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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- Get the ball to Kenyon. That's what
Cincinnati did Thursday night as the No. 2 Bearcats pulled off a
miracle comeback to stun DePaul 64-62.
|  | | Dick Vitale's player of the year Kenyon Martin could not be denied in the closing moments. |
"You never think you are out of it," Martin said. "If you
quit, why show up?"
The Bearcats trailed by 17 early in the second half. Still down 10 with less than four minutes left, they went to Martin. Again and again. It's what coach Bob Huggins told them to do.
Martin, as he has all season, responded. He scored eight of his
33 points in the final 3:31 and also blocked a DePaul layup. The
Bearcats finally pulled out the win on DerMarr Johnson's jumper
with two seconds left.
"Kenyon just took over the game," Johnson said. "We stepped
up and made the big plays."
After Martin's fourth basket of the final stretch tied the game
at 62 with 22 seconds left, DePaul called time and then tried to
hold the ball for a final shot. But Jermaine Tate stole a pass, got
the ball to Martin and he fed Johnson for his game-winning
17-footer.
"It wasn't just me," Martin insisted. "They got me the ball
in position to make plays and the coach told them to throw it to me
10 straight times. I was a little tired. And then DerMarr hit the
game-winning shot."
Cincinnati (27-2, 15-0 Conference USA) won its 19th straight
league game and did so without second leading scorer Pete Mickeal,
who was benched for undisclosed disciplinary reasons. Huggins said
it was a "coach's decision" but refused to elaborate.
Cincinnati trailed 60-50 before Martin, who matched his career
high, went to work with a series of turnaround shots DePaul
couldn't stop.
"He hit tough shots," DePaul's Lance Williams said. "I put a
hand in his face and played the best defense I could."
But it wasn't enough.
After Johnson's go-ahead basket, Quentin Richardson heaved in a
3-pointer but it came after the buzzer and DePaul had a deflating
defeat.
Richardson led DePaul with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Blue Demons (18-10, 8-7) might need a victory Saturday against Southern Mississippi to make the NCAA Tournament.
"Down the stretch we just couldn't make the plays and we just
couldn't stop Kenyon," Richardson said.
"We led them the whole game and now we have to put it out of
our minds because we have a big game Saturday. We know the
situation we're in."
Mickeal had started all 61 games in his career and 28 straight
this season before landing on the bench Thursday night. Not only
was he averaging 13 points and six rebounds but in the earlier
meeting with DePaul, he held Richardson to seven points.
The Blue Demon loss came before a crowd of 18,253, the largest
ever for a DePaul game at the Allstate Arena -- formerly the
Rosemont Horizon -- since the school began playing at the suburban
facility 20 years ago.
Richardson had 11 by half Thursday night, including three
3-pointers, and the Blue Demons had a 36-29 lead.
The Blue Demons pushed the lead to 17 points in the first five
minutes of the second half and were cruising.
But then Bearcats turned up the defense and ran off nine points
to make it 51-44 with just under 10 minutes left.
Martin's turnaround after a DePaul turnover cut the lead to
60-54 with three minutes left and then after a DePaul shot clock
violation, Martin turned and scored again. Seconds later he blocked
Paul McPherson's layup attempt.
Williams dunked to give DePaul its last lead at 62-60 with 56 seconds to go.
But again Martin worked in the middle and hit a short banker to
tie the game at 62 with 20 seconds to play.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
DePaul Clubhouse
Conference USA
AUDIO/VIDEO
 DerMarr Johnson hits the game-winning jumper.
avi: 952 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Kenyon Martin just won't quit.
avi: 747 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Lance Williams and the Demons hustle to keep the lead.
avi: 895 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Kenyon Martin is head and shoulders above the rest.
RealVideo: | 28.8
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