BACKPAGE SPORTS
December 14 2009
TUTU Too Much for UC in 2 OT's
In an Instant Classic Xavier proved once again they are the best college basketball program in the city with a thrilling 83-79 double overtime win over U.C. Terrell 'Tutu' Holloway put his team on his back with 26 points on 11-11 shooting from the free throw line. The win was Xavier's 3rd straight over their cross-town rival and the 10th in their last 14 meetings.
June 29, 2009
THEY COULD TASTE IT!
Almost! Damn! 3 second half goals by Brazil foiled the U.S. men's national teams bid for a second straight major upset. It was close though and should give these guys confidence going into next year's world cup.
April 28, 2009
Roy Toys
The Reds futility against Roy Oswalt continued as the Astros posted 3 runs in the ninth inning and knocked off the Reds 4-1 in front of a lowly crowd of about 12,000.
April 24, 2009
ROAD WARRIORS
The Reds completed their 10 game road swing with a 7-1 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
April 23, 2009
Johnny On The Spot!
Johnny Cueto hurled seven shut out innings and the bull pen followed suit to secure a 3-0 road win for the Reds over the Cubs in Chicago. The win assured the Reds of a winning road trip.
April 21, 2009
Winning Ways!
The Reds keep finding ways to win like last night in Houston when they came from behind to post a 4-3 victory. With the win the Reds took 3 out of 4 in Houston and are now 7-5 overall. Bronson Arroyo is now 3-0 marking the first time a Reds pitcher has started a season with 3 wins since 1997.
April 20, 2009
Pitcher in a Pinch!
It's nice when you have a pitcher on the bench that can hit for real! That is what the Reds have in Micah Owings and he delivered a key pinch-hit double in the Reds 4-2 road win at Minute Maid Park vs. the Houston Astros.
April 10, 2009
MIAMI ICE!
Miami won their national semi-final game 4-1 and now will skate with
Boston U. Saturday for the National Championship!
April 9, 2009
No Pitching, No Defense
The Reds made key fielding blunders and did not get quality starting pitching in dropping a tough 9-7 loss to the New York Mets.
April 7, 2009
FLIP FLOP
After a night to sleep on it, Sean Miller decided to pack his bags for Arizona. Miller spent 8 great years at Xavier, 5 as an assistant. As hard as it is for Xavier fans to see him go, the program will continue to move on. Look for Xavier to move quickly in their pursuit of a new head coach.
March 27, 2009
TOUGH ONE
In a hard fought battle which saw Xavier stand tall against #1 Pitt, the Muskies fell 60-55.
A half a shoe length and a lucky 3 point bomb did Xavier in in the final minutes.
March 23, 2009
TWO SWEET!
For the second straight year Xavier advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament with a 60-49 win over Wisconsin. In a defensive battle that wasn't pretty at times Xavier finally wore down the Badgers and got some great energy off the bench. Next up is a date with #1 seed Pittsburgh which happens to be Sean Miller's alma mater. Xavier has been
knocked out of the last two tournaments by #1 seeds, let's hope the third try is the charm!
March 21, 2009
MAKIN' NOI-SE in BOISE!
#4 seeded Xavier looked that part of a high seed with a convincing 77-59 NCAA Tournament first round victory over #13 seeded Portland St. Xavier's defense and depth seemed to be too much for the Vikings who appeared out of gas late in the second half. Up next for the Musketeers is a tough second round Match vs. #12 seeded Wisconsin who pulled the upset over #5 seeded Florida St. The game will be played in Boise at 2:20 eastern time.
March 16, 2009
The SEED has SPRUNG!
Xavier earned a #4 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament and will face #13 seed Portland St. this Friday in Boise, Idaho at 7:25p.m. eastern time. The 25-7 Muskies obviously impressed the tournament committee with their aggressive out of conference scheduling in the early part of the season which planted the seed for this positioning in March.
March 13, 2009
A March Face
Xavier put their March faces on and made it look easu in a 66-47 rout of St. Louis in the A-10 quarter finals. Up next is a game with Temple tonight at 6:30p.m.
March 12, 2009
N.I.T. or Bust...
