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The #16 Bulldogs earned a crucial win at Hinkle Fieldhouse against the #22 Cincinnati Bearcats bringing their record to 9-1. The win was critical after a tough road loss to Indiana State on Larry Bird’s birthday (honestly, he won that game for them and no one else did).
The biggest surprise of this game came before it even started.
The sellout crowd was casually filling into Hinkle, everyone was in high spirits, the starting lineups come in and...
KELAN MARTIN WAS BENCHED, PEOPLE. HE WAS SUPER BENCHED, AND IT WAS THE WILDEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN.
Avery Woodson was benched also, but, like, slightly less surprised about that one. Starting in their places were freshman and campus buzzer beater hero Kamar Baldwin and redshirt freshman sharpshooter Sean McDermott. No one saw this coming.
What I did see coming was Martin coming in around the under 16 minute timeout and putting up a cool 11 points on 50 percent shooting from the field in the first half. Martin would finish with 20 points, four rebounds and two assists.
The first half was a tight contest with Cincinnati hitting a three before the buzzer to tie the game at the half.
The Dawgs took over in the second half however, with Tyler Lewis and his offense leading the way. A balanced scoring effort by all Dawgs today and achieved the W in a real team effort game.
Three things we learned
No one is too good to get benched
After a subpar performance at Indiana State and allowing the free throws that won the game on Wednesday night, Martin did not start today’s contest. Doesn’t matter that he’s the team’s leading scorer. Doesn’t matter that he’s in POY contention. Holtmann made a calculated call today, and it paid off in the end.
Chrabascz is our king
If the Bulldogs didn’t have Andrew Chrabascz, they would be an absolute mess. He is the senior floor leader and the person who keeps the team the most together. He also day in and day out does his job with a 12 point, four rebound and five assist performance today.
BRING ON THE HOOSIERS
The Crossroads Classic is exactly one week away. The Dawgs have shown they have the chops and talent to play Indiana University. Can they pull off the upset?