University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
13-10,4-6AAC
University of Cincinnati
15-8,8-3AAC
Men's Hoops Wins OT Thriller Against Cincinnati
2/9/2020 6:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UConn Athletic Communications
Feb. 9, 2020
STORRS, Conn. --- For the UConn men's basketball team, the fourth time was the charm.
After frustrating losses in three overtime games this season, two of them in double overtime, the Huskies put one in the win column Sunday, topping Cincinnati, 72-71, before a raucous crowd of 9,409, which was celebrating the 30th anniversary of the opening of Gampel Pavilion.
For the second consecutive game, UConn knocked off the first-place team of the American Athletic Conference, following last Thursday's upset victory at Tulsa.
And for the second consecutive game, freshman James Bouknight (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the way, with a second straight career-high of 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half and overtime.
"It's a validation for all the efforts and what we are trying to build here and just how competitive we've been to win a game like that," UConn Coach Dan Hurley said.
With members of the first UConn team to play at Gampel (1989-90) looking on, the current Huskies (13-10 overall, 4-6 American), who had lost a 16-point decision at Cincinnati on Jan. 1, battled back from a 10-point deficit in the first half, going on a 16-2 run in the final 6:00 to head to the locker room with a 34-30 advantage.
Cincinnati (15-8, 8-3), which came into the game riding an eight-game winning streak over UConn, tied the game within the first 2:00 of the second half, however, and neither team had more than a four-point lead for the rest of regulation time. Bouknight, senior Christian Vital (19 points) and sophomore Brendan Adams (16 points) provided the offensive sparks for UConn.
Bouknight's step-back 16-footer with 1:06 remaining in regulation deadlocked the game, 67-67, and neither team could score before the final buzzer.
"You execute down the stretch by getting stops," Hurley said. "And today, we got stops and won the game by playing great defense."
Cincinnati took the early lead in overtime, 71-68, but a Vital putback and two Bouknight free throws put the Huskies in front, 72-71, with 1:05 left.
UConn's defense put the clamps on the Bearcats the rest of the way, including the last possession, when Cincinnati star Jarron Cumberland had the ball, but could not get a shot off in time against Vital's defense.
"This was just big for our confidence," Vital said. "That month of January was crazy for us. We're losing in double OT, OT, late-game situations. So, for us to go beat Tulsa on the road, who was No. 1 in the conference and then finish a close game today is just building up our confidence as a team."
UConn will continue counting down the final eight games of the regular season this week, traveling to Dallas to meet SMU on Wednesday, and returning home to entertain Memphis on Sunday at the XL Center in Hartford.
