by Dick Weiss for The American
Four years can feel like an eternity if you're Cincinnati senior guard Troy Caupain and you haven't beaten your next door neighbor Xavier during your college career.
But Caupain found a way to ease the pain in his final crack against 24th-ranked Xavier Thursday night in the Crosstown Shootout He scored 16 points, had 5 assists and nailed a game clinching lethal three with eight seconds to play as the Bearcats regained bragging rights in the Queen City with a dramatic 86-79 victory before a standing room only crowd of 13,477 at Fifth Third Arena in the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout.
"I'm so excited,'' Caupain told the media after taking a seat for post-game interviews. "I'm definitely ready to jump out of my chair for real.''
Cincinnati's successful coach Mick Cronin, whose father Pat -- a local high school coaching legend-- was in the house, needed this victory for his own peace of mind after losing seven of the previous nine games in this heated rivalry against a school located just four miles away.
"I don't think about it too much other than hearing about it all the time,'' Cronin said. "It's a new era in this game. Both teams are going to the Big Dance. That's a good thing. But it's always nice to win.''
This Cincinnati team, which might be Cronin's best ever, simply refused to lose when this intense game was on the line.
The Bearcats, who have won 20 straight home games, are 18-2 and 7-0 in the American and have an 11-game winning streak, their longest since they won 15 straight in 2013-14. Right now, they have the best resume in The American, slightly ahead of SMU, which they defeated, 66-64, at home earlier this season. This was a big resume builder for Cincinnati, their second win over a nationally ranked team. Their RPI jumped all the way to 13. With non-conference wins over Iowa State, Penn State and Xavier, they have a shot at a Top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, SMU is 18-4 overall, 6-1 in the league and has a RPI of 27. The Mustangs have won 14 of its last 15 games and have non-league wins over Pitt, Stanford and Texas Christian. The two teams meet again in a Feb. 12 showdown at Moody Coliseum in Dallas in what could be the game of the year in the conference.
This has been a transitional year for The American, which received four bids to the tournament last season but only has two teams locked into the NCAA brackets as we speak. Having said that, Cincinnati and SMU both have a chance to win games in March Madness.
The American is a fluid league and there is always a chance for a third bid if another team like rapidly improving UCF, stabilizing Houston or rejuvenated Memphis-- gets hot or wins the AAC's annual post season tournament in Hartford. Anything is possible, especially for brand name programs undergoing uncharacteristic sub-par seasons. UConn (9-11, 4-4), which won the tournament last year in Orlando, is the host school in Hartford. And Temple (11-10, 2-6) has shown it can still occasionally pack a punch, winning back to back games against Florida State and West Virginia in a Thanksgiving week tournament in Brooklyn. Not to mention Tulsa's strong play in conference action.
The American has established itself as a solid football conference and is working to duplicate the basketball success it had in 2014 when UConn won the national championship. Signature non-league wins like Memphis' win over South Carolina, SMU's local win over TCU and UCF's victory over Mississippi State are steps in the right direction.
The conference has upgraded its roster of coaches with the addition of Tim Jankovich of SMU, Tubby Smith of Memphis, Mike Dunleavy of Tulane and Johnny Dawkins of Central Florida and has a chance to hit another home run with the right hire this spring at South Florida.
The AAC also has some young breakout stars like sophomore guard Shake Milton and 6-7 junior forward Semi Ojeleye of SMU 7-6 sophomore center Tacko Fall, red shirt freshman guard K.D. Lawson, sophomore guard Shizz Alston of Temple, sophomore point guard Jalen Adams of UConn, junior forward Kyle Washington and sophomore guard Jacob Evans of Cincinnati to go with established stars like sophomore forward Dedric Lawson of Memphis, Caupain and senior guard Rob Gray of Houston.
Cincinnati's win over Xavier was a testament to the fact the aggressive Bearcats owned the boards against Xavier, which entered the game ranked 15th nationally in rebound margin. The Bearcats outscored the Musketeers, 34-12, in the paint and, 30-4 on second chance points and out rebounding them, 42-33. "Only one thing you can talk about,'' Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "We got our butts kicked on the glass. If you can't keep Cincinnati off the glass, which is easier said than done, you're not winning. We couldn't and we didn't. We had soft guys on the glass. We couldn't match their effort and we couldn't match their intensity.''
Cincinnati put five players in double figures. Evans scored 21 points. Freshman guard Jarron Cumberland came off the bench to score 15, junior forward Gary Clark had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Washington scored 12 points and had eight rebounds.
Cumberland scored 13 of his points in the second half as the Bearcats overcame a 44-36 halftime deficit and an outstanding 40 point performance by Xavier guard Trevon Bluiett, who knocked down 9 of 11 threes.
"I know he (Cumberland) took this one personal, being from Cincinnati,'' Caupain said. "That's the first time I heard him talk trash.''
Cumberland, who was the best prospect in the state of Ohio, hit a crucial second-half three to give the Bearcats a 52-51 lead. He followed that with a driving layup for two more and then converted a three point play with 6:07 to give Cincinnati a 72-63 lead.
"Everyone saw tonight why I recruited Jarron Cumberland,'' Cronin said afterwards. "Jarron got better when the game got bigger. That's what I saw in Jarron. He really stepped up;''