The University of Cincinnati’s NCAA Tournament journey began March 19 when it faced the No. 9 seed, the Purdue University Boilermakers, at the KFC Yum Center. The 66-65 win in overtime was the first NCAA Tournament win for UC since 2012.

The victory over Purdue did not come easy to the Bearcats. Junior forward Octavius Ellis was ejected from the game four minutes into the second half for a flagrant two foul for hitting Purdue’s A.J. Hammons with a forearm to the face. This marked Ellis’ third ejection of the season.

After Ellis’ ejection, Cincinnati battled to stay in the game as the Boilermakers were in the lead by seven with 48 seconds remaining to play.

Associate head coach Larry Davis gave the players words of encouragement as the game clock was winding down.

“I told them, `You can’t give in. It ain’t over,’ ” Davis said. “I kept telling them, `We can do this. Just don’t give in. Keep fighting, keep defending.’ ”

The comeback started with sophomore Kevin Johnson who landed a three-point shot with 44 seconds remaining. Teammate Troy Caupain followed with another three-point play, but UC was still behind by three points and 38 seconds remained on the clock.

Senior Jermaine Sanders was subbed out, and freshman Gary Clark took his place. Clark was able to bring Cincinnati within one point from a layup at the 29 second mark, making the score 58-57.

UC had possession of the ball returning from a Purdue timeout. Clark set a ball screen, and Caupain then drove to the basket and laid the ball off the glass. It rolled around the rim in a seemingly painful manner and then fell through the net as the time hit zero, sending the game into overtime.

“I knew I could get it up there at least so my teammates could get a chance to rebound it,” Caupain said. “But once I threw it up and it rolled around the rim I stopped, I bent down, I looked up and once I seen it go in and the buzzer went off, all I could do was smile.” 

In overtime, UC and Purdue went back and forth shooting baskets until Coreontae DeBerry made a reverse layup that gave Cincinnati a 64-63 lead with 3:08 remaining to play.

Both teams did not score until junior guard Farad Cobb made a lay up with 28 seconds left to play giving the Bearcats a 66-63 lead. Purdue fouled Caupain, who missed the free throw — giving the Boilermakers one last shot.

Vince Edwards took the final shot for Purdue, but his three-point shot was no good, and that gave the Bearcats a shot at the No. 1 and undefeated University of Kentucky.

“We are a good team, and I feel like sometimes we get a lack of respect in the basketball world,” Johnson said.  “Just to get the opportunity to play the best team in the country is a great opportunity. We’ll go out there with a lot of confidence. We’ve got nothing to lose. It’ll be pretty fun in my opinion.”

Bearcats play Wildcats

Saturday afternoon the Bearcats faced off with the top-ranked team in the country in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament in front of 21,670 fans in the KFC Yum Center.

The contest started off with high energy as the No. 8-seeded UC led Kentucky by five halfway through the first half. Although they trailed by seven at halftime, Cincinnati got within three points in the second half, but was unable to hold off the much bigger Wildcats.

With the 64-51 win over Cincinnati, UK advanced to the Sweet 16 round and will play in the Midwest Regional Thursday in Cleveland against West Virginia.

The Bearcats out-rebounded the Wildcats 45-38 and held them to 37 percent shooting, but lacked offense to get the victory.

Caupain led Cincinnati with 13 points, four assists, four rebounds and one steal. Ellis followed with nine points, 10 rebounds and one steal.

 Octavius Ellis’ 2014-2015 Season Stats

 Points Rebounds BlocksSteals  334 248 67 28

Sophomore Aaron Harrison led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points. Teammate and freshman Trey Lyles finished with a double-double of 11 rebounds and 11 points.

Kentucky’s defense was just too much for the Bearcats as they grabbed a total of 26 defensive rebounds, had seven steals and nine blocks. UC also committed 14 turnovers, which translated to 16 points for the Wildcats.

Cincinnati reflects, looks forward

The Bearcats have much to look back on, as they have a graduating senior in Sanders and they finished their season with a 23-11 overall record — much of it thanks to Davis, who took over for head coach Mick Cronin in late December when doctors discovered a health issue with his brain that prevented him from coaching.

“I’m just as proud of our guys and the fight that they had in them tonight,” Davis said. “They didn’t go out and play with fear. But I am so proud of these guys because of what they have done this whole entire year. In a very difficult situation this year, when we lost our leader, these guys rallied. I am one of the luckiest coaches in the world to have coached them this year.”

Davis was able to lead the Bearcats to a 15-9 record as well as to their fifth-straight NCAA appearance.

Cronin has consistently praised Davis and his assistant coaches, Darren Savino and Antwon Jackson, for a job well done in bringing along a young team with such difficult circumstances.

“I’ve already been working behind the scenes for Larry Davis for some of the [head coach] openings that out there,” Cronin said. “If you’re paying attention, you want somebody coaching at the highest level that has experience and is a great recruiter.”

Next season, all five starters will return for UC, along with new talent that includes incoming freshmen forward Jacob Evans, forward Tre Scott and point guard Justin Jenifer.