For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary’s – CLICK HERE.
For David Griggs’ News, Notes and Highlighted Games besides the Shootout – CLICK HERE.
For the latest weekly Under The Radar podcast (along with a bonus Mark Fox update) – CLICK HERE.
Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati are separated by about 3 miles within the city of Cincinnati, and since 1928 they have played each other in the annual Crosstown Shootout. UC leads the series 49-34, although Xavier has had the upper hand in recent memory (winning 14 out of the past 20 meetings).
This rivalry has included coaches like Chris Mack, Mick Cronin, Sean Miller, Thad Matta, Bob Huggins, Skip Prosser and Pete Gillen. Only Ed Jucker has gone on to win two national titles – he was the head coach for Cincinnati during their 1960s heyday that saw 2 national titles and multiple Final 4 appearances. Famous players in recent memory include Sean Kilpatrick, Semaj Christon, Lance Stephenson, Derrick Brown, Lionel Chalmers, Jason Maxiell, David West and Kenyon Martin.
After the early days of the rivalry saw Cincinnati hold a slight 12-10 edge in the series, UC would win a whopping 22 out of 24 games from 1957 to 1979. Xavier would win 6 out of the next 10 Shootouts under the leadership of Bob Staak and Pete Gillen.
Cincinnati also had a second heyday in the early to mid-90s after Bob Huggins took over a dormant UC program that struggled throughout the Tony Yates era. (Yates’ teams did have one shining moment – a Joe Stiffend buzzer-beater at then-Riverfront Coliseum gave UC a 75-73 win over a Xavier team that would advance to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.) After Huggins lost his first Shootout to Xavier in a 90-88 OT thriller at the Cincinnati Gardens, the Bearcats would win 5 out of the next 6 Shootouts. Xavier’s only win in that stretch was an 82-76 win in overtime that was hotly contested; Gillen and Huggins had what can best be described as a contentious postgame display over the behavior of the coaches and benches during the game. This was also a time in which UC went to the Final 4 in 1992 and also to the Elite 8 in 1993 and 1996.
A funny thing happened in the 1996-97 season – UC was ranked #1 in the preseason. They couldn’t even get to Thanksgiving undefeated thanks to Lenny Brown’s legendary buzzer-beater (click here for the shot) to give Xavier a 71-69 win at what was then the Shoemaker Center for the first time. That would not be the only time Cincinnati would come in to the Shootout with a #1 ranking – history would repeat itself 3 seasons later. UC was #1 in the country (including a thrashing of North Carolina in a made-for-TV game in Chicago) and had an excellent core of players in Kenyon Martin, Kenny Satterfield and DerMarr Johnson. Xavier had a couple of veteran players and a superb freshman (David West) – they would win the final Shootout played in the Cincinnati Gardens by a 66-64 score.
Since that time, Cincy’s most notable win was in 2002 when they blasted Xavier 75-55 thanks to Steve Logan’s leadership. Xavier fans will say that West was injured in that game, but that Cincinnati team would go on to dominate Conference USA en route to an eventual #1 seed. However, they were sent to Pittsburgh (a place where top seeds like South Carolina in 1997 and Villanova in 2015 were upset early) and ended up losing to UCLA in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.
Another milestone win for Xavier was in 2004 – after a shot by Lionel Chalmers in the final 10 seconds of the game gave Xavier a 71-69 win at the Cintas Center, Xavier went from 10-9 to a team that would become white-hot along the way, winning all but one game up to an Elite 8 appearance. They blasted then-#1 Saint Joe’s en route to an A-10 title, and would also beat Louisville, Mississippi State and Texas in the NCAA Tournament.
There were not as many games that caught the eye of the nation until the 2011-12 season. After a slightly contentious win by UC in 2011, Xavier was on their way to a blowout win the following season. After some initial words were exchanged, a major brawl ensued at the end of the game that ended up with multiple players being suspended – UC had Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj and Ge’Laun Gwyn suspended for 6 games apiece and Xavier would have Dez Wells, Mark Lyons, Landon Amos and Tu Holloway suspended for multiple games (except Holloway) as well. Strangely, a struggling UC team would go on a run of their own to the Sweet 16 that year, but a Xavier team that was dominant went through a very turbulent season afterward until getting a last-second NCAA Tournament invite of their own (along with a Sweet 16 appearance of their own).
The next two games were played downtown at USBank Arena as a result of the melee, but moved back to both campuses beginning with the 2014-15 season. Tonight, as David Griggs alluded to in his daily writeup, another chapter will be written in this rivalry. Will Cincinnati finally hold serve at home and launch themselves closer to a top NCAA seed, or will Xavier turn a sagging season into another memorable one with a road win?
