The Queen City Rivalry Epic Writes Its 87th Chapter

To Cincinnati basketball fans, this is the most important game of the season.  There are greater goals at stake for sure, a conference championship, a good seed in the NCAA tournament but for thousands of people in the area this is it.  Many educated people attend undergraduate school at the University of Cincinnati and earn advanced degrees from Xavier University or vice versa. 

Others have strong preferences that their next door neighbor may not share to them this game is for bragging rights and is mostly friendly.

I say mostly because there have been some ugly incidents on and off the court.

There have been fights between coaches after games.  Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins and Xavier coach Peter Gillen had a shouting match during what should have been post game handshakes.  There was a fight on the court in the 80's between Cincinati natives, Keith Stark of  UC and Byron Larkin of Xavier.  There was an ugly fight at Xavier several years ago.  The last time the game was at Xavier's Cintas Center, Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin had harsh words for Xavier's J.P. Macura.  Macura was defended vigorously by Xavier coach, Chris Mack.  Ironically, the pair who grew up two miles apart in Cincinnati's northern suburbs were high school rivals.  Cronin played at LaSalle and Mack competed for St. Xavier High School.

Cincinnati holds a 51-35 advantage but over the last 25 years the rivalry has been more competitive.

Since Xavier moved to the Cintas Center and Cincinnati played at the Shoemaker Center the teams are 16-16 on their home court.  Cincinnati won on December 8 last year, 62-47 at UC, Cronin's last game of the series before moving on to coach at UCLA.  New UC coach John Brannen will be in his first Crosstown meeting.  Xavier coach Travis Steele will be in his second game of the rivalry as a head coach.

Xavier won four of the last six games and eight of the last 12.

This game tips off at 5:00 pm.

Xavier Takes Down Green Bay With Crosstown Shootout Ahead

Naji Marshall took control of the game in the second half and led the Xavier Musketeers to a 84-71 win over the University of  Wisconsin Green Bay Phoenix.

The Musketeers are tuning up for their big rivalry game against the University of Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday at 5:00 pm.

The Musketeers will take a two-game winning streak and a record of 8-1.  The Phoenix will play at Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

Perhaps the Musketeers were looking ahead.  Travis Steele was unhappy with the effort even in the win.

"Our heads weren't in the game on either side of the ball," Steele said.  "That's on me.  I have to figure these guys out.  The tape doesn't lie.  There is no sensitivity in our film sessions.  We need to do a better job or we are going to learn the hard way.  I don't want to learn the hard way."

Green Bay slowed the Musketeers down and made them look out of sync in the first half.  Xavier used its depth and strength to wear down the Phoenix and win what turned into a physical game.

"For the most part we did what we wanted to do, keep it packed in and make them hit jumpers. I thought the guys in the first half did a great job of executing it," Phoenix coach Linc Darner.." In the second half, they decided to slash and drive get it to the rim and then go get the rebound.  They are a lot bigger and stronger than we are.  I thought our guys did a great job.  They only had four offensive rebounds in the first half. They had 14 in the second half."


Marshall notched 12 points in the first half on by hitting four of six shots, including a 3-pointer and making all three of his free throws. He matched the point total in the second half, making all four shots from the field.  His 24 points was the game high.

Tyrique Jones scored 14 points and pulled in 14 rebounds, seven of which were on the offensive glass. It was Jones' fifth double-double of the season and 16th of his career.  Paul Scruggs scored 4 1points and Quentin Goodin added 11 points.

Although turnovers were down for Xavier, they had trouble scoring early in the first half.  They built an eight-point lead near the middle of the first half to build an 38-30 lead but Green Bay closed out the first half with a 5-0 run.  Will Chevalier missed a 3-pointer at the first half buzzer that would have tied the game.  Xavier took a 38-35 lead into halftime.

Green Bay freshman, Amari Davis from Trotwood Madison near Dayton, led his team with 19 points.  He scored 28 in the Phoenix last game against Montana State.

Xavier Hunts Bison To Extinction In A Tune Up Win

Tyrique Jones turned in his fourth double-double of the season. The Xavier Musketeers used a 14-2 run over the last six minutes of the first have to shoot down the Lipscomb Bisons of Nashville, 87-62 in a tune up for the Crosstown Shootout next Saturday against Cincinnati.

Jones commanded the boards with 10 rebounds.  No other Musketeer had more than four.  He added 14 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field, including a game opening dunk.

The game was even for the first 14 minutes with Xavier leading, 26-24 when a run fueled by a slashing layup by Paul Scruggs put separation between the teams.  Scruggs scored on a turn around jumper off an aborted drive on the next trip down the court.  Lipscomb (2-5) wore down into a halftime deficit of 40-26.

