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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Leonard Stokes knew Tamar Slay was going to
take the last shot. Better yet, he knew how Slay was going to try
to get open.
Stokes forced Slay into a decisive turnover and made four free
throws in the final 31 seconds Tuesday night as Cincinnati (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today; No. 16 AP) pulled out a 79-75 victory over Marshall.
Cincinnati (2-0) blew a 15-point lead in the first half but
managed to come out ahead in a back-and-forth finish because Stokes
did his homework.
Stokes hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 31 seconds left to put
Cincinnati ahead 75-74 and set up the decisive moment.
Marshall (1-1) called a timeout to set up a last shot. Slay got
the ball at the top of the key, backed up a couple of steps and
changed hands with his dribble as he started to his right.
Stokes had seen this before.
"I watched a lot of tape the last two days," Stokes said.
"That's his go-to move. He takes two steps back and crosses over
(with his dribble). When I saw him take those two steps, I was
ready for it."
Stokes slapped the ball, which bounced off Slay's leg and rolled
out of bounds with 8 seconds left. Stokes was fouled on the
inbounds pass and hit both free throws, putting Cincinnati in
control of a game so close that it was decided by a crossover move.
"I wanted to take my man off the dribble and he was sitting on
my crossover," said Slay, who scored 28 points. "The ball went
off my foot and out of bounds. That's basketball."
When Marshall coach Greg White called a timeout with 27.8
seconds remaining to set up the last play, he felt good about his
chances.
"If someone would have told me when I scheduled this game that
we were going to play for 39 1-2 minutes, it was going to be a
one-point game and we'd give the ball to Slay, I'd have liked my
chances," he said. "You just don't expect that turnover at the
end of the game. He just made a mistake."
Donald Little led Cincinnati with 18 points and Stokes added 15
as the Bearcats overcame an off-night by point guard Kenny
Satterfield, who was only 4-for-18 for 12 points.
Slay's turnover was his only bad moment. He scored 20 of his 28
points in the first half, helping the Thundering Herd overcome a
poor start and make a game of it.
Little, a 6-foot-11 center who took over for No. 1 overall NBA
draft pick Kenyon Martin, dominated inside as Cincinnati pulled
ahead 21-6. He went 5-of-6 from close range as the brawnier
Bearcats got the ball inside and got the best of the matchups on
the front line.
While Little had his way, the Thundering Herd lost their
composure. Marshall missed six of its first eight shots and had six
turnovers while Cincinnati built its 15-point lead.
After a timeout, Marshall switched defensive strategies, going
to a packed-in zone that slowed Cincinnati's front line.
Slay pumped some confidence into the Thundering Herd by hitting
a 3-pointer and adding three-point play, starting a 17-point run.
He finished the spurt with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws
that put Marshall up 23-21.
The game was tied four times and the lead changed hands three
times in the rest of the half, which ended with Cincinnati ahead
41-39.
Travis Young hit a pull-up jumper and a fast-break layup and
Slay hit three free throws for a 46-41 lead, Marshall's biggest to
that point. Cincinnati extended its man-to-man defense to finally
get Slay in check.
There were two more ties and nine lead changes the rest of the
way.
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