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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI - Every game is an adventure into the unknown for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. They can absorb a heartbreaking overtime loss at Tulsa on a Thursday night, take a late-night flight home, and somehow summon the resolve to knock off Connecticut less than 48 hours later.
And just like that, the same team that seemed headed for the NIT less than 48 hours ago is jumping on tables at Fifth Third Arena, basking in the adulation from the second sellout crowd of the season.
"When you win, you're great, you're back," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "When you lose, you're dead. You're only as good as your next game. You have to keep your guys focused on today. You can't worry about big pictures and what the prognosticators say about this and that. It's no way to live your life anyway.
The big picture looked a lot better Saturday after the Bearcats posted a 65-60 victory over UConn, giving them a sweep of their two regular-season games and adding a victory over a Top 50 RPI team to their NCAA Tournament resume.
UC jumped out to an 8-0 lead and allowed the Huskies to tie the score at 20-20, but managed to fend off every challenge they mounted. And there were plenty of them.
It wasn't until freshman forward Jacob Evans made a jump shot with the crowd chanting off the seconds remaining on the shot clock - which gave the Bearcats a 62-54 lead with 41 seconds left - that they were able to breathe easy.
"I looked up when I was at half-court and I saw the clock was at nine," Evans said. "Then I heard the crowd so I could really get into my move and get to my spot. I knew we wanted to spread them out. As soon as I saw that nine, Coach was like, 'Everybody get away,' so I was going to take the shot."
UC (20-8 overall, 10-5 in the American Athletic Conference) clinched its sixth straight 20-win season and the 35th in school history. UConn (19-8, 9-5) had won six of its previous seven games.
There was plenty of credit go to around for the Bearcats. Gary Clark recorded the seventh double-double of the season and the 10th of his career, with 13 points and 11 rebounds, prompting Troy Caupain to call him "a walking dub-dub." Evans added 13 points, Caupain scored 10 points with eight assists and only one turnover in 37 minutes, and Octavius Ellis pulled down 10 rebounds.
UC also received key contributions from its bench, getting eight points from Kevin Johnson and eight points with four rebounds from Coreontae DeBerry in 12 minutes. Jalen Adams led UConn with 19 points.
UC, which never trailed, used its fast start to further energize the crowd of 13,176, which was already pumped up when the game started.
"The crowd really helped us," Caupain said. "They got into it ASAP before tipoff. It wasn't just me that felt the jitters. I caught goose bumps when they were going, then we got off to a (good) start and they erupted. I think that's what really kept us in the game. When they had their run, they were still loud and when we came back, they got even loudere. So I want to give my game to the energy that the crowd brought."
The Bearcats led, 49-35, after a Clark basket with 8:38 left, but the Huskies scored eight points in a minute and 29 seconds to keep it close. UC opened the lead to seven only to see UConn get back to within three with 3:56 to play. Johnson then buried a trey for UC and Clark blocked an Adams shot as he was heading toward the basket for a layup.
Clark fell to the ground in pain after the block, landing hard on his butt, but Caupain, having already secured the ball, pulled him up with one arm and told him to get down the court.
"I knew he was hurt," Caupain said. "You could see it on his face. I needed to let him know that I feel your pain but we need you to play through this. You can get treatment after."
Clark obeyed. He got up and trotted down the court with the crowd chanting his name.
Ellis then tipped in a missed Clark shot to put UC ahead by eight with 2:51 to go. UConn trailed by four with 1:33 left, but Caupain made two free throws to make it 60-54, then after two missed shots by UConn, Evans delivered his big shot.
UC out-rebounded UConn, 40-30, and limited the Huskies to 37.3 percent shooting. The Bearcats committed only two turnovers in the second half after losing the ball eight times in the first.
"When you don't turn the ball over, it gives you a chance to get fouled," Cronin said. "When we take our time and get the ball inside and make teams react, it puts pressure on the defense. Our defensive effort today was awesome, especially our defensive rebounding. They missed 37 shots and only got nine offensive rebounds, and that's a team that plays really, really hard.
"Our defense is based on layups, no free throws, and find the 3-point shooter. When you hold a team to 16 points in the paint and seven free throws, that's a recipe that's won us a lot of games and sent us to a lot of NCAA tournaments."
The only down side to UC's win was another injury to senior forward Shaq Thomas, who played only eight minutes. Thomas has been battling injuries to his right foot and ankle but this time it was a groin injury that sent him to the bench. He first went down with 15:54 left in the first half, returned to start the second half, then left the game for good with 16:18 left.
UC has three regular-season games remaining, beginning next Saturday at East Carolina, followed by a March 3 game at Houston and the regular-season finale on March 6 against SMU at Fifth Third.
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