The Cincinnati Bearcats led 61-54 with 2:37 to play and never scored again, falling 63-61 to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Monday night, November 9, at Fifth Third Arena, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. A crowd of 10,419 watched Bobby Durkin’s late 3-pointer complete Minnesota’s comeback and hand Cincinnati its first loss under head coach Jerrod Calhoun, whose 300th career win will have to wait.
The final seconds were a chain of missed chances, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Isaac Asuma pulled Minnesota within a point with 14 seconds left. Cincinnati’s Myles Colvin missed a free throw with 10 seconds to go, Asuma missed one for Minnesota, and MJ Collins Jr. rebounded and was fouled — but Collins missed the front end of a one-and-one. Still up 61-60, Cincinnati then watched Durkin bury a 3-pointer — his first make after starting 0-for-5 — for the win, leaving the Bearcats only a last-second heave.
Tylen Riley carried Cincinnati’s perimeter offense, hitting six 3-pointers, but the rest of the team went 1-for-20 from the arc and the Bearcats finished 7-for-29 (24.1%) from long range, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Minnesota, meanwhile, got 26 points and 10 rebounds from Kyan Evans, the Enquirer reported.
Minnesota also owned the glass, outrebounding Cincinnati 40-28, at one point in the second half holding a 12-rebound advantage, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. “To hold a team to 63 and not win is incredible to me,” Calhoun told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “We’ve worked on rebounding for about five or six straight days. It’s something we have to continue to address.”
Minnesota head coach Niko Medved called the game “an old-fashioned rock fight,” The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The win was Minnesota’s first over Cincinnati since 1984, and it moved the Golden Gophers to 3-0 while the Bearcats fell to 2-1. It is the earliest loss for a Cincinnati team since the 2020 squad dropped its second game to Xavier, the Enquirer noted.
The problems started early. Cincinnati fell behind 7-2, Calhoun substituted all five starters at once, and 12 Bearcats had played by halftime, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati recovered to lead 30-23, then went more than four minutes without scoring as Minnesota tied it 30-30 at the half — the first of two droughts that doomed the Bearcats. Calhoun told The Cincinnati Enquirer the team is still searching, with starting center Jayden Hastings out and guard Javontae Campbell inching back from a foot injury.
What happens next: Cincinnati plays its first road game of the season on Saturday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. against the Dayton Flyers at UD Arena, a series the Bearcats lead 62-32 and have won the last two meetings in, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
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