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| Audio: Clark's Go Ahead Score
By Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
HARTFORD - Gary Clark had made enough clutch shots at the end of games in high school that he wasn't overwhelmed when his number was called Thursday night against Connecticut.
"That's what I was thinking about," said the University of Cincinnati's sophomore forward. "I was talking to myself as coach drew the play up. I was telling myself, `This is what you're used to doing so get under control, take your time and just do what you've been doing all this time.' "
With 11 seconds left and the Bearcats trailing by two, Clark caught an inbounds pass from under the UC basket, turned left into the lane and scored as he was fouled by UConn's Shonn Miller. Then he converted the free throw that gave the Bearcats a 58-57 victory over the Huskies before 13,242 fans at XL Center.
After Clark's three-point play, UConn coach Kevin Ollie called timeout with 10 seconds left and set up a play for Sterling Gibbs, who dribbled into the lane but missed his shot. Miller rebounded but his follow shot was also no good. After a scramble under the basket, the ball found its way to Jalen Adams, who heaved a 3-point shot toward the basket with one second to go. The shot was way off the mark as time expired.
UC (16-6 overall, 6-3 in the American Athletic Conference) moved into second place in the league with its fifth win in its last six games and took a giant step toward making the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight year. UConn (14-6, 5-3) had won four of its previous five games and nine of its last 11.
After going six minutes and 16 seconds without scoring, the Bearcats trailed, 57-53, with 1:44 to play following an Adams layup, but scored the last five points of the game to claim the victory.
Jacob Evans broke the UC scoring drought with a steal and a breakaway layup with one minute left. After two missed shots by UConn, Evans seized the rebound with 27 seconds to play and UC coach Mick Cronin called timeout.
Troy Caupain drove the lane looking for a foul, but the ball was slapped away out of bounds with 15 seconds left. Cronin then called another timeout.
"Initially (the play) was for Troy and they got a strip on that," Cronin said. "We had it cleared out for him. Then I figured let me get a bigger guy in there. Also, I wanted to use Troy for a decoy and then Gary could go attack the rim. A bigger guy's got a better chance to get it up on the rim with Tay (Ellis) and Jacob rebounding on the weak side. Gary made me look really good."
The final play was designed for Clark to go right, but he improvised.
"I had just caused a turnover earlier in the first half where they played me to my weak hand," Clark said, "so when I caught it I tried to jab and go to my left and just tried to finish strong."
Clark finished with 13 points to tie Farad Cob for UC scoring honors. But he had made only three of his six free throws when he stepped to the line to attempt what became the game-winning free throw. He told himself "just to calm down, remember my technique, and I just knocked down the free throw."
He said he had no memory of Miller's foul. "I was so locked in, I don't even remember. I was just trying to put it on the rim."
The game was a typical UC-UConn struggle, extremely physical and low-scoring. UC led by as many as six points early in the game and UConn led by seven with 16:43 to go. But for most of the game whoever had the lead was in front by no more than two or three points. The game was so close that UC led for 17:09, UConn for 17:01. There were six ties and 12 lead changes.
The difference in the second half was UC's defense. The Bearcats trailed, 36-31, at halftime largely because Gibbs, who led UConn with 14 points, made three treys late in the half. But in the second half UC allowed only 21 points and held the Huskies to 28.1 percent shooting.
"In the first half, we lost Sterling three times," Cronin said. "They've got one guy that's shooting a good percentage from three and we lost him three times in a row. It's bad enough to lose him once. That, and we let them get in transition way too much.
"I told the guys at halftime that we'll win the game if we don't let Sterling catch and shoot and we get back in transition. We've got enough talent to win."
For a UC team that has lost four games this season by two points - one in double-overtime - the victory over UConn provided both a sigh of relief and a measure of vindication.
"That was huge to finally come out on the winning side of that," Cobb said. "We've been in that situation a lot of times this year and it just gave us confidence being in that situation so many times. I think that's what helped us. When we got to the huddle all of us were like we've been here before and we know how to play in these type of situations. We just never panicked."
That's not to say they weren't aware of all those two-point losses they have endured.
"That's always in the back of your head," Cobb said, "but we were like we've got to pull this one out by any means necessary."
THOMAS HURT: UC senior forward Shaq Thomas left the game with 17:25 left in the second half after hurting his right ankle and foot in a scrum for a loose ball. He did not return. Thomas was wearing a protective boot after the game. The extent of the injury was not immediately known pending an X-ray and MRI. He was replaced by Evans, who scored seven points with rebounds and three blocked shots in 23 minutes.
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years -- 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer -- before joining the staff of Go.Bearcats.com in January, 2015. He has written a new book, a memoir titled, "I Can't Believe I Got Paid For This." The book is available on-line only at CreateSpace and Amazon.com