2010 Big East Basketball Tournament: Cincinnati vs Rutgers

For several weeks, rumors regarding the demise of head coach Fred Hill’s tenure at the helm of the Rutgers men’s basketball program have been swirling throughout the Northeast region of the United States. If his Scarlet Knights’ loss in the first round of the Big East tournament on Tuesday night was indeed his last, at least he went down swinging.

In what was a nip and tuck battle through all 40 minutes, the tenth-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats (17-14) outlasted the fourteenth-seeded Rutgers Scarlet Knights (15-17), 69-68, in what was without question the best and most dramatic game wire-to-wire in the tournament’s opening round. For the first twenty minutes of play, each team managed several mini-runs that were immediately answered by the opposition, effectively bringing the game back to a basketball equivalent of deuce. The half ended with Rutgers in front, 32-31.

Midway through the second half, Rutgers appeared to gain breathing room for the first time, leading 50-45 on the shoulders of guard Mike Rosario, who led all scorers with a game-high 26 points. The momentum was short-lived, though, as the Bearcats answered with a 12-2 run to take a 57-52 lead with just seven minutes remaining. In a game filled with the ebb and flow of low tide in a coastal area, Rutgers would mount yet another charge in the final minutes to make the final game on First-Round Tuesday the best of the opening round.

With his team railing 68-65, Rosario fell forward in a failed attempt to draw a foul, but still managed to drain a straightaway 3-pointer to tie the game with 15 seconds remaining. But Cincinnati was far from finished, as Bearcats guard Lance Stephenson, who finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, drove toward the basket for the game-winning shot attempt and drew a foul with 1.8 seconds remaining. Stephenson converted the first of two free throws, intentionally missed the second, and a final Rutgers heave from 75 feet was wide left, thus ending the men’s basketball season for the State University of New Jersey.

The Scarlet Knights were in desperate need of at least two wins in order to secure a postseason appearance, but the first round loss signals the end of the 2009-10 campaign and leaves the future of Fred Hill in doubt.

WHAT’S NEXT

Cincinnati’s first-ever win in the Big East Tournament sends the Bearcats to the second round to meet the sixth-seeded Louisville Cardinals, who won their only meeting this season, 68-60, on January 24. Most bracket experts see Cincinnati on the outside of the NCAA Tournament, in desperate need of multiple wins in the Big East Tournament to boost their chances of an at-large bid. Without a win over Louisville, Cincinnati is likely relegated to the NIT. The Cincinnati-Louisville matchup tips off at approximately 9:25 p.m. on Wednesday night, with television coverage provided by ESPN.

BIG EAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

WHAT’S NEXT