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University of Louisville
CINCINNATI
Cardinals Hold On To Upset No. 4 Cincinnati, 74-71
February 27, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb 27, 2002
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By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Reece Gaines scored 26 points - the final two on a game-clinching breakaway layup with 16 seconds left - to lead Louisville to a 74-71 upset of No. 4 Cincinnati on Wednesday night.
Ellis Myles had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Louisville (16-11, 7-8 Conference USA), which earned coach Rick Pitino his biggest win since he replaced Denny Crum last March.
Steve Logan scored 18 points for the Bearcats (26-3, 13-2), who had clinched at least a tie for their seventh straight regular season league title after No. 9 Marquette's upset loss at East Carolina on Tuesday night.
Bryant Northern's free throw with 37 seconds left gave Louisville a 72-68 lead, but Immanuel McElroy's 3-pointer from the wing with 18 seconds to go trimmed the deficit to one.
Cincinnati called its last timeout after McElroy's shot to set up a defense, but Luke Whitehead heaved a baseball pass to Gaines, and Louisville's 6-foot-6 junior captain made the uncontested layup.
Logan, harassed by Louisville double teams all night, had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but misfired on a 3 from the top of the key.
Louisville defeated the nation's fourth-ranked team for the second straight time at Freedom Hall. Two seasons ago, the Cardinals beat then-No. 4 Syracuse 82-69.
The Bearcats led 38-34 at halftime, building the lead with Logan on the bench with two fouls. His second foul was a technical called by referee Tom O'Neill at the 11:49 mark when Logan complained about getting hit in the mouth on a drive to the basket.
Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins benched Logan the rest of the first half.
Gaines made the resulting free throws and Myles scored inside to give Louisville its first lead at 14-12.
Two baskets by Jason Maxiell put Cincinnati back in front, and the Bearcats eventually extended the lead to 11.
| Video from  |
| Louisville's Reece Gaines comes off the screen and buries the jumper. Louisville's Ellis Myles throws it down in the closing minutes off the backdoor cut. |
Louisville finished the first half with a 9-2 run, capped by Erik Brown's 3-pointer with 49 seconds left.
Cincinnati led 43-40 early in the second half with Logan back on the floor.
Gaines then started a 12-2 Louisville run with a driving layup and two free throws. His first 3-pointer of the game 90 seconds later gave the Cardinals their largest lead at 52-45.
McElroy drew Gaines' fourth foul on a drive with 9:53 remaining, and Pitino took him out.
Cincinnati came back to tie it 62-62 with Gaines on the bench. Pitino put him back in with 5:31 left.
Freshman Larry O'Bannon's free throw with 3:05 remaining broke a 66-66 tie, but Little dunked a putback 30 seconds later to give Cincinnati its last lead at 68-67.
Whitehead scored inside and then fed Myles on a backdoor cut for another basket and a 71-68 lead with 1:33 left.
Logan missed a free throw with 1:00 remaining and then threw a pass out of bounds with 41 seconds left.
Logan finished 7-of-22 from the field, but still managed to score in double figures for the 50th straight game.
The Bearcats had won nine of the last 10 meetings with Louisville, including a 77-50 win in Cincinnati on Jan. 19.
