Crosstown Shootout

See also: Cincinnati–Xavier rivalry

The Crosstown Shootout is an annual men's college basketball game played between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier University Musketeers. The two schools are separated by 3 miles (4.8 km) in Cincinnati, making the archrivalry one of the closest major rivalries in the country. The game was first played in 1927, and has been played every year since 1946. In recent years, the game has been sponsored by Skyline Chili.

Crosstown Shootout

Cincinnati Bearcats Xavier Musketeers
Sport	Men's basketball
First meeting	1927 Xavier 29, Cincinnati 25
Latest meeting	December 9, 2023 Xavier 84, Cincinnati 79
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Meetings total	91
All-time series	Cincinnati leads 51–40
Largest victory	Cincinnati: 30 points (1964–65)
Longest win streak	Cincinnati, 12 (1956–1967)
Current win streak	Xavier, 5 (2019–present)

3km
2miles

Xavier

Cincinnati

  

Locations of Cincinnati and Xavier

Throughout its history, the game has been played at six different venues including the Armory Fieldhouse and Fifth Third Arena on the UC campus; and the Schmidt Field House and Cintas Center on the Xavier campus. However, the majority of the games have been played at two other sites—Cincinnati Gardens and US Bank Arena. The Gardens has served as the regular home court for both schools at different times, and was even shared by both teams from 1987 to 1989. US Bank Arena was UC's home court from 1976 to 1987 when it was known as Riverfront Coliseum.

From 1989 to 2011, the game alternated between the schools' on-campus arenas. After the 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl at the Cintas Center, the series was moved to US Bank Arena as a neutral site for two seasons before resuming as an on-campus series.

History

The history of the Crosstown Shootout dates back to 1928, when the University of Cincinnati helped St. Xavier College dedicate its brand new, $350,000 Schmidt Fieldhouse, which had a capacity of 4,500. Xavier won the game, 29–25, and the two teams didn't meet again until the 1942–43 season. The teams began playing on an annual basis starting in 1945–46, and from 1948 to 1958, they played each other twice a year.

One unique aspect is player and coach Tay Baker, who was a player and longtime assistant at Cincinnati before taking over as Head Coach from 1965 to 1972. After resigning from UC with a 125–60 record, Baker moved across town where he coached Xavier from 1973 to 1979.

The rivalry between Cincinnati and Xavier is regarded as one of the best in the game. The two schools' short distance apart has distinguished it as a proximity rivalry. From 1990 through 2011 and again since 2015, the game alternates between Xavier's and Cincinnati's campus arenas on a yearly basis.^[1] ESPN's Jay Bilas was quoted as saying, "Cincinnati and Xavier have created a rivalry that is unparalleled when it comes to outright passion and civic division."^[2]

In 1990 a local TV station refused to interrupt their coverage of the Cincinnati–Xavier game for the 1990 State of the Union address.^[3]

The game is widely regarded as one of the hottest tickets in Cincinnati every year. The game is also regularly attended by local legends and sports icons Pete Rose and basketball great and former Bearcat Oscar Robertson.

2011 brawl and changes

Main article: 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl

The 2011 game, a 76–53 Xavier victory, was disrupted at the end by a bench-clearing brawl. As a result of this brawl, Cincinnati and Xavier suspended 4 players each for a various number of games.^[4] The Cincinnati Enquirer reported on May 22, 2012, that due to the brawl, the game would be held at U.S. Bank Arena for the next two seasons. The continuation of the series beyond the 2013–14 season would depend on the behavior of the players and fans.^[5] On June 14, 2012, both schools held a joint press conference at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center announcing that the annual rivalry will now be called "Skyline Chili Crosstown Classic."^[6]

On May 13, 2014, after a two-year series at U.S. Bank Arena, the two rivals announced at a joint press conference that they would return to playing their annual men's basketball game on-campus, ditching the moniker of Classic in the process and returning the series to its previous name of the Skyline Crosstown Shootout.^[7] The agreement for the alternating home-and-home series was for ten years. The first game of the resumed series was held on February 18, 2015, during ESPN's Rivalry Week when Xavier hosted Cincinnati on December 12, 2015, at the Cintas Center.