Throwback Thursday: The Crosstown Shootout
For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary’s – CLICK HERE.
For David Griggs’ News, Notes and Highlighted Games besides the Shootout – CLICK HERE.
For the latest weekly Under The Radar podcast (along with a bonus Mark Fox update) – CLICK HERE.
Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati are separated by about 3 miles within the city of Cincinnati, and since 1928 they have played each other in the annual Crosstown Shootout. UC leads the series 49-34, although Xavier has had the upper hand in recent memory (winning 14 out of the past 20 meetings).
This rivalry has included coaches like Chris Mack, Mick Cronin, Sean Miller, Thad Matta, Bob Huggins, Skip Prosser and Pete Gillen. Only Ed Jucker has gone on to win two national titles – he was the head coach for Cincinnati during their 1960s heyday that saw 2 national titles and multiple Final 4 appearances. Famous players in recent memory include Sean Kilpatrick, Semaj Christon, Lance Stephenson, Derrick Brown, Lionel Chalmers, Jason Maxiell, David West and Kenyon Martin.
After the early days of the rivalry saw Cincinnati hold a slight 12-10 edge in the series, UC would win a whopping 22 out of 24 games from 1957 to 1979. Xavier would win 6 out of the next 10 Shootouts under the leadership of Bob Staak and Pete Gillen.
Cincinnati also had a second heyday in the early to mid-90s after Bob Huggins took over a dormant UC program that struggled throughout the Tony Yates era. (Yates’ teams did have one shining moment – a Joe Stiffend buzzer-beater at then-Riverfront Coliseum gave UC a 75-73 win over a Xavier team that would advance to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.) After Huggins lost his first Shootout to Xavier in a 90-88 OT thriller at the Cincinnati Gardens, the Bearcats would win 5 out of the next 6 Shootouts. Xavier’s only win in that stretch was an 82-76 win in overtime that was hotly contested; Gillen and Huggins had what can best be described as a contentious postgame display over the behavior of the coaches and benches during the game. This was also a time in which UC went to the Final 4 in 1992 and also to the Elite 8 in 1993 and 1996.
A funny thing happened in the 1996-97 season – UC was ranked #1 in the preseason. They couldn’t even get to Thanksgiving undefeated thanks to Lenny Brown’s legendary buzzer-beater (click here for the shot) to give Xavier a 71-69 win at what was then the Shoemaker Center for the first time. That would not be the only time Cincinnati would come in to the Shootout with a #1 ranking – history would repeat itself 3 seasons later. UC was #1 in the country (including a thrashing of North Carolina in a made-for-TV game in Chicago) and had an excellent core of players in Kenyon Martin, Kenny Satterfield and DerMarr Johnson. Xavier had a couple of veteran players and a superb freshman (David West) – they would win the final Shootout played in the Cincinnati Gardens by a 66-64 score.
Since that time, Cincy’s most notable win was in 2002 when they blasted Xavier 75-55 thanks to Steve Logan’s leadership. Xavier fans will say that West was injured in that game, but that Cincinnati team would go on to dominate Conference USA en route to an eventual #1 seed. However, they were sent to Pittsburgh (a place where top seeds like South Carolina in 1997 and Villanova in 2015 were upset early) and ended up losing to UCLA in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.
Another milestone win for Xavier was in 2004 – after a shot by Lionel Chalmers in the final 10 seconds of the game gave Xavier a 71-69 win at the Cintas Center, Xavier went from 10-9 to a team that would become white-hot along the way, winning all but one game up to an Elite 8 appearance. They blasted then-#1 Saint Joe’s en route to an A-10 title, and would also beat Louisville, Mississippi State and Texas in the NCAA Tournament.
There were not as many games that caught the eye of the nation until the 2011-12 season. After a slightly contentious win by UC in 2011, Xavier was on their way to a blowout win the following season. After some initial words were exchanged, a major brawl ensued at the end of the game that ended up with multiple players being suspended – UC had Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj and Ge’Laun Gwyn suspended for 6 games apiece and Xavier would have Dez Wells, Mark Lyons, Landon Amos and Tu Holloway suspended for multiple games (except Holloway) as well. Strangely, a struggling UC team would go on a run of their own to the Sweet 16 that year, but a Xavier team that was dominant went through a very turbulent season afterward until getting a last-second NCAA Tournament invite of their own (along with a Sweet 16 appearance of their own).
The next two games were played downtown at USBank Arena as a result of the melee, but moved back to both campuses beginning with the 2014-15 season. Tonight, as David Griggs alluded to in his daily writeup, another chapter will be written in this rivalry. Will Cincinnati finally hold serve at home and launch themselves closer to a top NCAA seed, or will Xavier turn a sagging season into another memorable one with a road win?