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By Bill Koch
Go.BEARCATS.com Columnist
Beating the defending national champions is nice, but what really motivated the University of Cincinnati Bearcats when they took the floor Thursday night against Connecticut was the way they played against the Huskies on Jan. 10 in Hartford.
The Bearcats lost that game, 62-56, in a game they believe they gave away because of their sloppy play. They were determined that the rematch would be different.
"I took that game personal," said sophomore guard Troy Caupain. "It touched my insides when we lost the last time."
Caupain's insides felt just fine after the Bearcats retaliated with a 70-58 victory over the Huskies before a loud and supportive crowd of 11,092 at Fifth Third Arena, but he sported a knot on his head after absorbing a shot that forced him to return to the locker room for a few minutes in the second half. That didn't stop him from scoring a career-high 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
The victory improved UC's record to 15-5 overall, 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference and extended the Bearcats' winning streak to four games. UConn, fighting for its NCAA Tournament life, fell to 11-8, 4-3.
Caupain, who scored 16 of his points in the second half, wasn't the only UC player who felt he had a score to settle against UConn. Freshman forward Gary Clark was also eager to make up for his 2-point, 5-rebound performance in Hartford and responded with his second career double-double, scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds and four steals.
"I felt like I had to rebound the ball better than I did the first game," Clark said.
"I felt like I let my team down. I'm expected to do what I did tonight. I was really patient this time, really going to the glass offensively and making sure I was in the right position to score. At their place, I was rushing, worried about their shot-blocking. Tonight I took my time."
UC jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never trailed. Despite getting 22 points from guard Ryan Boatright, the top scorer in the league, they shot only 32.8 percent from the field. They committed 17 turnovers, 13 in the first half.
"When you hold a team to 32 percent shooting, you've got a pretty good chance to win," said associate head coach Larry Davis, who improved to 8-3 filling in for head coach Mick Cronin. "Every guy that played contributed. The team attitude was tremendous. (Octavius Ellis) got one shot but he could care less because we won the game. Our guys were ready to play tonight and they followed the game plan to a tee."
UC led by eight at halftime and was up, 39-30, when Caupain came up with a steal and was fouled by Rodney Purvis while making a transition layup. After the play, two more fouls were called, one on Caupain and one on Purvis. Caupain went to the locker room holding a towel to his head. He returned moments later.
After the smoke cleared and all the free throws had been attempted, UC had a 44-32 lead with 13:28 remaining. A 3-pointer by Farad Cobb increased the Bearcats' lead to 53-39 with 8:07 left, prompting UConn coach Kevin Ollie to call timeout.
Three treys by Boatright pulled the Huskies to within 10 with 4:26 left. Caupain was then called for two technical fouls after scoring with 2:24 remaining and was ejected with UC leading, 66-53. UConn got within eight on a Boatright layup with 1:35 left before the Bearcats put the game away.
"The first technical I understand," Caupain said, "but the second one I was talking to my teammates. It could have been the perception that the ref took."
Caupain said he didn't say anything to Purvis, but did give him "a little look."
"Troy played tremendous," Davis said, "except I wanted to choke him (over the technical fouls). When you're young, you have to go through learning a lot of things. In those situations, you can't say a word. He did the wrong thing. He knows the mistake he made. I don't expect him to ever do it again."
UC shot 48.9 percent from the field and made 5 of 11 from 3-point range. Jermaine Sanders scored 10 points with five rebounds to give UC three double-figure scorers. And with his 20 points, Caupain now averages 10.4 per game, finally giving the Bearcats a player with a double-figure scoring average.
"Our defense was bad," Ollie said. "We lost all of our principles."
That may be, but the Bearcats had a lot to do with making it look bad. They started the game playing with great intensity and with the crowd behind them, never let up.
"They were not happy about the loss up there," Davis said. "The way we lost, we felt like we did some things that made it easier for them to win. Tonight we were ready for some payback."
Cincinnati returns to Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, Feb. 7, when USF visits for an 8 p.m. game. For tickets, call 877-CATS-TIX or visit BearcatsBasketball.com.