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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI - For nearly 28 minutes Thursday night the University of Cincinnati Bearcats seemed like they were trying to roll a boulder up a hill only to lose their grip and watch it slide back down.
Every thrust they made to get back into the game against Marshall was answered by the Thundering Herd, either with a 3-pointer or a driving layup.
Finally, with UC trailing by 11 with 12:36 left, the Bearcats began to make headway, ripping off 11 straight points to tie the score at 68-68. From that point, the game was a dogfight before the Bearcats found a way to win in overtime, 93-91, on Troy Caupain's basket with .7 seconds remaining.
It was easily the most entertaining game of the season for No. 24 UC, which improved to 10-2, and it came with 10,540 fans, the largest crowd of the season at Fifth Third Arena, basking in the glow of the stirring comeback.
But UC coach Mick Cronin made only passing reference to his team's resiliency in his post-game comments, preferring to focus on the mistakes that forced them to dig out of a 15-point hole in the first half and a 50-38 halftime deficit.
"We had a terrible attitude," Cronin said. "We were unprepared for the game, which obviously I failed to get my team ready to play. Somewhere I was looking for the banner that says we scored 119 the last game because our guys thought that we hung one. No matter what was said the last three days of practice it all fell on deaf ears and it showedd."
Marshall (7-5) made an uncanny 14 of 22 shots from 3-point range in the first half as it raced out to leads of 14-2 and and 19-4. Guard Stevie Browning, who led the Herd with 28 points, was especially devastating, making five of seven from long range on the way to a 21-point first half.
"I could see them getting frustrated because there were some of those shots that were contested," Browning said. "You could see that they didn't like that those shots were going in. That's one of those things that gets us going."
The Herd made only three of eight 3-point shots in the second half, but still finished with 17 of 30 for the game, setting a record for most 3-pointers in a game against a UC team, breaking the previous record of 15.
"It was one after another," said UC forward Gary Clark. "It was a lack of communication defensively. They came out ready. Coach was preaching to us how offensively talented these guys were. Any slight miscommunication, they found the open guy. In the second half, we really bunkered down and kept getting stops, not leaving guys wide open that can shoot and not giving them second chances."
Clark had a monster game, scoring a career-high 26 points on 12-of 15 shooting along with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots. Jacob Evans also had a big game with 25 points, all but four in the second half. And Caupain seized a career-high 12 rebounds, although he was 3-for-14 from the field and 1-for-5 from the free throw line.
The Bearcats outshot Marshall from the field, 50.7 percent to 43.7 percent, but made only 10 of 23 free throws while the Herd went 12-for-12.
UC didn't take its first lead until Tre Scott made one of two free throws to put the Bearcats ahead, 75-74, with 2:49 left in regulation, and never led by more than three. They trailed, 80-77, when Evans buried a three to tie the score with 11 seconds remaining in regulation. Jon Elmore's layup attempt with two seconds left was blocked by Scott to send the game into overtime.
With the score tied, 91-91, UC's Jarron Cumberland attempted a 3-point shot only to see the ball get wedged between the rim and backboard with 27 seconds left in overtime. Because of the alternate possession rule, the Bearcats got the ball out of bounds. They passed to Caupain, who dribbled outside to let the clock run down, then drove the lane looking for Clark, only to find him covered.
"It didn't look like a pass to throw," Caupain said, "so I just kept it in my hands. I tried to spin and just get it up in time. Unfortunately I missed the first one."
During a furious battle for the rebound, the ball was tapped back to Caupain in the lane. He caught it and calmly flipped in the game-winning shot with one second left.
"I was just there at the right time," Caupain said. "I just wanted to get it up and it fell."
Marshall's long inbounds pass was intercepted by Evans as time expired, leaving the Herd with a deflating loss.
"It's like your heart got ripped out," Browning said.
After the UC fans filed out of the arena celebrating the win and looking forward to Christmas, Cronin cited that moment midway through the first half when the light came on just in time.
"Our guys decided to start listening and getting the correct attitude and defend the way we practice and defend the way the game plan said we should defend Marshall," Cronin said. "That's when we gave ourselves a chance to win. Also around that time we decided to get a loose ball and dive on the floor. At some point we gained some humility. We weren't too cool to listen. We weren't too cool to dive on the floor. We weren't too cool to get a loose ball. We weren't too cool to get an offensive rebound. Up until that point our arrogance was getting shoved right where it doesn't belong by Marshall. That's what happened. Period. Give them credit for that. We found the resiliency to win the game."
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.