Huskies Stayin' Alive With Win Over Bearcats


STEPHEN DUNN / Hartford Courant


UConn Ryan Boatright 's 3 at the buzzer wins it for UConn and the team celebrates. Rodney Purvis, Amida Brimah, Daniel Hamilton, and Omar Calhoun, left to rt. The XL Center is the host for this year's AAC men's basketball tournament.

HARTFORD — Ryan Boatright has said all season he did not come back to UConn for his senior year to play in the NIT.

On Friday night, he did what had to be done to keep the Huskies' hopes alive. Boatright hit a three-point shot, the ball falling through the net with 0.2 seconds left, to give UConn a 57-54 victory over Cincinnati in the American Conference quarterfinals Friday night at the thunderous, if not filled, XL Center.

Boatright nearly was the goat. He missed a free throw with 22 seconds left, giving the Bearcats a chance to tie, and they did. With 13 seconds left, Boatrght took the ball the length of the floor, created his own space and hit the three from the left side. And when he hit it, it was impossible not to be reminded of Kemba Walker's shot against Pittsburgh in a similar situation at the Big East Tournament in 2011, when the Huskies won five games in five days.

UConn (19-13) is halfway through its task of four wins in four days. Boatright scored 18 points and Rodney Purvis scored 17 points as the Huskies shot 38.2 percent, but hit the ones they needed. Troy Caupain scored 12 and Octavius Ellis scored 11 for the Bearcats, who lost two of three to UConn this season, both in Hartford.

The road remains hard. To win this tournament and get it's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies will have to beat No. 2 Tulsa Saturday, the game starting at 5 p.m., and the winner of the Southern Methodist-Temple semifinal on Sunday. It remains to be seen how much this grueling game with the Bearcats took out of the Huskies. Cincinnati (22-10) is done in this tournament, but will likely be chosen to play in the NCAA.

With the score tied at 39, UConn's Phil Nolan picked up his fourth foul. Amida Brimah already had three, so UConn coach Kevin Ollie had to use untried freshman Rakim Lubin in a big spot. Lubin blocked a shot and the Huskies scored on transition —Purvis hitting an open three — to take the lead.

Both teams played as though their postseason lives were on the line, although only UConn's really was. Scoring came with difficulty throughout the game, but especially over the final minutes. After Cincinnati's Gary Clark completed a three-point play to tie the game at 45 with 7:23 to go, the score remained the same for 4:23 seconds, until Daniel Hamilton hit a three-pointer from far beyond the arc to put the Huskies ahead 48-45 with three minutes to go. After Brimah blocked a shot, Boatright lofted the ball up ahead to Purvis for a layup and suddenly the Huskies had a five-point lead with 2:10 left.

When Boatright made two free throws with 36 seconds left, UConn again led by five. But Caupain made a contested three to keep Cincinnati in the game. When Boatright missed the front end of a one-and-one at the line with 22 seconds to go, the Bearcats tied the game on Shaq Thomas' put-back with 13.5 seconds to go.

In typical UConn-Cincinnati fashion, the game started out with aggressive defense and both teams struggled to find shots. After 8 ½ minutes, the Huskies were 2-for-12; the Bearcats were 2-for-11 and had a 7-5 lead.

Cincinnati led 12-7 when Ellis was called for a technical. Boatright made both free throws, and on the next possession, made a three-pointer to tie the game, which then settled into a little more watchable offensive rhythm. The Bearcats pressed an advantage in the paint, outrebounding UConn 22-15 and outscoring them 11-2 on second-chance points in the half.

Still, UConn had a chance to take the lead on the last possession, but Boatright missed a three. The Bearcats took a 22-21 lead into the break.

Brimah, who sat the last eight minutes of the half with two fouls, scored after a scramble underneath to give the Huskies the lead as the second half got underway. With the score tied at 25, UConn held the ball for an eternity, getting four offensive rebounds, but could not score.

Clark scored at the other end to put the Bearcats back on top. Then after another UConn miss, Ellis scored, and drew a foul — Brimah's third — with 15:05 to go. Ellis missed the free throw, but the Bearcats eventually finished a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead to that point, 31-25.

