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Video: No. 24 Cincinnati wins in final second of OT

Jacob Evans

Cincinnati guard Jacob Evans (1) celebrates a three point shot against Marshall in overtime of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won the game 93-91. (AP Photo/Gary Landers)

AP

Cincinnati took the old adage of “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” pretty seriously Thursday.

The 24th-ranked Bearcats got the game-winning bucket with 0.7 seconds remaining in overtime from Troy Caupain to defeat Marshall, 93-91, after a first half in which the Thundering Herd lit up the Cincy defense.

Cincinnati was a 21-point favorite against the Thundering Herd, but Marshall made 14 first-half 3-pointers to take a 12-point lead into halftime after scoring 50 points. The Bearcats have seven games this year where opponents haven’t been able to escape the 50s in an entire 40 minutes (or 45 in a 55-54 OT win over Iowa State).

Thing corrected themselves in the second half as Marshall was able to only make three shots from distance in the final 25 minutes.

The Bearcats got huge efforts from Garry Clark and Jacob Evans. Clark was 12 of 15 from the field for 26 points while Evans added 25 on 9 of 15 shooting.

It’s hard to chalk up the night anything other than tough luck for the Bearcats as they’ve been pretty stingy all season in 3-point defense. They don’t give up a big percentage or many attempts from deep. Still, struggling against Marshall at home is a reminder that Cincinnati hasn’t exactly accomplished a ton during the non-conference schedule. They’ve got that win at Iowa State, something few teams can claim in recent years, but that’s their only notable win, unless beating Penn State on a neutral floor moves the needle for you.

Cincinnati may be the class of the AAC, which starts play next week, but their body of work to this point doesn’t give them the look of an overwhelming favorite.