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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
AMES, Iowa - Down by one point in overtime with less than 30 seconds to play, there was only one thing on Jacob Evans' mind as he was being guarded by Iowa State's Darrell Bowie - find a way to get to the free throw line.
Evans is only a sophomore, but already he's wise in the ways of basketball. Sure enough he induced Bowie into doing exactly what he wanted him to do. He drew the foul with 20.1 seconds left in overtime, putting the finishing touches on his maneuver with a loud grunt to make sure the officials were convinced he had drawn contact.
"I knew he wasn't going to let me get a jump shot," Evans said. "I was trying to bait him to try to create some space so he could move his feet closer to me so I could attack his hip. Coach is always getting on me about attacking his hip so I can get fouled. I put a little acting into it, but that goes with trying to be an elite player, trying to bait the ref into getting that late-game foul."
After an Iowa State timeout, with the Cyclones' student section screaming and waving at him behind the basket, Evans calmly dropped in both free throws to give the University of Cincinnati Bearcats a gritty 55-54 victory over No. 19 Iowa State on Thursday night before 14,384 fans at Hilton Coliseum.
The UC win snapped Iowa State's 37-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents, the third-longest such streak in the country.
In a game that featured nine ties and 16 lead changes, the Bearcats possessed not only the character and determination to find a way to win but the intelligence to make the right plays with the game on the line, including Kevin Johnson's defensive work in the final 20 seconds.
"We're up one with 20 seconds left in overtime and he denies Monte Morris the ball," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "They've got the best point guard in the country and he never touches the ball. That's a credit to Kevin Johnson. He understood I'm not gonna let this guy get the ball and make a play."
Instead it was Naz Mitrou-Long who was forced to launch an errant 3-point shot, followed by a mad scramble on the floor for the ball as time expired. At the request of Iowa State coach Steve Prohm, the officials paused to check the replay to make sure there was no time left on the clock only to confirm what they had seen with the naked eye. The game was over.
UC (6-1) was led by Kyle Washington who scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Gary Clark also produced a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson scored 11 points and Evans extended his double-figure scoring streak to eight straight games with 11.
Senior point guard Troy Caupain continued to struggle with his shooting, making two of 11 shots overall and zero-for-six from 3-point range, but he snared 10 rebounds and scored seven points to become the 50th member of UC's 1,000-point club. Big 12-member Iowa State (5-2) was led by Morris' 15 points.
The Bearcats overcame a four-point deficit with 1:37 left in regulation and a 3-point deficit with 2:29 left in overtime. They sent the game into overtime on Clark's 10-foot jump shot with four seconds left to tie the score at 50-50.
"Coach would have killed me if I wouldn't have taken it," Clark said. "He's always telling me to play with confidence. "
Naturally, Cronin was happy to see Clark's shot, but he was just as pleased with the offensive sequence that led to it and later with Evans' savvy in drawing the crucial foul.
"You've got the game on the line, and Jacob's got the basketball acumen to know that it's time to get fouled instead of shoot a jump shot," Cronin said. "Once we got him the ball and gave him space he knew he was trying to get fouled. He's way ahead of his years. He's gonna be a great player the more he continues to develop.
"We try to teach guys you've got to go at the guy's hip. You can't leave space and you've got to put a foul on the guy. The guy's trying to be physical with you, so you've got to put a foul on him because if you don't, you let him control the possession and you're gonna end up with a bad shot, a contested shot."
For the UC players who suffered through so many late-game losses last year, the win over Iowa State provided an early-season measure of satisfaction, not to mention confidence, moving forward, especially on the road. And they were enjoying every moment of it as they prepared to board the bus for the ride back to the Des Moines airport and the flight back to Cincinnati.
"As a basketball player, you live for games like that," Clark said. "With the Bearcats, everybody knows when we come into their arena, they know what to expect because we play well on the road and at home. We're all together, to the five on the court, to everybody on the bench, to Coach. It just feels good that everyone here is against you and we're all together. It just feels so good."
Both teams played outstanding defense. The Bearcats shot only 35.5 percent and made just 3 of 21 from long range, but held the high-powered Iowa State offense to 36.7 shooting and 35 points below its season average of 88.8 points per game.
If UC gets past Bowling Green on Sunday night at Fifth Third Arena, it will stand a good chance of moving back into the Top 25. More important are the long-term implications of earning a quality road win that will impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee in March. As Cronin said, "You only get so many chances in games like this on a national stage."
The victory was also crucial from a psychological standpoint.
"These guys needed this," Cronin said. "The way their season ended last year, with the wild shots and the things they had to go through, you worry as a coach, is it wearing them down? Sooner or later they need to be celebrating in the locker room instead of having crazy stuff happen constantly to them."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.