But UConn surged back. Two shots from Purvis, including a deep three, made it 31-30 with 11:59 to go. Boatright tied it at 36 with a three with 10:36 to go.

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-mens...story.html

Buzzer-beater leads UConn over UC
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 11:58 p.m. EDT March 13, 2015


Cincinnati Bearcats guard Troy Caupain (10) grabs the rebound against the Connecticut Huskies in the first half during the quarterfinal round of the American Conference Tournament at XL Center. (Photo: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)

HARTFORD, Conn. – An NCAA tournament bid seems a foregone conclusion for the Cincinnati Bearcats, but UC still may have to do a little sweating after losing 57-54 to UConn in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals here Friday night.

UConn standout guard Ryan Boatright hit a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left for the decisive points.

Troy Caupain inbounded the ball to fellow guard Farad Cobb for a length-of-the-court desperation heave on the final play, but the shot didn't beat the clock or come close.

UC (22-10) already is a lock to make the NCAAs, according to major forecasters including Joe Lunardi (ESPN) and Jerry Palm (CBS Sports). Yet, No. 3 AAC seed UC was ousted by a desperate No. 6 seed UConn (19-13), the reigning NCAA champion who basically needs to win the AAC tournament to reach this year's NCAA field.

UConn plays Tulsa in the semifinals Saturday at 5 p.m. (ESPN2). No. 2 seed Tulsa beat No. 10 seed Houston 59-51 in Friday night's first quarterfinal game.

Caupain led UC with 12 points. Forward Octavius Ellis had 11 points and seven rebounds, forward Shaq Thomas 10 points and seven rebounds, and forward Gary Clark had nine points and 11 rebounds.

"It's going to light a fire under us for whoever we play (in the NCAAs)," Clark said of Friday's loss. "They should be worried."

Boatright led UConn with 18 points and fellow guard Rodney Purvis had 17.

UC had a five-game winning streak snapped.

UC is No. 34 in the daily NCAA RPI ratings. ESPN, USA Today and CBS Sports all project UC as a No. 8 NCAA seed in their latest bracketology reports.

"Everybody has us as an eight seed, so we should be in," UC associate head coach Larry Davis said.

UConn rushed out of the halftime locker room with a quick 4-0 run on two baskets by 7-foot center Amida Brimah. That put the Huskies up 25-22.

UC answered with a 9-0 run to take a 31-25 lead, triggered by a 3-pointer from Cobb to start the surge.

The UC defensive was tremendous during that phase and several others, often making it difficult for UConn to even get up a shot. UConn went 0-for-8 from the field during one juncture, as UC built its lead to six.

UConn then roared back with a barrage of 3-point goals. An 18-11 Huskies run came all on 3-point goals – six of them – to put UConn up 45-42 with 7:40 left. UConn missed only one 3-point attempt during that run.

UConn built two five-point leads (50-45, 52-47) in the final two minutes and held on. A banked-in three-pointer by Daniel Hamilton (as the shot clock was expiring) gave UConn its big oomph, putting the Huskies up 48-45 with 2:59 left.

In the final sequence with the game tied at 54-54, Boatright dribbled downcourt, dribbled around some more around the top of the key, then launched the game winner. The XL Center, home court of the Huskies, erupted with joyous cheers.

Attendance was 9,514.

UC is now 15-8 since Davis replaced head coach Mick Cronin on Dec. 20 for medical reasons.

UC split its two meetings with UConn, losing 62-56 in Hartford and winning 70-58 in Cincinnati.

UConn has been up and down but is in desperation mode, probably needing to win the AAC tournament to get into the NCAAs.

UC entered Friday having won its first game in a league tournament in each of the last five seasons.

UC last won a conference tournament title in 2004, in Conference USA.

TIGHT HALF: UC led 22-21 at halftime, with a combination of airtight defense and poor shooting on both sides.

The Bearcats led for most of the first half and were up by as much as five points. Thomas led UC with six points in the first half, and Clark had seven rebounds in the half.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../70316576/