Bryce Moore and KyKy Tandy contributed 3-pointers to the run, coming off the bench.

Lipscomb scored on five straight possessions mid way in the second half but Xavier (7-1) pulled away with a fresh bench that Lipscomb couldn't keep up with.

Jones watched freshman Zach Freemantle operate in the second half.  Freemantle scored a career-high 15 points and 7-for-7 from the foul line.  He chipped in five rebounds.

Scruggs had 15 points and Naji Marshall added 13.

Freshman KJ Johnson scored a game-high 25 points for the Bison. Ahsan Asadullah scored 18.  Only four Lipscomb players scored.  Xavier had 10 players with points.

"We wore down.  We have three players out and it showed," Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff said. "If you take the first 14 minutes of the first half and the first few minutes of the second half, it was an even game.  They killed us on the glass.  Our youth and their physicality was too much for us."

Xavier got 33 points from the bench.  Lipscomb had no points aside from the starters.

"I have a lot of respect for them.  They will win a lot of games.  This is a great environment."

Xavier rebounded from its lone loss on Sunday a 70-65 decision against Florida in the Charleston Classic. 

"This is just one game and we've played a lot of styles.  That will help us in the Big East," Xavier coach Travis Steele said.  "We had too many turnovers (14).  We have to get that down to 10.  We moved the ball pretty well but we didn't play defense for 40 minutes.  I will look at the tape to see but that needs to be our identity."

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Cincinnati Dogs Huskies In Lopsided Homecoming Win

The Cincinnati Bearcats took care of the hapless Huskies of Connecticut in a bruising 48-3 win on homecoming.

The Huskies (2-8, 0-6) suffered their 17th straight American Athletic Conference loss.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats (8-1, 5-0) put together its seventh straight win since a 42-0 loss to Ohio State in the second game of the season.

Desmond Ridder connected with Josiah DeGuara for a pair of touchdowns of 18 and 15 yards, the first multi touchdown game of DeGuara's career.  Michael Warren scored from six yards out and one yard out as UC took a 38-0 halftime lead.

"It makes a lot of difference in matchup issues. Josiah has grown into doing a lot of different things. It doesn’t give people the ability to pinpoint what’s going on with him. He’s come along way, his ability to be a complete player," Luke Fickell said.

"In the second half, the idea was to go out and play our best so a lot of other guys could get an opportunity. It was really great for us to be able to get those guys in there," DeGuara said.

Ridder completed 13 of 23 passes for 136 yards,  He ran for 94 yards.  Gerrid Doaks was the Bearcats' leading rusher with 123 yards on 13 carries.  He scored on a one-yard run.

Connecticut's longest and deepest drive was 34 yards to the Cincinnati 31.   Darrick Forrest stopped that drive by intercepting Jack Zergiotus.  All of the other eight possessions ended on UConn's side of the field in the first half.

The Bearcats added 10 points in the second half.

Graduate student, Mike Beaudry led the Huskiies deep into Cincinnati territory twice in the second half.  One ended at the UC seven yardline on downs.  The Huskies got on the scoreboard with a 32-yard field goal by Clayton Harris with 5:37 left in the game.

Freshman Jack Zegiotis was 4-for-14 with an interception and -12 yards rushing.

Coach Randy Edsell replaced him with graduate student Mike Beaudry, who played Divison II before going to UConn.

"I told Jack at halftime, you're like a starting pitcher in baseball today," Edsall said. "You just didn't have it.  It's like you gave up five home runs.  Guess what you have to put the other guy in..  You didn't have it today,.  Next start it might be a lot better..  If he's struggling like that.  Get him out. Let him relax.  Get someone else in and see what they could do."

Beaudry led the team deep into Cincinnati territory twice in the second half.

The Huskies lone bright spot was the third consecutive 100-plus yard rushing performance by Kevin Mensah, who finished with 115 yards on 24 carries.

The Huskies wanted to run the ball but UC's front seven was too tough.

"We wanted to be able to run the ball, so we could run play action and do those things but we just got Whipped," Edsall said.  "We got whipped by a better team.  We have a lot of young guys on the perimeter.  Kevin Mensah, Artie Tompson, give you everything they've got. We didn't match their physicality upfront."

Mensah is the ninth UConn rusher to gain over 2,000 yards in a career.  In a dismal season in a blow out game, Mensah was running hard.

"Pride." Mensah said.  "Just go out there and give it all you got; try to motivate the guys; try to motivate the team.  Show them to keep going and if we play like a team, good things can happen."

The Huskies had two defensive starter disqualified for targeting.  The press box consensus that neither was justified.

