TicketsAfter jumping out to an early 16-1 lead, UC suffered a very humbling loss at the hands of the Butler Bulldogs tonight.
The story was similar to one we've seen several times now this season. The Bearcats showed signs of life on offense, but ultimately handed Butler the game by committing 18 turnovers.
The Bulldogs capitalized off those turnovers, turning them into 19 points.
This loss will hurt the Bearcats more because they easily could have walked away tonight with a win. After dominating for most of the first half, pushing their lead to as many as 15 points, in the last minute they let Butler sneak back to within six at 30-24.
"I was worried even in the first half," head coach Jamelle Elliott said. "I said to [assistant coach Mark Ehlen] on the bench, 'man, we just keep letting these guys hang around.'"
After holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the first nine minutes of the game, UC had opportunities to go up by significantly more than 15 points. But, this team is still trying to figure out how to play with a lead.
"I'm going to show them the tape, the things we did when we were successful," Elliott said. "I have to reinforce to them and let them know that when we do x, y and z, we're able to be successful, and we're able to get leads. Now it's my job to make sure we sustain them."
After a quick burst to start the second, everything went cold for UC. The Bearcats shot only 22 percent from the floor in the second half.
Meanwhile, Butler took complete control of the game, hitting 59 percent of its field goals in period number two.
Contributing to this were the eight turnovers UC committed down the stretch. During the crucial moments where UC had an opportunity to regain control of the ballgame, the Bulldogs literally stole the game away with several key takeaways off of poorly executed passes by the Bearcats.
Depth issues: Also hurting Cincinnati, head coach Jamelle Elliott commented after the game that she doesn't feel confident going to the bench because players aren't earning minutes in practice. Cincinnati only got 26 minutes from the bench tonight.
"As a coach, you have to trust the players you put out on the floor," Elliott said. "We just have to continue to teach the players how to be winners. And not just for five or ten minutes in a game, but throughout the game, on a consistent basis. We're showing signs of that, but not enough."
Check out the box score here.
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