Cincinnati Loses to Butler on a Buzzer Beater

With just 4.7 seconds left on the clock, Jacob Evans III took and missed a three, but Octavius Ellis was there to grab the rebound and draw the foul on the made putback. Ellis knocked down the free throw to tie the game, giving every Bearcats fan a sigh of relief thinking they had clinched overtime.

But Butler's Roosevelt Jones had another idea, driving through Cincinnati defenders for a layup with .1 seconds left on the clock to win the game for the 5-1 Butler Bulldogs.

Fifth Third Arena went silent except for a Bulldogs bench that erupted and stormed onto the court.

A Bearcats defense that had stifled Butler all day, holding one of the nation's top shooting teams to a mere 33 percent with numerous blocked shots, couldn't get one last stop.

It just wasn't in the cards for Cincinnati tonight. After an early lead for the Bulldogs, the Bearcats took control of the game and looked to be okay. With the score close, it seemed as though the Bearcats were getting what they wanted on both sides of the ball.

The always hungry and stingy Ellis got an early technical foul after getting into a shoving match with Jones. Ellis was also one of the games biggest factors with 16 points and 12 rebounds causing fits for Butler down low. Ellis also lead the Bearcats in blocks with four. The Bearcats blocked 10 shots tonight and controlled the paint throughout the night.

Going 50 percent from the field, the offense wasn't the issue behind Ellis and 12 points and 6 assists from Troy Caupain, but the season-low assists is a concern moving forward. Cincinnati shot 38% from behind the arc and 75% from the free throw line.

After starting the game slow, the Bearcats ended the game slow with their defense, which has always been the backbone of this Cincinnati team, ended up giving them their first loss. The 78 points given up by the Bearcats were the most this season and broke a 49-game Cincinnati winning streak when scoring at least 60 points.

The Bearcats also forced a season-low turnovers, with the Bulldogs only coughing the ball up six times throughout the whole game.

The Bearcats don't have much time to recover from the loss as they have Morgan State on Sunday and then the Crosstown shootout with Xavier on December 12.