"I thought the first one (call) was very poor," Edsall said. "On the second one from what I saw, he put his nose right in there.  If they are going to be throwing people out of the game for playing football.  We might as well stop playing football.  The two calls they gave if that's targeting.  Let's stop playing.  I don't know how to teach my guys any more."

Cincinnati Host UConn For Homecomig

It is homecoming 'for the Cincinnati Bearcats and they square off against the University of Connecticut  Huskies.

The Huskies have lost 16 straight American /Athletic Conference games, including five this season.  They are 2-7 with wins over Wagner and UMass.

The Bearcats are 7-1 with their lone loss to Ohio State, 42-0.  Cincinnati starting linebacker, Darrien Beavers, transferred from UConn.  He is a Colerain High School grad along with defensive back Ja'von Hicks.

The Huskies leading rusher, Kevin Mensah, became the ninth runner to gain over 2,000 yards.  At 2,409, the junior has a chance to catch the Huskies All-Time leading rusher,  Donald Brown at 3,800 yards.

The Bearcats are 3-12 all time against UConn.  Cincinnati won seven of the last eight games with Connecticut last besting  UC, 20-9 at Hartford in 2016.

If the Bearcats hold on to the best conference record, they could host the conference championship game on December 7 at 3:30 pm.

Xavier Musketeers Swim With The Dolphins In Season Opener

The Xavier Musketeers looked like they were on vacation in the Caribbean in its first game of the 2019-2020 season.  It was like a day at the beach at least for the first half.

The Xavier Musketeers had little trouble winning its 20th straight season opener at the Cintas Center with a 76-57 runaway victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins.

"We played really hard from the jump," coach Travis Steele said.  "We were kind of complacent for a couple minutes in the second half.  We turned it back up though.  You can't take any plays off in our league.  Overall, we had good effort."

Xavier ranked 19th in the Associated Press initial poll, was able to ease Jason Carter into action.  Carter, a transfer from Ohio University battled injuries during the preseason after earning respect on the Musketeers trip to Spain over the summer.

"Jason only practiced twice," Steele said.  "He was pretty good tonight, not a good as he was this summer.  We got him some time and he looked good."

Seniors Naji Marshall 17, Tyrique Jones 17 and Paule Scruggs 12 handled the scoring. Freshman Zach Freemantle added 11 for the Musketeers. Tyrique Jones and Dahmir Bishop controlled the boards with 11 and seven rebounds, respectively.

"I give Xavier a lot of credit.  He has his players playing hard, Jacksonville coach Tony Jasick said.. They're very physical defensively.  We didn't handle that very well in the first half. We dug ourselves a hole because of it."

Xavier raced out to a 43-22 halftime lead, closing with an 8-0 run in the last two minutes.

Paul Scruggs had 12 points at the half and Tryrique Jones contributed 10 points.  Aamahne Santos had nine points for the Dolphins.

Santos finished with 15 for Jacksonville, tying Bryce Workman for the team lead.  Workman led the Dolphins with eight rebounds.

Jacksonville came back in the second half, outscoring the Musketeers 35-33 as Xavier worked on new combinations getting Bishop and Bryce Moore into the mix.

"We have a lot of new guys (nine newcomers),"  Jasick said. "Obviously we're playing against a team that has a lot of accolades early in the year.  I think we settled in a little bit.  We finished some possessions defensively in the second half.  We would guard and then foul at the end of possessions.  In the second half, we finished more possessions with rebounds that allowed us to play with a little better pace and flow on the offensive end."

"Their were a lot of challenges in this game for us.  Obviously putting a new group together, playing against Travis and his group in this environment, there were a lot of challenges but that's why we do it.  We can see where the team is at.  We found a lot of good things that we can take a handful of good things out of this game."



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Xavier Opens The Season Against Jacksonville Ranked 19th

The Xavier Musketeers are opening its 20th season at the Cintas Center against the Jacksonville Dolphins.  They have never lost a home opener.

It will be the first of four home games to open Travis Steele's second season as head coach of the Musketeers.  Naji Marshall, Paul Scruggs, Quentin Gooden and Tyrique Jones are back for Xavier. They will be joined by Leighton Schrand, who worked his way into the starting lineup as a walk-on.

Schrand's father Ryan starred at LaSalle High School and Northern Kentucky University.

The 19th ranked Musketeers face a Jacksonville team that features nine newcomers. 

Three seniors return to lead the newcomers.  David Bell, Anderson High School grad DeAnthony McCallum and Aamahne Santos return with last year's scoring leader, Tyreese Davis who scored 10.1 points-per-game last season.  Sophomore Bryce Workman rounds out the starting five.

