''I felt bad for him,'' said Brown, who led all scorers with 19 points. ''But I knew it gave us a chance to win.''
''I would just say that I'm very proud of our players,'' XU coach Skip Prosser said. ''I'm very happy for them ... because this is a special moment. They showed a resilience.''
UC (1-1), the No. 1 team in both major polls, will look at this as one that got away.
''I don't want to take anything away from Xavier,'' UC coach Bob Huggins said. ''But we had opportunities to win ... they were hungrier than us.''
Darnell Burton's three-pointer made it 64-62, UC, with 3:11 left to play. UC pushed the lead to five at 68-63 in the next 1 1/2 minutes.
Then it began to crumble for the Bearcats.
XU's T.J. Johnson hit an inside basket to make it 68-65 just 10 seconds later.
UC's Damon Flint missed a long jumper with 47 seconds left, and Danny Fortson fouled XU's James Posey trying to rebound.
It was the fifth foul for
All-American Fortson, who had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Posey hit both foul shots with 41.4 to go. The UC lead was one point, at 68-67.
Burton was fouled on the inbounds play. He hit the first foul shot and missed the second.
''They made free throws and we didn't,'' Huggins said.
UC was still in good shape when XU's Gary Lumpkin threw up a prayer off the drive with 7.1 seconds to go. He missed, but UC knocked the ball out of bounds.
Posey made good on the second chance, hitting a short bank shot off the inbounds pass
with 6.7 to go.
''I was waiting for us to set up the inbounds play,'' Posey said, ''and I was standing there wide open.''
Said Huggins: ''Let me ask you. When you're up two, how do you let a guy step in front of you and shoot it in?''
After UC's Williams turned it over, XU's Brown dribbled free and pulled up and swished a 10-footer at the buzzer.
The play was simple:
''Get the ball to Lenny Brown and get the heck out of his way,'' XU coach Skip Prosser said. ''If he misses it and we lose in overtime, I sleep like a baby tonight ... He has great courage.''
Fortson said something missing from some UC's players.
''Some guys on this team have to go see the Wizard and ask for some toughness,'' he said.
The key to the game was that Xavier had an outside game and UC didn't. The Muskies hit 7-of-18 from 3-point range; UC was 2-for-11. Burton did not score in the first half; Flint was 0-for-5 from 3 range.
''We didn't want to let Burton get 35,'' said Brown. ''We knew Fortson would get his.''
Posey had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Forward Ruben Patterson had 13 points for UC, but most came early.
The game turned ugly with 16:22 left in the half when Fortson and Johnson got into a shoving match.
Both were given technical fouls. When referee John Clougherty tried to separate them, Johnson shoved the referee. His teammates had to physically restrain him.
Neither player was ejected.
Xavier's press fueled a 15-2 XU run - Torraye Braggs scored eight of the 15 - which put the Muskies up 21-15 with 9:10 left in the half.
UC knew it was in for a game, but forged a 31-31 tie by the time the first half ended.
Three straight 3-pointers - two from Brown, one from Lumpkin - gave Xavier a 44-38 lead with 16:44 left.
But the incident with Fortson and Johnson seemed to rattle XU and fire up UC.
UC scored eight straight points to take a 46-44 lead with 12:08 left in the game. It was the Bearcats' first lead since the 9:28 mark in the first half, and it came with Fortson on the bench with three fouls.
After a TV timeout, Williams fed Burton off the fast-break for a dunk. It was 48-44, and the crowd was rocking.
When the Muskies turned it over the next time down, Prosser called time out.
After the TO, Williams hit a pull-up jumper to complete the 12-0 run. UC led 50-44 with 10:14 to go.
Two minutes later, it was a
two-point game, 52-50. There was 8:06 to play, but the fun had just begun.
''That was a defining moment,'' Prosser said. ''Last year, we wilted in those situations.''
This year, UC wilted.
UC leads the series 43-21 and had won five of the last six.
''I'd like to think this was a wake-up call,'' Huggins said. ''But looking at them (UC players) in there (the locker room), I don't know.''
XAVIER (2-0) - Johnson 2-6 5-7 9, D. Williams 1-5 2-2 4, Braggs 3-5 4-4 10, Brown 7-17 1-2 19, Lumpkin 5-12 0-0 13, Posey 4-8 6-8 14, Anderson 0-1 0-2 0, Payne 0-1 2-2 2, Carr 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 20-27 71.
CINCINNATI (1-1) - Patterson 6-12 1-1 13, Fortson 7-10 4-9 18, Julson 0-1 0-0 0, Flint 3-9 4-4 10, C. Williams 2-4 6-8 10, Burton 3-6 1-2 9, Brannen 1-3 3-4 5, Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Monroe 2-3 0-0 4, Levett 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 19-28 69.
Halftime-Cincinnati 31, Xavier, Ohio 31. 3-point goals-Xavier, Ohio 7-18 (Brown 4-8, Lumpkin 3-8, D. Williams 0-1, Posey 0-1), Cincinnati 2-11 (Burton 2-4, Patterson 0-2, Flint 0-5). Fouled out-D. Williams, Braggs, Fortson. Rebounds-Xavier, Ohio 33 (Posey 11), Cincinnati 31 (Fortson 9). Assists-Xavier, Ohio 6 (Lumpkin 4), Cincinnati 6 (C. Williams). Total fouls-Xavier, Ohio 24, Cincinnati 24. Technical fouls-Fortson, Johnson. A-13,176.
SHOOTOUT PAGE
GAME IN PICTURES
PAUL DAUGHERTY COLUMN
XAVIER: 'WE REFUSE TO LOSE'
NOTEBOOK
BEARCATS PAGE
MUSKETEERS PAGE
Published Nov. 27, 1996.
