Strong finish puts No. 25 Cincinnati in mix

Published: March 7, 2011, 2:45 p.m. MST

Cincinnati's Yancey Gates, front,and Ibrahima Thomas ,left, celebrate after Gates hit a three point shot at the buzzer , during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday, March.5 , 2011, in Cincinnati. Tony Tribble, Ap Photo

CINCINNATI — Power forward Yancy Gates was feuding with the coach and hardly getting onto the court. Cincinnati seemed headed for another late-season meltdown that would keep it out of the NCAA tournament again.

But everything changed in a six-game span.

The Bearcats (24-7, 11-7 Big East) have won five of their last six games, knocking off Louisville, Connecticut and Georgetown twice. They put themselves in line for their first NCAA tournament appearance in six years and moved back into the rankings at No. 25 on Monday.

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Coach Mick Cronin says the biggest change is that his players started believing they can beat the best.

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