The Dolphins had a 12-20 record from last season.  The Musketeers were 19-16 and 9-9 in the Big East Conference.

The Musketeers won the only meeting between the two teams with a 103-94 win in 1962-63 at Schmidt Fieldhouse.

Jacksonville is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Cinderella NCAA tournament team.

That team was led by Artis Gilmore and Rex Morgan.

Bearcats Battle To Fifth Straight Win

Gerrid Doaks scored three touchdowns, two rushing, one off a pass play to send the Cincinnati Bearcats to its fifth straight win 24-13 over Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa (2-5, 0-3) outgained the host Bearcats (6-1, 3-0) 377-319 but turned the ball over four times.

 Doaks took a short pass from Desmond Ridder and broke several tackles, stretching out to touch the corner pylon in the endzone to score from 28-yards out.

"It was like a movie," Doaks said. "When I got the ball, I saw open field and I dove over the safety. I hopped up and saw everyone cheering. It’s something everyone on the field wants to live."

"He’s an example in that locker room of what you can do when you never drop your head, you never give in," Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said. "The opportunity has got to come your way. He’s the reason we’re sitting here happy right now."

Doaks, a junior, has battled injuries since he arrived on campus from Indianapolis.  He had a groin injury that held him out last season.  He had a minor knee injury against UCLA, then missed the next to games.  He slowly worked his way back with a few carries against Marshall, UCF and Houston.  He finished with 91 yards on 17 carries.

"After everything I went through the past couple years, to celebrate a win, that feels good," Doaks said.  "It’s kind of hard knowing you can perform at that high ability but something is holding you back."

The Bearcats held Tulsa twice inside the 10.  Shermarr Robinson recovered Ridder's fumble at the Cincinnati at the Cincinnati eight in the third quarter.  Tulsa drove to the Cincinnati 10 early in the fourth quarter but had to settle for field goals by Jacob Rainey to pull within a touchdown at 17-13.

"We have to take advantage of our opportunities in the red zone," Tulsa coach Phil Montgomery said. "These guys (Cincinnati) is really good in the red zone so it wasn't all us."

Cincinnati went for the first down with 4:58 to play on a fourth and four play from the 12.  Tulsa stopped them on the 10.

Elijah Ponder hit Tulsa quarterback Zach Smith as he threw.  Darrick Forrest picked off the affected pass and returned it to the Tulsa 27.  Doaks ran it in on the first play to put the Bearcats ahead 24-13 with 3:31 to play

Cincinnati took a 10-0 lead up to the last minute of the first half.

Tulsa used a fluke play to retain possession after Cincinnati blocked a punt but a Bearcat touched the aborted punt and Tulsa recovered.  TK Wilkerson scored on a three-yard plunge to get within a field goal at the half.

"It was almost like we were in a little bit of shock," Fickell said. "We’re accustomed to moving the football. It was quiet in the locker room. I think they really believed they had the confidence in what they were going to do."

Cincinnati scored on a 50-yard field goal by Cole Smith and a four-yard run by Gerrid Doaks in the first quarter. The touchdown was setup by an athletic, 49-yard reception by Alec Pierce, who stepped in front of a Tulsa defensive back to make the catch.

Ja'von Hicks intercepted a pass by Zach Smith in the end zone to stop a drive by the Golden Hurricane.  It was his third interception in the last two weeks.

Brian Kelly Returns To Nippert To Honor The 2009 Team He Left Behind

Brian Kelly returned to Nippert Stadium to honor the Bearcats unbeaten 12-0 team from 2009.  The team will be honored at halftime of the game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

Kelly took the head coaching job at Notre Dame before the Bearcats played Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

It was fate that caused Kelly to leave.  The team was seconds away from qualifying for the National Championship.  Texas claimed the spot with a dramatic win over Nebraska.  Colt McCoy was chased out of the pocket with seconds left in the game, trailing 12-10.  McCoy was chased out of the pocket by Ndamukong Suh.  McCoy threw the ball out of bounds and time had run out.  Cincinnati would have passed Texas to earn a bid in the National Championship game against Alabama in the Rose Bowl but replays showed that the ball hit a railing with one second left on the clock.  Texas kicked the game winning field goal and Cincinnati was chosen to play Florida in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Kelly was offered his dream job at the University of Notre Dame, who required him to start immediately.  He took the job and offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn guided the Bearcats in the 51-24 loss to Florida.  The players felt betrayed and the fans showed animosity toward Kelly for abandoning his team.

"It has really been special to get an opportunity to come back to thank them," said Kelly, as Notre Dame is on a bye week.  "I didn't get that opportunity.  It was taken away from me. The circumstances were what they were.  It was important for me to come back and thank them but more importantly what they've done to catapult this program into the position that it is today."

