Vaughn and Co. chalk up B.East win No. 2

UC once again played to the level of their opponent. Depaul, one of the supposed "bottom 8" teams of the B.East that Cincinnati is supposed to run over, almost squeaked out a run big enough to take the lead, and ultimately spell doom for the Bearcats.

Almost.

Normally I would have expected the run to be thwarted by the hot-shooting hands of Vaughn, but this time it was his supporting cast who showed up. You may remember my previous post, commenting on how important it is for UC to come up with someone(s) that can be the other scoring threat when Vaughn isn't taking over the world. Last night's victory was the start of the rest of UC's team taking control of the game. Yes, Vaughn was the leading scorer, and yes, he had the clinching 2 free throws at the end of the game, but those 2 points were his only of the second half. Gates and Williams took over and started proving that their presence underneath is the difference between Marquette-Game UC and new-and-improved UC.

We also could have won because Depaul didn't shoot the lights out behind the 3-point arc, like it seems every team does to us. Or because we actually did (8-16). Whatever reason, UC got their second win in the ridiculous B.East Conference, where any win is gladly accepted, no matter how ugly or difficult it may be. After the past two wins, even though they were against two bottom-tier teams, I'm pumped for the rest of the season. We have 13 games left, of which I think we need at least 7 wins. I'd like 8; or more, obvi.
If Gates takes caffeine again and doesn't fall asleep like he did against Rutgers, and Williams plays a Robin-like role to Vaugn's Batman, I expect us to surprise some people the rest of the season. We're definitely going to beat Georgetown in D.C. because of the added awesomeness of fans that will be in attendance, so that just leaves 7 more wins, 6 against totally beatable teams. Let's Do Work, son.