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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
GREENVILLE, N.C. - One of the comforting aspects of a University of Cincinnati NCAA Tournament resume burdened by five two-point losses is the absence of any damaging defeats to low-RPI teams.
But when the East Carolina Pirates dropped in 3-pointers as if they were shooting layups late in the second half Saturday at Minges Coliseum, that part of a profile that already has the Bearcats on the tournament bubble looked as if it might be slipping away. If it had, the Bearcats' NCAA hopes might have slipped away too.
ECU sliced UC's 16-point lead to two with 5:33 left, invoking memories of last year when the Bearcats forfeited a substantial lead and were upset here. But this time they found the wherewithal to prevail when junior point guard Troy Caupain made a layup to spread the lead back to four and freshman forward Jacob Evans buried a 3-pointer that gave UC a 61-54 advantage with 3:15 to play.
The Bearcats, playing with only eight scholarship players, survived the Pirates' 3-point shooting onslaught with a 65-56 victory before 4,841 fans to improve their record to 21-8 overall, 11-5 in the American Athletic Conference. East Carolina (11-18, 3-13) has lost six of its last seven games.
Caupain led UC with a career-high 27 points to help compensate for the absence of guard Farad Cobb, who did not play due to a sprained left medial collateral ligament.
"That wasn't my mindset," Caupain said. "It's just how the game went. Coach (Mick Cronin) told me that they were going to back up off the top of their 2-3 (zone). I just wanted to step in and be able to shoot it. My shots fell early, which put me in a good mood early in the game. I locked in early. The basket was wide open."
Evans started in place of the injured Shaq Thomas, who is battling a groin injury, and contributed a career-high 18 points. Senior forward Octavius Ellis scored 10 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. He also blocked three shots.
The Pirates were determined to rely on their 3-point shooting to keep them in the game. And it worked. They repeatedly drove to the basket, but instead of looking to score inside, turned and searched for someone on the perimeter who might have an open look from long range with the UC defense collapsing in the paint. They found plenty of candidates in Caleb White, Prince Williams and Kentrell Barkley.
Williams, who scored 18 points to lead ECU, made four of nine from long range. Barkley who scored 14 points with 13 rebounds, made four of seven from beyond the arc. In the first half, seven of the Pirates' eight field goals were treys. And during their second-half comeback, six of their field goals came on 3-pointers. ECU was 13 for 29 from long range for the game compared with UC's 8 for 20.
"When a team's playing with a nothing-to-lose mentality, just letting if fly from behind the line, its tough to deal with," Cronin said. "We did as good as we could covering the line."
The Bearcats were the hot-shooting team early in the game when they made their first four shots - three beyond the arc - and sprinted to an 11-3 lead. ECU then started to connect from long range and took a 15-13 lead. UC responded with an 11-0 run. Eight of those points were scored in succession by Evans, who has averaged 15.0 points in his last four games.
"I thought our guys really came ready to play today," Cronin said. "Obviously we had a lot of makeshift stuff going on with no Farad and no Shaq. We were prepared to play small. Also we were prepared to play Gary (Clark) at the three, but that never materialized because East Carolina was committed to shooting the 3-point shot all day. So we had to stay with the small lineup to try to be able to cover them."
Clark, playing about 50 minutes from his hometown of Clay, North Carolina, had a sub-standard game. He scored only four points on 2-of-10 shooting and pulled down three rebounds with a large contingent of family and friends cheering him on behind the UC bench. Kevin Johnson, starting in place of Cobb, also had a tough day, scoring two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
Fortunately for UC, Caupain and Evans were there when the Bearcats needed them. The clutch 3-pointer by Evans - on an assist from Caupain - was just another example of the hard-nosed freshman being willing to deliver in crucial situations.
"I knew when Troy caught it, the guy that was guarding me ran towards him," Evans said. "Troy pumped it, made the extra pass, and I went into it with confidence and knocked it down.
"Every time I shoot I honestly believe it's going in. So when you play like that you don't have to really have any fear. I'm used to taking big shots. I've made some shots and I've missed some shots, but you just live and you learn. You've got to keep taking them. You've got to move on to the next one."
Because of East Carolina's poor record and low standing in the RPI, the UC win is not likely to enhance the Bearcats' resume, but a loss could have been devastating.
"Their record doesn't show how talented they are, but that could be a tough loss if we was to lose here again," Caupain said, "just like last year when we lost to them and it put us in a bind when we were really fighting for tournament play. That was our motivation throughout the week, to come in here and redeem ourselves from las year and what's on the table for us if we come down here and don't play and we lose this game."
The Bearcats have two regular-season games remaining - one at Houston next Thursday and one at home vs. SMU next Sunday - before they head to Orlando for the AAC tournament, which begins March 10. After Saturday's victory, UC was tied with Tulsa for third place in the league, one loss behind first-place Temple and SMU.
Cronin was unable to predict when Cobb and Thomas might return.
"Farad's got a sprain so it's up to Farad when he plays," Cronin said. "Structurally he's fine. Shaq's got the groin. That's probably the bigger concern because a groin is tough to deal with when you jump around the way Shaq jumps around. He thought he was fine. He came back to practice on Wednesday, he's running around and he looks fine. About 10 minutes in, he's rolling on the ground. I feel bad for him."
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