Bearcats outlast Deacons in overtime
By Jaret Klose
Senior Reporter

> February 1, 2001

The No. 8 Demon Deacons and the Cincinnati Bearcats were both teams that desperately wanted a win Jan. 27, but after a seesaw battle and a late run by the Deacs that forced overtime, it was Bob Huggins’ team that salvaged the win, and perhaps their season, with a 78-72 win.

In his third impressive game in a row, junior guard Broderick Hicks single-handedly resurrected a nearly dead Deacon offense to erase a 10-point lead with 4:42 remaining.

Hicks sank 13 points during that span in an offensive display capped by a 3-pointer that locked the game at 66 with a minute left.

Hicks’ team-leading 18 points was not enough, however, as the Bearcats (13-6) rallied behind the play of Kenny Satterfield in the extra frame. The Cincinnati guard scored six points to put the Deacons (14-5) away for good in overtime, where it was Hicks’ turn to struggle, missing consecutive 3-point tries, as the team misfired on four straight. Cincinnati outscored the Deacons 12-6 in the overtime.

The Deacons again were hampered by the reduced effectiveness of an ailing Josh Howard, the Deacs’ leading scorer (13.9 per game), who was limited to 18 minutes and four points on the day.

“We’ve been through a tough stretch and it’s not over yet,” Head Coach Dave Odom said. “The people in out league are probably itching to get at us right now and we’ve got to be eager to get to them.”

The Deacons, who had gone 2-4 since starting the season with 12 straight victories, were looking to get back on track after suffering four frustrating conference losses to tough opponents, all of which came on the road, and three of which were at the hands of ranked teams.

Cincinnati was not exactly the cupcake team that the Deacons’ mouths were watering for after such a tough stretch, but the Bearcats had recently fallen on hard times of their own, having lost four of their last seven going into the Jan. 27 game.

As the game unfolded, both teams started off cold but the Bearcats etched out a 19-10 lead after nailing two three pointers in a row. Less than a minute after the offensive outburst, it was Huggins who had an outburst of his own.

The fiery Cincinnati coach was called for a technical foul after jumping and screaming for an over-the-back call on junior Darius Songaila, who for once looked to get away with one.

The Deacons made the most of their opportunity and reeled off an 11-2 spurt and clawed their way to a 28-26 halftime advantage.

The iron was no kinder to the Deacon shooters in the second half though, as the team shot only 37 percent from the field going 6-for-20 on 3-point attempts, while the Bearcats knocked down their attempts at a clip of 44 percent.

Free throw shooting helped keep the Deacons alive, but their advantage from the charity stripe was negated by the 14 turnovers that they committed.