In perhaps the worst management of a late-game situation of the college basketball season, Cincinnati gifted Colgate a win Saturday, falling 67-66 on its home court in excruciating fashion. The Bearcats were tied with Colgate 66-66 with 4.7 seconds remaining when Cincinnati star Jarron Cumberland inexplicably threw up a halfcourt prayer that clanked off the back of the rim.
It's possible Cumberland wasn't aware of the situation, but nonetheless, the miss was the worst of Cincinnati's worries. Colgate grabbed the rebound and teammate Jaevin Cumberland committed a foul on Colgate's Tucker Richardson, which sent him to the charity stripe where he hit the go-ahead free throw to seal the upset.
This is an all-time collapse. Cincinnati coach John Brannen threw his hands up in confusion as soon as Cumberland let the ball fly; teammate Mika Adams-Woods did the same on the court. The rest can be summed up by how the Cincy bench responded. Even the announcer on the call couldn't help from yelping, "What is he doing?!"
"He didn't know what the score was," said Brannen after the game, via The Cincinnati Enquirer. "I know I've never experienced anything like that before."
Brannen was befuddled amidst the chaos and confusion of the heave, but clear-headed after the game, he leveled with reporters and left open the option for him to switch around personnel moving forward.
"I've got to do a better job putting the right guys on the floor," he said. "If that means sitting guys that are popular, it's unpopular. I've got to do what's right for our program right now, and that's on me."
Cumberland, who averaged 18.8 points per game last season, finished with eight points in the loss. He's averaging 13.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for the Bearcats, who with the loss fall to 6-4, this season.