Crosstown "Tipoff"

In 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic fans competed to leave bigger tips for restaurant workers in a "Crosstown tipoff", a nod to the annual shootout, starting with a tip of $1000 on a $54 carryout order at Zip's Cafe in early January 2021 and accompanied by a note reading "Go Xavier!"^[8][9] UC fans responded with tips of increasing size, and fans of both teams bid up the largest tips; by early February $2000 tips were received at a downtown Skyline Chili and an Oakley pub and a $2500 tip was left at a Loveland tavern, all in support of UC.^[9][10][11] WKRC estimated that by early February there had been more than $25,000 in tips over $1000, along with many tips over $100, in support of both teams.^[11]

Notable Games

Men's Basketball Comparison

	Cincinnati	Xavier
First Season	1901	1920
NCAA Championships	2	0
NCAA Final Fours	6	0
NCAA Tournament Appearances	33	28
Conference Championships	29	18
Conference Tournament Championships	12	10
All-Americans	44	20
Consensus 1st Team All-Americans	8	1
Player of the Year	3	1
Conference Player of the Year	10	9

February 27, 1946: Despite two prior meetings, this matchup marked the "official" start to the annualized series that would take the city by storm. The Bearcats would emerge victorious, 53–39.

March 1, 1962: The reigning NCAA champion Bearcats came into the game at the Cincinnati Gardens confident against the Musketeers. Cincinnati would hold a series of leads, but Xavier would continue to fight back led by Billy Kirvin. With an eleven-point lead and 2:06 remaining, the Bearcats gave up nine points to Xavier, but time prevented the upset and Cincinnati won 61–58.^[12]

February 26, 1963: After the No. 1 Bearcats defeated Xavier 72–61, Bearcat center George Wilson was hit with a thrown cowbell while exiting the court.^[13]

March 4, 1964: A series-high 45 points were scored by Xavier's Steve Thomas in a losing effort as Cincinnati defeated Xavier 94–92.^[14]

March 3, 1967: The 1966 overtime contest—the last of 12 straight Cincinnati wins—resulted in 57 fouls and saw Musketeer Joe Pangrazio grab a crutch from a fan in the stands so he could throw it at Bearcat Raleigh Wynn.^[15]

January 23, 1986: In what was a typically close and heated contest, Xavier would win 80–76. During the game Cincinnati player Myron Hughes punched Xavier's Eddie Johnson, knocking him to the ground. However, the punch was away from the action and no foul was called.^[16]

January 29, 1992: Cincinnati's Terry Nelson proclaimed that the Bearcats would win a "blowout", making newspaper headlines. Anthony Buford and the Final Four bound Cincinnati proved Nelson's words winning 93–75.^[17]

January 19, 1994: After a hard-fought 82–76 overtime win for Xavier, Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins refused to shake his XU counterpart Pete Gillen's hand post-game and instead verbally confronted him, causing much controversy. This was to be Gillen's final Crosstown Shootout.

November 26, 1996: The Cincinnati Bearcats were ranked #1 in the country and were largely considered frontrunners for the national championship by several media outlets, including Sports Illustrated. Xavier's Lenny Brown made a running one-hander at the buzzer to propel Xavier to a 71–69 win.^[14]

December 18, 1999: Again the Bearcats were ranked #1 in the country. And again Xavier defeated Cincinnati 66–64 in the final moments of the game.^[14]

February 3, 2004: Xavier came into the game a huge underdog against #10 Cincinnati, but pulled off the upset over the Bearcats 71–69 at the Cintas Center. This would lead Xavier on a 16-2 stretch the rest of the season, culminating in the program's first ever appearance in the Elite 8.^[18]

December 10, 2011: Xavier, ranked #8 in the country, handily beat the Bearcats 76–53, but the focus of the game was the bench-clearing brawl that resulted in the game ending with 9.4 seconds left and the subsequent suspensions of four Bearcat players and four Musketeer players.

December 19, 2012: The newly renamed "Crosstown Classic" was played at U.S. Bank Arena for the first time since the brawl in 2011. After a back and forth 1st half, the #11 Bearcats dominated in the second half, soundly defeating Xavier 60–45 to improve to 11–0.^[19]

January 26, 2017: Xavier came to Fifth Third Arena searching for a record 4th straight win in the series. Trevon Bluiett would contribute 40 points, but No. 19 Cincinnati and 21 points from Jacob Evans would outlast No. 24 Xavier 86–78.^[20]

Results

Rankings are from the AP Poll (1936–present)

