For those of us watching the game on ESPN Full Court, we were treated to a less then stellar production. What with effed up involuntary closed-captioning gibberish bouncing all over the screen for stretches throughout the game — including several minutes of a band of letters, symbols and numbers right in the middle of the screen. I guess the bright side of a C-level production crew on the game was they managed to miss a chance to put Bob Huggins on the screen.
Former UC coach Bob Huggins was at the game. Huggins stopped by the Bearcats’ practice Saturday afternoon. Former UC president Joseph Steger was also on hand.
Any doubt that he was in attendance with his close friend and local AAU Coach J.O. Stright? Wonder if he just happened to run into Aliquippa Junior Herb Pope while with Stright during the weekend?
They were able to point out Steeler Kicker and Tar Heel grad, Jeff Reed decked out in a Pitt sweatshirt and knit cap, though.
For Cinci, this was a beating and they were left wondering many things.
The beating was so thorough that interim head coach Andy Kennedy said he thought the Panthers (19-3, 8-3) actually toyed with his team.
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The Panthers compensated for their sloppy play by making 56.1 percent of their shots, and 7 of 17 from 3-point range. They also out-rebounded the Bearcats 43-25.“They just gave it to us,” said UC forward Eric Hicks.
While Hicks, who re-twisted his right ankle early in the game, talked with reporters, the rest of the UC players filed somberly out of the locker room, down the hall and out to the bus for the five-hour ride home.
“We’ve still got games left,” Hicks said. “We’ve just got to win three. It’s still the same thing. We just can’t get blown out no more.”
They have 5 games left to win 3 and finish the season 8-8 in the Big East. Those games are at Syracuse, Providence, Villanova, at Seton Hall and then WVU. It will be dicey. They were just completely outmanned yesterday. White played 33 minutes on a sprained ankle and Hicks played 31 less than a week after a concussion. They really had no chance in this game.
Pitt led for nearly the entire game — the teams were tied twice during the first two minutes — and enjoyed a 43-33 halftime advantage, behind nine points each on a combined 7-for-8 shooting by Gray and Ronald Ramon, who finished with 14 points.
“They dominated us in every area,” Cincinnati interim coach Andy Kennedy said. “They played extremely well. Our team’s margin for error is such that we certainly can’t approach the game with a tentative mindset. Today, we were on our heels the whole game fighting uphill.”
Cincinnati (16-9, 5-6) made a run in the second half, closing within 48-42 before Benjamin ignited a Pitt rally with a 3-pointer, and the Panthers soon established a double-digit cushion for the rest of the way.
Three free throws by Ramon, who posted his third double-figure performance and sixth in the past eight games, moved Pitt, which won its 15th consecutive home game, to a 71-58 lead with 6:37 to go.
Ramon and Benjamin combined to hit 6-of-7 shots from 3-point range, where Pitt finished 7 for 17 (41.2 percent).
While Krauser ended up the leading Pitt scorer with 18, the story was Keith Benjamin coming off the bench to get 16 points.
“When you have a deep bench like we have, it’s kind of hard to play against us,” said senior guard Carl Krauser, who led the Panthers with 18 points. “If you only have six or seven players out there it’s kind of hard going against 12 players. All 12 guys can play and do everything the starters do. They come with great energy and compete so hard. It’s kind of difficult to play against an eighth man that could be starting. That’s a different look we have this year. That’s the type of look that’s going to help us have a good run this year.”
Benjamin was the bench star yesterday, but there is a long list of reserves who have carried the team in games this season. Antonio Graves led the team with 19 points in a win against Marquette. Levance Fields led the Panthers with 13 points in a road win at Louisville. Sam Young has scored in double figures in five of 11 Big East games.
“I think collectively, much more so than individually, is where they beat you,” Cincinnati coach Andy Kennedy said. “Today, for example, they come off the bench with Keith Benjamin. He provided the spark that really started them. I thought Benjamin and the guys they brought off the bench gave them lifts and were factors throughout.”
Benjamin was 5 for 7 from the field and 3 for 3 from 3-point range. When Krauser was struggling in the first half — he was 0 for 6 from the field and had three points at the intermission — Benjamin scored his seven first-half points in about a two-minute span midway through the half. His quick outburst gave Pitt a 21-9 lead with 10:51 remaining in the first half.
In the second half, Benjamin made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions that turned a six-point game into a 12-point game in a little more than a minute.
He did all of his damage in only 18 minutes.
Benjamin said the game plan was for Pitt’s reserves to maintain a frenetic pace because Cincinnati (16-9, 5-6) does not have the manpower to compete with Pitt’s talented bench. Kennedy used a walk-on yesterday who is a tight end on the Bearcats’ football team. Connor Barwin played 19 minutes and has been on the team less than a month.
“We have a 10-man [rotation],” Benjamin said. “We can go out and get the job done. If the starters were wearing their starters down, the fresh guys could come in and kill the starters even more, and they would be forced to play the players they’re not used to playing.”
That strategy was painfully run down Cinci’s throat. It may be employed again on Wednesday against Providence. Another team short on the bench. They have 3 starters playing 30+ minutes a game (McGrath and Curry are playing 36+ in BE Conference play). I will be very curious to see how Pitt shoots from the perimeter on the road.
