CINCINNATI SPORTS LAST WEEK

On Wednesday, the UC Bearcats played Pittsburgh at the Panthers' home court. The Cats had defeated them when they played in Cincinnati. John Williamson and Deonta Vaughn came up big for Cincinnati but not big enough. They scored 27 and 24 respectively but UC still lost 73-67. Seventeen turnovers did them in.

The Reds dove full force into spring training this week. Optimism abounds.

At midnight on Thursday, the NFL began its free-agency period. Those without a contract are free to make a deal with another team. The first news was real bad. Madieu Williams was the first to go. He was allowed to sign with the Vikings. Then Justin Smith hit the trail to the 49rs. The Bengals had a bad defense and now two of the few bright spots are gone. Not good...Not good at all. Later in the day, Cincinnati thought they had Detroit defensive tackle Shaun Rogers in a trade for two draft choices. NO-NO-NO they didn't. It was disallowed by the NFL. Rogers goes to Cleveland. Not good...Not good at all. To quote Vince Lombardi, "What the Hell is going on around here."

Saturday, XU played George Washington in Cincinnati and got more than they bargained for. It looked like a walk-over at the beginning but the Colonials closed an 18 point gap near the end of the first half and kept it close right up to the end. Xavier's end of game grit did them well again as they prevailed 66-56. C.J. Anderson had 15 points to lead the Muskies. Jason Love had 13 points and 10 big rebounds. Drew Lavender tried to go but couldn't. He needs to get well in the next two weeks. Ninth rated Xavier is now 25-4 and 13-1 in the A10.


On Sunday, Providence University came to town to play the Bearcats. The Cats ended up with more rebounds, less turn-overs, better free throw percentage and better field goal percentage. The only stat they lost was the final score in overtime, 81-79. The Friars fired up 3-pointers and made enough to win. Sad day for UC. They are now 13-15 overall and 8-8 in the Big East.