UC Bearcats top George Washington in Barclays final, move to 7-0
NEW YORK — With less than two minutes to go, Cincinnati guard Troy Caupain charged hard to the hole, drew the foul and sank the awarded free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play, in contrast to George Washington's repeated marksmanship from outside the arc.
With the Bearcats were clinging to a one-point lead on their next time down the floor, Caupain again drove to the lane. This time his floating shot bounced high off the iron — the ball and the game hanging in the balance — before falling just outside the rim, where forward Octavius Ellis gave the ball a helpful fingertip nudge into the goal.
"It was a crucial moment and a crucial bucket," Ellis said, "so I just stayed with the play and tipped it in."
That gave UC a three-point lead with 41 seconds remaining as it rallied for the 61-56 win in Saturday afternoon's Barclays Center Classic final. Ellis, who had nine points and seven rebounds in the championship game, was named tournament MVP.
No. 24 Cincinnati remained undefeated at 7-0; GW took its first loss and fell to 6-1.
The Bearcats played to their size advantage, one of girth more than height, which led to advantages in rebounding (by seven), blocks (by five) and points in the paint (by eight). Forward Gary Clark had 11 rebounds, seven of the latter in the first half. GW shot just 29% inside the arc and finished with fewer two-point field goals (10) than three-pointers (11).
Ellis had fallen hard to the court on his lower back the previous night, which required heaps of treatment — some ice, some heat, some stim — and made sitting during timeouts difficult, yet he logged 29 minutes and was more productive in the second half.
"He's all heart," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said.
As was the case in its Friday win over Nebraska, UC's offense started cold — it had a 5:22 field-goal drought in the first half — but improved once the low-post presence established itself, which led to inside buckets and kick-outs for outside shots. GW switched to a 1-3-1 zone to start the second half to little effect.
UC guards Farad Cobb and Kevin Johnson, who combined to shoot just 2-of-11 from the floor on Friday, were 9-for-19 with four three-pointers and 11 points apiece on Saturday.
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Caupain hit only five baskets in 14 tries but finished with a team-high 16 points; he also turned the ball over two times, ending a three-game streak of perfect ball security.
The Colonials led for the majority of the game (22 minutes, 36 seconds) but never by more than six. The lead changed 12 times, and the score was tied 11 times.
Early on, the story had been this: GW's superior perimeter passing superseded Cincinnati's stout interior defense.
The Colonials torched Cincinnati from beyond the arc, swishing half their three-pointers — including eight made before halftime — with each made outside basket set up by an assist, many for wide open looks. Cronin said that, in his defensive scheme, it's "imperative" to stop dribble penetration, but early on GW was successful on the first step of a drive to set up the pass.
"Some of their shots were wide open because we were overaggressive on the defensive end, and they also hit some tough shots that were contested," Caupain said. "You'd rather give up a contested three than a layup."
Complicating matters was the wide array of shooters on the roster: Six different Colonials sank threes, with senior guard Joe McDonald leading the way by sinking three. GW only shot 3-of-11 from beyond the arc in the second half, as UC mostly deployed a smaller three-guard lineup in the second half.
"Our attack is speed and to keep people going, wear them down," Johnson said. "As you play 40 minutes of basketball against Cincinnati, we try to run up and down as fast as we can, and I feel like fatigue played a factor."
GW forwards Tyler Cavanaugh and Kevin Larsen entered the afternoon averaging a combined 30 points per game. Against UC, however, Cavanaugh needed 12 shots to score his 13 points while Larsen didn't convert a single field goal, ending the day 0 for 4 with one point and two turnovers, albeit with seven rebounds and four assists.
"We were so concerned with Larsen in the low post," Cronin said. "He's so hard to guard and his passing out of there is a problem. I thought we were too attentive to him in the low post. What good teams do is find the open many, and they exploited it with their passing."