After getting bounced in the first round of the Big East tournament in a dreadful performance against Depaul, U.C. coach Mick Cronin says it's the N.I.T. or nothing for his Bearcats. New tournaments like the CBI which U.C. played in last year will be of no interest to this Bearcat team according to Mick.
March 6, 2009
3-Peat!
Xavier jumped out to a quick early lead and never looked back in routing their rival Dayton 76-59. The win on senior night gave Xavier their third consecutive regular season A-10 conference championship.
March 5, 2009
Meet 'L-A-V-E-R-A-N-U-E-S'
The Cincinnati Bengals wasted little time finding a replacement for T.J. Houshmandzadeh after his departure for Seattle and have signed free agent and former New York Jet Laveranues Coles to a 4 year 28 million dollar contract.
March 4, 2009
Not Ready for Big Time
The University of Cincinnati Bearcats saw just about any fleeting hopes of earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament vanish with a brutal 70-59 loss at South Florida. The win for the Bulls marked the first time they have reached 4 Big East wins in a given season. After being challenged by their coach Mick Cronin for not being ready on Sunday against Syracuse, it appears this Bearcat squad, though improved, is simply not ready yet to compete in March Madness.
March 3, 2009
T.J. follows Jr.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh chose to continue his football career with the Seattle Seahawks after a frenzied free agency period. 'Housh' becomes the second now former Cincinnati superstar to head to Seattle following Ken Griffey Jr. who agreed to a return to the Emerald City last week. Must be the rainin' more green out there!?!
March 2, 2009
ORANGE CRUSH!
The University of Cincinnati Bearcats may have seen their NCAA Tournament bubble burst in an 87-63 drubbing at the hands of Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in a game that wasn't even that close. The Bearcats were dreadful in the first half and trailed at the break 40-17. U.C. is now 8-8 in the Big East with all 8 wins coming against the bottom 9 teams in the league and all 8 losses coming against the top 7 teams in the league.
February 26, 2009
Closure!?
The circus that was Bob Huggins return to the University of Cincinnati is over. After a tearful video tribute and a huge ovation, a basketball game was played. It wasn't pretty but the Bearcats got a much needed 65-61 conference win. Let's now hope U.C. fans can move on and support their team which is showing more and more they are becoming a factor in the Big East.
February 23, 2009
Home is where the wins are.
musketeerscoop.com
(love the GW coaches reaction to letting Redford get open!)
Xavier shook off their third consecutive road loss at Charlotte with a comfortable 71-53 home win against George Washington in front of yet another sell out at Cintas Center. The Muskies used hot shooting in the first half and steady play in the second half to cruise to the their 22 victory of the season and their 23 straight win at home vs. conference foes.
February 22, 2009
Opportunity Missed
The Cincinnati Bearcats missed a golden opportunity at home to capture a quality win as they couldn't keep #7 Louisville off the boards in a 72-63 loss. U.C. is now 0-8 against top 25 R.P.I. teams, a stat that will work against them on Selection Sunday in 3 weeks. Opportunities still loom as Bob Huggins brings West Virginia to town this Thursday.
February 20, 2009
Everybody's Superbowl
#16 Xavier dropped their third straight conference road game with a 65-60 loss to Charlotte last night. As is typical when the Muskies roll into an A-10 arena, the fans were doing a 'white out' and rushed the court upon winning. At 21-5 Xavier is still in great shape for a high NCAA seed.
February 17, 2009
T.J. Houshmand-GONZA!
It's almost all but certain that T.J. Houshmandzadeh has played his last game as a Cincinnati Bengal as he can now move forward as an unrestricted free agent without fear of being franchise tagged. The Bengals decided to tag kicker Shayne Graham thus ending speculation and clearing the way for T.J. to freely deal with other teams.
February 13, 2009
MICK MUST BE SICK?
U.C. basketball coach Mick Cronin made a statement to the Enquirer's Bill Koch that Syracuse, currently in 8th place in the Big East, would win the A-10 this year??? This is the same Syracuse team that can defend anybody. Are you kidding us Mick? It appears he must be feeling the pressure of trying to make the N.C.A.A. Tournament in a year his over-bloated conference is imploding against itself...
