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On a night they just looked disinterested, the Bearcats did just enough to hold off the UCF Knights in Memphis Thursday evening. In front of a pro-UCF crowd in the second half, it was Kevin Johnson's humongous three-pointer from the corner that sealed the deal and sent UC to a semi-final meeting with the UConn Huskies...who played exactly the opposite of UC and destroyed the hometown Memphis Tigers.
In March no one cares what the margin of victory is, just that you win. So, the Bearcats won. That's all they needed to do. There are no style points. They don't have to start tonight in a huge hole because UConn played well and UC didn't. Shockingly they start out 0-0.
Back to this game...I'm not sure if UC just thought UCF would lay down since a) UC drubbed them both times this year and b) UCF played a double OT game the night before or c) they're the big bad Bearcats. Didn't happen. And UC almost paid for it.
There was a lot to dislike about this game, but let's not dwell on that. Let's be positive. In a game where it seemed to be slipping away, UC held it together as they have done so often this year. They didn't jack up 25 threes. They only took 12. They won the rebound battle. They shot a solid 45%. They got some solid contributions from Shaq Thomas (8 points), Kevin Johnson (8 huge points) and Troy Caupain (4 points, 3 assists in 24 minutes). And oh yeah, they WON. Moving on.
So they face the team that gave them their most recent loss, a brutal 51-45 decision in Connecticut two weeks ago. Uconn has played UC very tough in both games. At one point had a 10-point lead at Fifth Third Arena too. With the way they played last night, look for a very confident bunch tonight. But, you know Sean Kilpatrick will be highly motivated to show the Huskies and America that he, not Napier, should have been the AAC POY.
OK it's Friday. I was up very late watching some awesomely terrible ACC basketball. So everyone have a great day and let's go Bearcats tonight!!
Uniform note: Loved em! Much more than last year's version. The sleeves don't bother me since a lot of them wear compression sleeves anyway. I thought the white was very sharp. I like the font, and I liked the little red hash marks or whatever on the sides.
Game highlights...