Cincinnati, OH – Sean Kilpatrick scored a career-high 36 points and made a layup with 4.3 seconds left in overtime to lift the Cincinnati Bearcats over the 25th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles, 71-69.
Trailing by three, 69-66, Marquette's Davante Gardner grabbed a big offensive rebound and made a layup -- his first field goal of the night. He was fouled on the play and made the ensuing free throw to tie the game with 14.8 seconds remaining in overtime.
Kilpatrick made a contested layup at the other end to give the Bearcats a 71-69 lead with 4.3 ticks left on the clock. Junior Cadougan missed a short jumper as time expired.
"I just felt like if they just give me a little breathing room then I was at least going to try to get the lay up if anything," Kilpatrick said.
Titus Rubles added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bearcats (16-3, 4-2 Big East), who have won three in a row.
Vander Blue ended with 19 points and eight boards for the Golden Eagles (13-4, 4-1), who had a six-game winning streak snapped. Gardner had 15 points, including a 13-of-15 effort from the foul line, while also pulling down 11 rebounds.
Trailing by five, 59-54, with under three minutes to play in regulation, Marquette put together a 7-2 spurt. Todd Mayo was fouled on a shot from beyond the arc with 2:32 to go. He made just one shot from the foul line, but Gardner grabbed the offensive rebound. Gardner made two free throws to cut the gap to 59-57.
The margin was the same following Rubles' layup and a pair of Gardner free throws.
David Nyarsuk had a chance to extend Cincinnati's lead, but missed a pair of free throws with 1:17 left. Trent Lockett's tip-in at the other end tied the contest at 61.
Kilpatrick was fouled on a jumper and made two free throws to give the Bearcats the lead with 14.6 seconds remaining. Gardner responded with a pair of foul shots of his own to tie the game at 63 with 2.9 ticks left on the clock.
Rubles' long inbound pass was picked off by Blue, who missed a half-court shot.
Kilpatrick's jumper gave Cincinnati a 68-66 lead with 57.2 seconds to go in overtime. Mayo missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing Marquette possession. Gardner seemed to be fouled as he fought for the rebound, but there was no call. The ball went out off Gardner, who fell to the ground in pain.
Kilpatrick made 1-of-2 from the line to give the Bearcats a 69-66 edge with 25 seconds to go. Gardner, who was still in obvious pain, returned to the court and grabbed a big offensive rebound off Mayo's missed 3-pointer.
Cincinnati started the game on fire and led 29-13 at the half.
However, Marquette started the second half on an 11-2 run to get back in the game. Blue made a trio of 3-pointers during the burst to cut the gap to 31-24.
Trailing by eight, 43-35, with 10:48 left, the Golden Eagles went on an 11-4 flurry. Cadougan's layup with 7:12 remaining cut the gap to 47-46.
"We started slow. That is not our game. We usually come out fast. It was like boot camp came to session in the second half," Gardner said.
Game Notes
Cincinnati owns a 27-19 advantage in the all-time series ... Each team made eight 3-pointers ... Rubles went 10-of-12 from the foul line ... Cincinnati senior point guard Cashmere Wright was sidelined with a sprained right knee.
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