to the family and are really looking to move forward in the upcoming 2010 season. The UC coaching staff was successful in keeping 5 Cincinnati natives here in town (11 Ohioans altogether), thanks to Associate Head Coach/Defense Back Coordinator Kerry Coombs who remained with the program even after the departure of Brian Kelly. He plays a big role in keeping Cincinnati guys here at home. Overall the Bearcats have signed 11 defensive players, 7 offensive players, 1 kicker, 1 punter, and 2 athletes.

We shall see what Coach Butch Jones and his staff has brought to the Bearcat dinner table when it comes time for spring football, training camp, and finally the 2010 football season.