Kelly remembered the season started with a big win over Rutgers.

"It started with the win over Rutgers over the Labor Day weekend," Kelly said.  "It was so decisive. It created a confidence in the group that was very palatable. It carried over into a resounding win over Illinois, a Big 10 team and finishing it off obviously with the come-from-behind win against Pittsburgh.  Those three games standout to me."

The Bearcats arranged the dtribut around Kelly's open week.

"It was a matter of saying yes and getting off the recruiting schedule to be here," Kelly said. "I was excited because I wanted to be with these guys."

Kelly reflected on how close the Bearcats came to playing in the National Championship game.

"I probably wouldn't be at Notre Dame," Kelly said.  "You guys would be sick and tired of me in Cincinnati.  It's fate and these things happen. That's what college football is today.  There's one game that can dictate and change the season and can change the trajectory of careers."

There was a moment of silence before the game for Bob Goin, who was the Athletic Director at UC that season.  Goin passed away this week, October 12 at the age of 83.

Cincinnati Found Its Lucky Number While Upsetting Central Florida

The Cincinnati Bearcats played the dozens in a 27-24 upset win over number 18 University of Central Florida.

Cincinnati finished a disappointing possession when a true freshman wearing number 12, Ahmad Gardner stepped in front of UCF receiver at the 16-yard line. Gardner dashed into the endzone to give the Bearcats a 20-16 lead.

"I knew he was going to throw it. I knew if I jumped it, it was going to be there," Gardner said. ".He’s a freshman (UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel). We were going to try to get into his head, too. That’s what the adjustment was. It worked.

Michael Warren rambled 61 yards to become the third Bearcat to have a 2,000 yards rushing in a career.  The play at the end of the third quarter set up an 11-yard scoring pass to number 12, Alec Pierce from Desmond Ridder, who finished with 17-31 for 149 yards passing and one interception. He carried the ball 12 times for 56 yards

The Cincinnati (4-1, 1-0 AAC) defense held Central Florida (4-1, 0-1 AAC) to 16 points.  The Knights entered the game after a 56-21 win over Connecticut and scored 245 points. They scored their fewest points in a 35-34 loss to Pittsburgh.

The Knights use a hurry-up offense to prevent situational substitutions for the opposing defensre.  The Bearcats rotated the corner backs to start defensive series.

"we can limit the big plays, we’ve got our opportunity. We eliminated the big plays, Luke Fickell said.

"I have to look myself in the mirror," Gabriel said.  "Three turnovers are unacceptable."

Central Florida took a punt at its own seven and drove 93 yards in five plays, scoring on a 45-yard pass from Gabriel to Tre Nixon and a two-point conversion pass to Adrian Killins to put the Knights within a field goal with 3:09 to play.  UCF was out of time outs.

The Knights stopped Warren on a third and one, inches from a first down with 1:42 left.  Cincinnati let the clock run down then got the first down on Ridders quarterback sneak.  The clock ran out.

"I guess there’s no sweeter way to seal the deal against a team that’s the best in the league, been the best the last two times," Fickell said. "The only way you’re going to knock off the best is to continue to be aggressive. The only way to beat the best is to take chances."

Warren rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries.

Turnovers did a lot to shape the first half between number 18 Central Florida snd Cincinnati in a sold out Nippert Stadium.

Greg McCrae scored on a one-yard run with 58 seconds left in the first half to allow the Knights to take a 16-10 lead into the locker room at the half.

Dylan Barnas kicked three field goals of 22,24 and 31 yards but Cincinnati got a 38-yard field goal by Sam Crosa and a five-yard touchdown pass from Desmond Ridder to Trent Cloud.  It was setup by a fumble recovery at the UCF 19 by Michael Pitts off a fumble by Knights quarterback, Dillon Gabriel.

It gave Cincinnati a 10-6 lead but after Barnas third field goal, Tay Gowan intercepted a Ridder pass at the Cincinnati 41 and returned to the Cincinnati 23.  A Cincinnati personal foul call but the ball at the 12.  McCrae picked up the yardage on four runs.

A pair of holding penalties by Cincinnati defensive backs allowed the Knights to sustain a first quarter drive to a field goal.  Cincinnati's defense was betrayed by a roughing the kicker penalty by Joah Whyle allowed Central Florida to drive into Cincinnati territory but Cam Jeffries intercepted a Gabriel pass at the two.   Jeffries returned it to the Knights 41 but the ball popped loose.  It took a replay review to confirm that Jeffries was down before the ball came loose.

Cincinnati netted eight yards wasting a scoring chance.