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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
ORLANDO - As far as University of Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin is concerned, the game was over - or should have been - before Connecticut's Jalen Adams launched the 70-foot shot just before time expired to tie the game at the end of the third overtime period.
Instead, the Bearcats fell to the Huskies, 104-97, in four overtimes in the quarterfinals of the American Championship Friday at the Amway Center despite a brilliant career-high 37-point performance by junior guard Troy Caupain. It's the third straight year that UConn has eliminated UC from the league tournament.
It appeared that UC would prevail when Kevin Johnson accepted a pass from Octavius Ellis after Ellis had secured a rebound of Caupain's missed 3-pointer and buried a three with 0.8 seconds left. But UConn's Daniel Hamilton made the inbounds pass to Adams, who took two steps and then launched a shot that banked in to tie the score at 88-88.
"I felt we won the game and the game was taken away from us," Cronin said. "In point-eight, you can't catch the ball, take two steps and then shoot it."
But that's exactly what the officiating crew of Joe Derosa, Ray Natili and Mark Schnur decided Adams did after reviewing the replay, much to Cronin's disbelief.
"You can't catch it, turn, bring it below your waste and then shoot it with enough force to shoot it in from 80 feet in 0.8," Cronin said. "The clock didn't start nearly in time. I've already watched it five times. It's unfortunate that it happened to my kids. If the replay would have been handled correctly, the game would have been over."
Given new life, the fifth-seeded Huskies outscored UC, 16-9, in the fourth overtime to advance to a semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed Temple on Saturday. No. 5 seed UC (22-10) will now wait to find out Sunday if it will play in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight year.
"I don't know why anybody would even ask us the question based on what we've accomplished this year," Cronin said.
Caupain, who was named first-team all-conference earlier in the week, was magnificent. In addition to his 37 points, he pulled down 10 rebounds with five assists, three steals and one blocked shot with no turnovers in 56 minutes.
"I just wanted to win it," Caupain said, "to put our team in the best position when I had the ball."
UC dominated early and led by 13 late in the first half. But the Huskies (22-10) controlled the second half and led by seven with 3:36 left only to see the Bearcats come back to tie on two Caupain free throws with 35 seconds remaining. Caupain drove the lane to try to win it at the end of regulation but his shot was no good, leaving the score at 62-62
The first overtime ended at 67-67 after Ellis made two free throws with 1:14 left to tie the score. UConn's Sterling Gibbs missed a 3-pointer with three seconds left that could have won the game for the Huskies. The second overtime ended at 75-75 after Adams scored the tying points on a layup with six seconds left
After Johnson made his big shot in the fourth overtime, the Bearcats did not pressure the inbounds pass from Hamilton, although Gary Clark did run toward Adams at the last second. In the blink of an eye, Johnson's elation turned to shock.
"It was up and down, like a positive to a negative," Johnson said. "It happened so fast that it changed quickly. We had to refocus on the fourth overtime. They made an incredible shot that kept the game going. I really don't know what to say about it honestly."
Adams said he was upset after Johnson's 3-pointer, "but the least I could do was get a shot up. Daniel passed me the ball and nobody was in front of me, so I shot the ball as quick as I could and watched it go in. And that was just amazing."
Said Johnson: "I feel like we celebrated a little too early. We should have pressed up and made sure we had the game sealed."
There were plenty of outstanding individual performances in a game loaded with big plays. Ellis and Clark both produced double-doubles, Ellis with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Clark with 12 and 12. Hamilton scored 32 to lead UConn, with Adams scoring 22.
The Huskies shot 43.9 percent from the field and made 22 of 24 foul shots to 25 of 34 for UC.
"Our defense wasn't what it needed to be," Cronin said. "We made a lot of mistakes we don't usually make defensively as the game went on. But always give the other team credit. They made some big-time plays."
The marathon contest was tied for the second longest game in UC history. The Bearcats also played a four-overtime game on Jan. 31, 1981, losing to Memphis, 89-85, at Riverfront Coliseum, and played a seven-overtime game on Dec. 21, 1981, winning at Bradley, 75-73.
As the game wore on, the Bearcats were playing on fumes. Shaq Thomas re-injured his groin and missed most of the second half. Jacob Evans fouled out with 1:45 left in the first overtime. In addition, Clark was playing on an sprained left ankle that he hurt in practice Thursday and Caupain was walking gingerly after the game with a sore lower back.
"We had guys playing injured," Cronin said. "We had guys making big-time plays and I was proud of them. They deserved better. That's why I'm so upset about what happened."
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