The All-Time Favorite Cincinnati Bearcat Basketball Player Tournament: Ed Jucker Region Round Four

It’s Thursday and that means its time to get back to the action of the The All-Time Favorite Cincinnati Bearcat Basketball Player Tournament. As always, we’ll start with the Ed Jucker Region, which has been whittled down to two contenders: Oscar Robertson and Paul Hogue.

It’s not really a big surprise that Robertson has gotten this far. After all, he is the all-time leading scorer and rebounder for the Bearcats and easily the programs most famous alum. For once in this tournament, Hogue won’t have to deal with a player from completely outside his era, as the 1961 and 1962 national champion gets the Big O in the final of the Ed Jucker region.

But, before we get to the fourth round, let’s revisit how both Robertson and Hogue got here.

No. 1 Oscar Robertson defeats No. 4 Eric Hicks

After breezing past No. 16 Andre Tate and No. 9 Rashad Bishop with 100 percent of the votes, Robertson got a fight from Hicks. Fight is a relative term, however, as Robertson secured 80 percent of the vote. Although he missed out on a national title by one year, Robertson is one of only two Cincinnati Bearcats to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame and was a three-time All-American as well as the original king of the triple double. Hicks just didn’t even have a chance, despite his stellar play from 2004-2006.

No. 2 Paul Hogue defeats No. 6 LaZelle Durden

Hogue wasn’t as prolific as Robertson, but he was obviously liked enough to get past No. 6 seed LaZelle Durden in the third round. A three-time all-conference honoree, Hogue was drafted No. 2 overall by the New York Knicks in 1962, just two years after Robertson was taken first overall by the Cincinnati Royals. Hogue will now try to best Robertson after getting 69 percent of the vote in the third round. Dudren was a three-point marksman but even he couldn’t overcome Hogue, both in this tournament and in terms of all-time scoring, with Hogue ranked 17th and Durden ranked 29th.

We’ve already gone over the last two players standing in this region, but here’s a copy of the updated bracket to give you a look at how things shook out.

No. 1 Oscar Robertson vs. No. 2 Paul Hogue

Two heavyweights of the late 50s and early 60s will square off and make sure that the best era in UC basketball is represented in the Final Four of this tournament. What else is there to say about Robertson? We’ve never seen a talent like him at UC, or many places at all, since he went off to the NBA. Hogue’s secret weapon in this one will be his two national titles and 1962 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award. Here we will see if wins can outdo the legend.

Voting will be open for the next seven days, so make sure to have your vote count.