Cincinnati Bearcats at Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Coin flip gives Cincy top seed in AAC tourney

The Bearcats (26-5, 15-3) were picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, a league that currently has five teams ranked in the top 20.

Cincinnati clinched a share of the regular-season crown with 24 points from senior Sean Kilpatrick in a tough 70-66 win over Rutgers on Saturday. The Bearcats will be the top seed in the conference tournament.

"I am really proud of the guys," Cronin said. "To be able to grind out a regular-season championship, 15-3 in this league is pretty strong."

Two hours after beating Rutgers, Cincinnati settled for a share of the title when No. 11 Louisville routed No. 19 Connecticut 81-48.

Cronin didn't seem to care.

"In my mind, we won a championship no matter what. Whether it is shared or not, you're conference champs," he said.

The tiebreaker based on the teams' results against UConn, Memphis and SMU failed to determine the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Memphis, so a coin flip settled the question.

Cronin was not upset that his team struggled against Rutgers, which has now lost 13 of 17 games and will be the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament. He said they were tired after an emotional win over Memphis on Thursday.

Kilpatrick, who didn't score a basket less than six minutes remained in the first half, carried the team late. He converted a three-point play and drove the lane for a layup in the final 68 seconds as the Bearcats rallied from a point down late to win.

"I saw the (shot) clock going down and there was like six seconds left and I said: `You know what? If I get fouled, I get fouled, and then Coach isn't going to be mad," Kilpatrick said.

Justin Jackson had given Cincinnati a 65-64 lead with 1:46 to play, scoring underneath after Kadeem Jack blocked his original shot in the paint.

"We have a couple of tremendous closers in Justin and S.K.," Cronin said. "Justin's putback was sheer will. He was just not going to be denied."

Kilpatrick pushed the lead to four points with his back-door layup and free throw. The senior closed out the scoring with 17 seconds to play after Kerwin Okoro scored on a goaltending call against Jackson.

Jackson finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds despite second-half foul trouble. The Bearcats did not have another player in double figures, but they limited Rutgers to two points in the final 3:16.

J.J. Moore had 19 points and Jack added 15 and 12 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights, who rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to threaten Cincinnati's chances for its first share of a league title since winning Conference USA in 2003-04. Myles Mack added 10 points and nine assists.

The Scarlet Knights face 10th-seeded South Florida on Wednesday.

Trailing 63-58 after Kilpatrick's 3-pointer rolled in with 6:12 to go, Rutgers held Cincinnati scoreless for more than four minutes and took a 64-63 lead on a jumper by Mack with 3:18 remaining.

How can I watch Cincinnati vs. Rutgers?

• TV Channel: Cincinnati at Rutgers 2021 College Basketball, week 18, is broadcasted on ESPNEWS.
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