TicketsBearcats Stage Greatest Comeback in Fifth Third Arena History
Knock off Northern Iowa in double OT
Contact: Brian Teter
11/24/2004
Jihad Muhammad scored a career-high 23 points, helping to rally the Bearcats to a 76-70 double-overtime win against Northen Iowa |
CINCINNATI, Ohio ? The University of Cincinnati men?s basketball team will have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving after staging the greatest comeback ever in the 16-year history of Fifth Third Arena as the Bearcats rallied from 18 points down in the final 10 minutes and went on to a thrilling 76-70 double overtime win over Northern Iowa before a crowd of 10,177.
UC improved to 2-0 on the season with the win, while UNI, the defending Missouri Valley Conference tournament champion, dropped to 1-1. The Bearcats previous all-time best comeback at Fifth Third Arena was on Feb. 28, 1998 when UC trailed Saint Louis by 18 points in the first half, before coming all the way back for a 61-58 win.
?Wow. We were all just thinking ?wow? in our heads,? said UC senior forward Jason Maxiell. ?Coach (Bob) Huggins told us before the game that they could beat us. We had to strap up and lock up and do what we had to do to get the win.?
The Bearcats trailed 48-30 with 10:03 remaining in the game before beginning the huge comeback. Junior guard Jihad Muhammad keyed the rally, scoring nine of his game-high 23 points in the final 2:50 to get the Bearcats even at 56 at the end of regulation. Muhammad?s four-point play with 1:23 tied the game 56-56 and forced overtime.
In the first overtime, UC raced to a 60-56 lead, however, Northern Iowa came back to tie it up at 62-62 with 1:46 remaining on a jumper by John Little. After a pair of Maxiell free throws gave the Bearcats a 64-62 lead, Chris Foster tied the game again at 64-all with a driving layup with 34 seconds remaining. UC junior forward Armein Kirkland missed a three-pointer with :04 remaining to send the game into a second overtime.
In the second OT, the Bearcats never trailed as Muhammad and Maxiell combined for nine points and UC had escaped with the victory. Maxiell notched the 15th double-double of his career with 21 points and 15 rebounds, which tied a career high. He also had five blocks and a pair of steals. Junior forward Eric Hicks also tallied a double-double for the Bearcats with 16 points and 13 boards to go along with three blocked shots. Hicks now has four career double-doubles.
Huggins, despite being unhappy with the poor UC shooting, knows what he has in Muhammad. ?His reputation coming in was that he was not afraid to take big shots and make big shots,? Huggins said. ?We need him to score the ball for us, and I know he will start shooting better, but I?m sure he took some shots he shouldn?t have.?
UC struggled making shots all night, hitting just 29 percent for the game, the lowest field goal shooting for a Bearcat team since a 24.6 percent effort at Memphis in 2003. UC also hit just 18 percent (5-28) of its three-point field goal attempts. On the positive side, the Bearcats out-rebounded UNI, 55-45, which included 26 boards.
?I?m proud of my guys. They played their hearts out,? said Panthers head coach Greg McDermott. ?This is a difficult place to play as we all know. We?ll evaluate it and we will learn from it.?
UNI, which led 34-22 at the half, used a 10-4 run in the first 5:14 of the second half to grab its first 18-point bulge at 44-26 and looked to be in command midway through the second half after a dunk by Eric Coleman gave the Panthers a 48-30 lead with under 12 minutes to play.
?We missed 60 shots. I cannot ever remember a team missing 60 shots. We couldn?t make shots and we didn?t help ourselves on defense, especially in the first half,? Huggins said. ?They are a well-coached team and they run good stuff. They?re good, and in all honesty, they probably deserved to win the game.?
The Bearcats return to action on Saturday, Nov. 27 in Indianapolis at the John Wooden Tradition against Purdue. Game time is 3:30 p.m. EST at Conseco Fieldhouse.
GAME NOTES
-The double overtime win over Northern Iowa was the first-ever double OT game in the history of Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats are now 6-4 in two-OT contests.
-UC?s last double overtime game was a 105-101 loss to UCLA in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, and the Bearcats last double overtime win was on Feb. 13, 1994 at Marquette (89-82).
-UC is now 42-41 all-time in overtime games. The Bearcats last OT game was last February in Fifth Third Arena, a 66-61 win over No. 10 Louisville.
-James White tied a career-high with nine rebounds.