February 12, 2009
NOT LIKING THE 'D'
For the most part this season Xavier has played excellent defense except ironically when they play a team whose name starts with the letter 'D'. Duke, Duquesne, and now Dayton which represent 3 of Xavier's four losses have had stellar shooting nights against the Muskies normally stingy defense. Dayton's 71-58 win last night also ended a streak of 6 straight losses to Xavier.
February 10, 2009
Thanks for ???
There are wide ranging emotions today in Cincinanti now that the departure of U.C. President Nancy Zimpher is official. Leave it to the best person in town at being able to put things in perspective for us to do so once again...Paul Daugherty.
February 9, 2009
Cats Coming Into Focus
It would have been hard to believe just a month ago but with their thrilling O.T. win at Georgetown over the weekend the U.C. Bearcats have put themselves in position to play their way into the NCAA Tournament.
February 8, 2009
Dukes not Duke but Waxed Just the Same
The Dukes of Duquesne shot 81% in the first half to open up a 15 point lead and were able to hold on down the stretch and knock off #9 Xavier sending the Muskies to their first conference defeat.
February 6, 2009
Blue and White Delight!
musketeerscoop
On blue and white night at Cintas Center in front an E.S.P.N. national television audience, #9 Xavier used their inside-outside game to perfection and knocked off the pesky Owls of Temple 83-74. The win was Xavier's 20th of the season and they improved to a perfect 8-0 in conference play. Senior B.J. Raymond scored 20 plus for the fourth straight game.
February 5, 2009
U.C. Eyes March
The U.C. Bearcats have put themselves in position to make an outside run for bid to the N.C.A.A. Tournament with a big 93-83 win over the Irish of Notre Dame. Lead by Deonta Vaughn's 34 points and sparked by a career high 21 points by Sophomore Larry Davis, the Bearcats improved to 15-8 overall and 5-5 in the tough Big East Conference. The only downer was only 7,692 fans made it down to U.S. Bank Arena to witness the emerging Bearcats gutty performance.
February 3, 2009
Don't Skip This Classic
Xavier and Wake Forest made it official that the two schools have agreed to a 10 year home and home contract which will be called the "Skip Prosser Classic" named after the former head coach of both universities who passed away tragically last year. The first match up will take place in Winston Salem N.C. next season.
February 2, 2009
Wild beats Bear
U.C. blew a late 7 point first half lead to trail by 1 at the half and then the Wildcats of Villanova
just thumped the Bearcats in the second half and won going away 71-50.
February 1, 2009
NO MASS!
musketeer scoop
#10 Xavier survived a scare at Cintas Center against UMass by coming up clutch down the stretch in a
gut wrenching 82-80 conference victory. With the win the Muskies remain perfect in A-10 play.
January 30, 2009
West Seeing Stars
For the second consecutive year former Xavier star and current New Orleans Hornet David West has been named a
member of the Western Conference All-Stars and will be playing in this years NBA All-Star game on February 15th.
January 29, 2009
The visitors were:
SNOW JOBBED
Though the snow storm in town made the crowds somewhat more sparse than they normally would have been, that didn't stop the home teams from taking care of business. #10 Xavier held Charlotte to 13 first half points and cruised to a 69-47 win to remain perfect in the A-10. Across town in Clifton the Bearcats sent #25 Georgetown to yet another defeat scoring the final 5 points in a big 65-57 Big East victory.
January 26, 2009
How Far Can They Go?
After coming home to Cincinnati with their impressive road win ending LSU's 17 game home court winning streak and poised to re-enter the top 10 in today's polls, is this version of Xavier ready to duplicate or even surpass last years team?
January 25, 2009
Tiger Den Tamed!
Before a sold out crowd, which was the largest crowd to attend a L.S.U. Tigers basketball game in 3 years, #13 Xavier locked down their defense in the second half, nailed their free throws down the stretch, and came away with a solid 80-70 road win.
January 23, 2009
We're Broke!
Reds CEO Bob Castellini declared yesterday that due to the economy the Reds will not have any more money
to spend on this year's up coming team and what you see will be what you get.
January 22, 2009
SHOOTING THE STITCHES OUT OF IT!
