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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
DALLAS - Having been overlooked a day earlier by the NCAA Tournament selection committee when it released a preliminary look at its top 16 seeds, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats were presented with a golden opportunity Sunday to prove the committee wrong against an SMU team with an 18-game home winning streak and the third-ranked scoring defense in the country.
Four minutes into the second half, they were making a pretty strong case for themselves with a 40-31 advantage. But it didn't take long for the Mustangs to turn things around, scoring the next 15 points to take a 46-40 lead. Before their surge was over, they had outscored UC, 25-3. Instead of the Bearcats staking their claim to a possible higher seed, it was SMU showing off for the committee.
No. 11 UC never recovered from the Mustangs' onslaught and fell, 60-51, before 7,518 fans at Moody Coliseum and a national ESPN television audience, leaving the two teams essentially tied for first place in the American Athletic Conference.
The Bearcats (22-3 overall, 11-1 in the American) shot 25.9 percent in the second half and saw their 15-game winning streak come to an end. No. 24 SMU (22-4, 12-1) has now won 19 in a row at home and 18 of its last 19 games overall. Its only loss during that span was to UC, 66-64, at Fifth Third Arena on Jan. 12.
"We were gonna have to play really, really well for 40 minutes to win," said UC coach Mick Cronin, "and we didn't."
Jacob Evans led UC with 15 points and made five of 11 from long range, but 12 of his points came in the first half. Kevin Johnson scored 13 for the Bearcats and Kyle Washington added 11. Gary Clark grabbed 12 rebounds, but managed only six points on two-of-seven shooting.
The Bearcats made seven of 15 from beyond the arc in the first half, four of 17 in the second.
"It's a make or miss game," Cronin said. "They pack it in so tight and they're so physical, especially in their own gym. The key to the game is that Gary Clark had some opportunities around the basket and he just couldn't get it in the basket. That allowed them to play one-on- one in the post, so we didn't have quite as many wide open looks in the second half. They stopped doubling him and then he didn't finish. We did get some open looks. We just didn't knock them down."
Unable to do much damage inside, the Bearcats were forced to shoot from the perimeter, with 32 of their 49 shots coming from long range. As Cronin pointed out, his team scored only 10 points in the paint made and six free throws. For a coach who constantly preaches that layups and free throws win games, that's a bad scenario.
"We had 12 points on 2-point shots," Cronin said. "Four of those were off Kevin Johnson dunks off of his two steals."
Once the offense went south, UC's defense quickly followed. The Mustangs shot 62.5 percent in the second half, making 10 of their 16 shots, and made five of nine from 3-point range. Forward Semi Ojeleye, who was being scrutinized by a host of NBA scouts and former president George W. Bush, who was introduced to a big ovation from the crowd, led SMU with 18 points. Only six players saw action for the Mustangs and four of them scored in double figures.
"We just got stagnant," Johnson said. "The offense got stagnant and the defense lost some focus on some guys. Offense is always second to defense on this team. We know we're not going to make every shot. We're human beings. But at the end of the day you've still got to guard and make sure we get stops."
The Bearcats led by eight with 3:01 left in the first half only to see SMU score the final eight points to tie the score 28-28 at intermission. When Shake Milton made a 3-pointer to start the second half, the Mustangs had a three-point lead.
UC came right back to score 12 in a row and went on top, 40-31. That's when SMU hit its stride. Before they knew what hit them, the Bearcats had gone from owning their largest lead of the game with 16:09 left to facing their biggest deficit (10 points) with 7:33 to go.
The Bearcats were still alive after two Troy Caupain free throws trimmed the deficit to five points with 2:02 left. Sterling Brown then buried a jump shot for SMU with 1:39 remaining to increase the lead back to seven, effectively slamming the door on the Bearcats' would-be comeback.
"They had us a little confused at times," Evans said. "On the other side of that, the ball just wouldn't go in the hoop for us when we needed it. We looked at this game as a chance to see where we were for ourselves. We knew they were going to test us because we knew they were a great team. We came up short today, but we can definitely learn from this."
It was a rough afternoon for Caupain, the AAC Pre-Season Player of the Year. He scored only two points - eight below his average - and missed all seven of his field goal attempts, five from 3-point range.
"When he goes 0-for-7, it's just tough," Cronin said. "I feel bad for him. He didn't want to play like that. I've got to do a better job of coaching him. That's how I look at it."
The struggling Caupain is two for his last 19 in his last two games, including one for 12 from 3-point range. But Johnson said he's confident his roommate and best friend will bounce back. "He'll be fine. He's the Preseason Player of the Year, a great ballplayer. We all struggle. But I expect him to pick it up toward the end of the year and lead us to victory."
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.