Irish fall to Bearcats to lose 6th straight

CINCINNATI - What was supposed to be a respite turned into another riling loss for Notre Dame.

Sophomore guard Larry Davis scored a career-high 21 points Wednesday night and led a second-half surge that swept Cincinnati to a 93-83 victory over the fast-fading Fighting Irish, who are stuck in their worst rut in 15 years.

"The beat goes on, baby," coach Mike Brey said. "We're struggling."

Notre Dame (14-9, 4-6 Big East) has lost six in a row for the first time since the 1993-94 season, falling apart during the toughest regular-season stretch in school history. The previous five losses came against Top 25 teams - the Fighting Irish had never played so many games in a row against ranked teams in the regular season.

Instead of giving them a break, the Bearcats (15-8, 5-5) gave them more than they could handle, pulling away with a 27-9 run led by Davis early in the second half.

"I love to be under the radar as a team," said Deonta Vaughn, who steadied Cincinnati with a season-high 34 points. "Most teams don't key on your or talk about you. If we keep winning, they'll see what we're capable of."

Luke Harangody had 28 points and 14 rebounds - his 11th consecutive double-double - for Notre Dame, which is having huge problems on defense. The Irish have given up 93 points three times during their losing streak.

"We've got to be able to play defense, get rebounds and stop teams from putting up 90 on us," said Zach Hillesland, who had 11 points.

Vaughn and Davis repeatedly found open shots against a defense that applied very little pressure and ended up fouling to try to catch up. Vaughn went 19-of-22 on free throws, and Cincinnati scored 31 from the line overall as it racked up a season high in points.

Davis started sweating under the bright television lights during his first post-game interview at the podium, prompting Vaughn to break up laughing.

"He ain't never had a media day in his life," Vaughn said. "Look at him! He's sweating!"

Not when it mattered. Davis went 8-of-14 from the field and was the primary defender on 3-point specialist Kyle McAlarney, who was 0-for-5 from behind the arc and finished with 13 points.

"Larry Davis was for us by far the star of the game," coach Mick Cronin said. "He holds McAlarney to 13 points, then turns around and has an unbelievable night with 21 points."

McAlarney also got a technical foul in the first half for shoving, an indication of the building frustration.

"We kind of made some complaints to the refs," McAlarney said. "That's not like us. We're a mature group. When I pushed the guy back, that was frustration, too."

Cincinnati is in the midst of a modest revival, winning five of its last seven games. The upswing includes wins over Georgetown and Notre Dame.

"The new thing for our team is in February, we're playing meaningful games as we're trying to carve out a spot for us in the postseason," Cronin said.

Vaughn scored 16 points in a tempestuous first half that ended in a 37-all tie. Cronin drew a technical foul after repeatedly complaining about calls - he ripped off his jacket and tie in response. McAlarney also got his technical.

The lead changed hands on nine consecutive baskets or sets of free throws. There were three ties and a dozen lead changes in the half, with neither team up by more than five points.

Notre Dame is the conference's top 3-point shooting team, but missed its first four attempts from behind the arc against an extended man-to-man defense. Harangody also missed several point-blank shots, watching them roll off the rim.

"Tonight wasn't one of my best performances," Harangody said. "Some of the frustration got out."

Davis scored 13 points in the first nine minutes of the second half, helping Cincinnati pull out to a 66-52 lead. Davis, who had never scored more than 16 in a game, made three 3s, a pull-up jumper and a driving layup during the decisive spurt.

When the Irish studied Cincinnati's shooters leading up to the game, Davis wasn't considered much of a threat.

"Sometimes when you're karma's weird, you're catching teams that are playing very well," Brey said.

The Irish never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way. They finished 3-of-13 from behind the arc, their season low for 3-pointers made in a game.

The game was played at a downtown arena instead of Cincinnati's campus. The Bearcats occasionally play at U.S. Bank Arena, where they also beat Mississippi State 75-63 on Dec. 18.