Xavier freshman guard Brad Redford continues to play a more important role for the Muskies as his amazing shooting really is giving them a boost off the bench. In last night's 84-64 drubbing of St. Bonaventure, Redford sparked a first half surge by nailing 3 straight 3 point shots. This all while playing with 16 stitches he had to receive in his upper lip the day before after catching an elbow in practice. Up next for Xavier is a trip to the L.S.U. Saturday for a tough out of conference clash. N.B.A. stars David West and James Posey who now play for the New Orleans Hornets are expected to attend.
January 21, 2009
AT LAST!
We finally have a President who's favorite sport is basketball and he can play!
January 20, 2009
1 Game Winning Streak is Over
U.C.'s quest to start a winning streak in Big East play came to an abrupt stop at 'The Dunk'
as Providence completed the season series sweep of the Bearcats with a 72-63 victory.
January 19, 2009
X's Sunday Sermon-DEFENSE!
Xavier's defense held a LaSalle team averaging 74 points per game to 53, including a
season low 22 in the first half as the #15 Muskies cruised to a 73-53 victory.
January 17, 2009
Not So Smiling Andy
In a case of making a bad situation worse, Ole Miss Coach and former U.C. Coach Andy Kennedy's
wife has filed a lawsuit against the Cabbie and Valet involved in last months
incident outside a Cincinnati night club which saw Kennedy arrested for assault.
January 16, 2009
A Rhode Win is a Road Win...
Xavier was able to pull out a hard fought road win against the Rams of Rhode Island, 67-65. Although they turned
the ball over 22 times and endured 11 ties and 11 lead changes, Dante Jackson's cold blooded 3 pointer from
the left wing with 1:41 to go gave Xavier a two point lead they managed to hang on to.
January 15, 2009
Rutgers the Remedy!
In a battle of two Big East teams still looking for their first conference win of the year,
U.C. overcame a 16 point first half deficit and rallied to win against Rutgers 71-59.
January 14, 2009
Nothing Meek(s) About It!
U.K.'s Jodie Meeks dropped 54 points against Tennessee in Knoxville last night
helping lift his Wildcats to a big road SEC victory, 90-72.
January 13, 2009
Together Again?
It's January so rumors about baseball moves are everywhere but there is a report the Reds have talked with Barry Bonds about reuniting with Dusty Baker here in Cincinnati and that there is mutual interest...stay tuned!
January 12, 2009
B.J. Bombin' in the Bronx!
B.J. Raymond's hot shooting helped carry #16 Xavier to an 86-60 rout over Fordham
yesterday at the Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx, N.Y.
January 11, 2009
Better effort, same lame result...
Though the U.C. Bearcats played with more heart and were only down by 1 at the half, in the end #5 UConn still shot 58% from the field and over 50% from 3 point range enroute to an 81-72 road Big East win.
January 10, 2009
SHOW HIM THE MONEY!
University of Cincinnati and their football coach Brian Kelly are reportedly close to agreeing on a new contract.
Bearcat fans would agree Kelly is worth every penny of the impending new deal.
January 9, 2009
RICK ROLLED
Rick Majerus and his St. Louis Billikens were rolled by #16 Xavier at Cintas Center 70-44 in both teams A-10 opener.
"They kicked our butts, period," Majerus said.
January 8, 2009
WHERE'S THE 'D'?
For the second straight game U.C. allowed their opponent to shoot lights out from 3 point range and despite rallying from 13 points down to tie the game, they couldn't get a key defensive stop down the stretch, which lead to an 87-79 loss to Providence.
January 7, 2009
NO KNIFE NECESSARRY
The Bengals report that tests prove Carson Palmer will not require surgery to his injured
elbow and should be fully recovered for the team's off season workouts.
January 6, 2009
HOOKED IN THE HEART
Ohio St. had their heart broken as Colt McCoy hooked up with Quan Cosby for a 26
yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds remaining to take the Fiesta Bowl crown 24-21.
January 5, 2009
BEAR-GUTTED!!!
U.C. coach Mick Cronin reacts during his team's 84-50 loss at Marquette on Sunday Afternoon.