2010 Big East Basketball Tournament: Cincinnati vs Louisville

Postseason basketball and the dramatic moments that leave sports fans around the country wanting more are simply the fruits of inspired performance, moments created due to the countless hours in practice, in the film room, in the weight room, and in exhibition games. Even the regular season serves as a mere prelude to the theatre that is college basketball’s postseason playoff, to which the culture has assigned the term “March Madness.” Inspired performances create unlikely scenarios and yield surprising results.

Through two days, the 2010 Big East Tournament has been a study in contrasts. On one end of the spectrum is the lackluster performance of the Connecticut Huskies against the Red Storm of St. John’s. On the other end of the spectrum is the Cincinnati Bearcats, who advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday night with an unlikely 69-66 come-from-behind victory over the sixth-seeded Louisville Cardinals in the final game of the tournament’s second day.

The first half of basketball was exactly as expected: Louisville dominated. Louisville cruised through the first half, taking a 41-32 lead into the locker room and appeared to be in total control, led by Edgar Sosa, who scored a game-high 28 points. But during a season in which the enigmatic Cardinals have experienced all varieties of ups and downs, the hot hands suddenly turned cold and Cincinnati stormed back into the game. The Bearcats did so with the leadership of leading scorer Yancy Gates, who contributed 16 points and five rebounds as UC inched back into contention before going on a 19-5 run to take its first lead of the game, 53-51, at the 9:30 mark of the second half.

The Bearcats held off the Cardinals in the final moments, as Deonta Vaughn sank two free throws with 5.9 seconds remaining to give Cincinnati a 69-66 lead. Left with one final play, the Cards' attempt at a tie went for naught as Vaughn stripped Louisville’s Edgar Sosa as he attempted a game-tying 3-pointer just before the final buzzer. The unlikely comeback was complete for Cincinnati, which outscored Louisville 37-25 in the second half.

Louisville’s demise was brought on by an underwhelming performance on the boards, as Cincinnati out-rebounded the sixth-seeded favorite, 54-33, including a staggering 28-9 on the offensive glass. Although Louisville is considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament, all is not well for a team that expected more of a run in the conference tournament. "We were playing for a good seed," head Coach Rick Pitino said. "Now we're not going to get one. You can't expect to win giving up 28 offensive rebounds."

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bearcats, now 18-14 on the season, are still a long shot for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, but remain alive in the Big East Tournament, having won the only two games in the program's history at this event in the last two days. In advancing to the quarterfinals, Cincinnati will face the third-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers, who have remained ranked in the top 10 for most of the season. The game has a built-in storyline that extends beyond the context of the tournament, and even the conference, as the Mountaineers are coached by the man who rebuilt the Bearcat program during the 1990s: Bob Huggins. Tip-off for the quarterfinal matchup between West Virginia and Cincinnati will be 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Notre Dame-Pitt quarterfinal game, which tips off at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Television coverage will be provided by ESPN.

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

DAY TWO NIGHT SESSION

WHAT’S NEXT