Cincinnati victories

Xavier victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 March 7, 1928 Schmidt Field House Xavier 29–25 2 March 3, 1943 Schmidt Field House Xavier 51–37 3 February 27, 1946 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 53–39 4 February 26, 1947 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 76–51 5 March 3, 1948 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 52–45 6 February 5, 1949 Schmidt Field House Xavier 71–64 7 March 9, 1949 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 57–46 8 March 9, 1950 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 54–53 9 March 18, 1950 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 59–48 10 December 28, 1950 Cincinnati Gardens No. 17 Cincinnati 83–70 11 March 8, 1951 Cincinnati Gardens No. 17 Cincinnati 81–66 12 December 29, 1951 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 77–70 13 February 13, 1952 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 68–63 14 January 6, 1953 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 81–78 15 February 10, 1953 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 70–68 16 January 6, 1954 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 77–58 17 February 10, 1954 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 81–76 18 January 6, 1955 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 67–64 19 February 9, 1955 Armory Fieldhouse No. 17 Cincinnati 70–69 20 January 17, 1956 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 71–66 21 February 8, 1956 Armory Fieldhouse Xavier 79–72^OT 22 January 9, 1957 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 88–62 23 February 13, 1957 Armory Fieldhouse Cincinnati 69–57 24 December 14, 1957 Armory Fieldhouse No. 19 Cincinnati 79–68 25 March 8, 1958 Cincinnati Gardens No. 3 Cincinnati 80–68 26 January 24, 1959 Cincinnati Gardens No. 6 Cincinnati 92–66 27 March 8, 1960 Cincinnati Gardens No. 1 Cincinnati 85–68 28 March 2, 1961 Cincinnati Gardens No. 3 Cincinnati 89–53 29 March 1, 1962 Cincinnati Gardens No. 2 Cincinnati 61–58 30 February 26, 1963 Cincinnati Gardens No. 1 Cincinnati 72–61 31 March 4, 1964 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 94–92 32 March 3, 1965 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 102–72 33 March 3, 1966 Cincinnati Gardens No. 10 Cincinnati 67–62 34 March 3, 1967 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 79–69^OT 35 March 5, 1968 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 72–71 36 January 8, 1969 Cincinnati Gardens No. 19 Cincinnati 52–50 37 February 17, 1970 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 85–72 38 February 17, 1971 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 66–65 39 February 16, 1972 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 76–71 40 February 21, 1973 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 78–68 41 February 20, 1974 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 78–68 42 February 26, 1975 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 66–57 43 February 18, 1976 Riverfront Coliseum No. 13 Cincinnati 81–74 44 February 16, 1977 Riverfront Coliseum No. 10 Cincinnati 77–68 45 February 13, 1978 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 59–54 46 February 12, 1979 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 60–58 No. Date Location Winner Score 47 February 4, 1980 Riverfront Coliseum Xavier 77–69 48 February 18, 1981 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 79–72 49 January 27, 1982 Riverfront Coliseum Xavier 53–51 50 January 26, 1983 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 73–58 51 January 26, 1984 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 72–63 52 January 30, 1985 Riverfront Coliseum Xavier 55–52 53 January 23, 1986 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 80–76 54 January 29, 1987 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 75–73 55 January 12, 1988 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 98–80 56 February 1, 1989 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 86–76 57 January 31, 1990 Cincinnati Gardens No. 23 Xavier 90–88^OT 58 January 30, 1991 Shoemaker Center Cincinnati 69–56 59 January 29, 1992 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 93–75 60 January 27, 1993 Shoemaker Center No. 4 Cincinnati 78–67 61 January 19, 1994 Cincinnati Gardens No. 22 Xavier 82–76^OT 62 January 9, 1995 Shoemaker Center Cincinnati 87–80 63 January 17, 1996 Cincinnati Gardens No. 3 Cincinnati 99–90 64 November 26, 1996 Shoemaker Center Xavier 71–69 65 December 13, 1997 Cincinnati Gardens No. 7 Xavier 88–68 66 January 28, 1999 Shoemaker Center No. 5 Cincinnati 87–77 67 December 18, 1999 Cincinnati Gardens Xavier 66–64 68 December 14, 2000 Shoemaker Center Xavier 69–67 69 December 14, 2001 Cintas Center Cincinnati 75–55 70 December 7, 2002 Shoemaker Center No. 16 Xavier 50–44 71 February 3, 2004 Cintas Center Xavier 71–69 72 February 10, 2005 Shoemaker Center No. 21 Cincinnati 65–54 73 January 19, 2006 Cintas Center Xavier 73–71^OT 74 December 13, 2006 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 67–55 75 December 12, 2007 Cintas Center No. 17 Xavier 64–59 76 December 13, 2008 Fifth Third Arena No. 10 Xavier 76–66 77 December 13, 2009 Cintas Center Xavier 83–79^2OT 78 January 6, 2011 Fifth Third Arena No. 24 Cincinnati 66–46 79 December 10, 2011 Cintas Center No. 8 Xavier 76–53 80 December 19, 2012 U.S. Bank Arena No. 11 Cincinnati 60–45 81 December 14, 2013 U.S. Bank Arena Xavier 64–47 82 February 18, 2015 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 59–57 83 December 12, 2015 Cintas Center No. 12 Xavier 65–55 84 January 26, 2017 Fifth Third Arena No. 19 Cincinnati 86–78 85 December 2, 2017 Cintas Center No. 21 Xavier 89–76 86 December 8, 2018 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 62–47 87 December 7, 2019 Cintas Center Xavier 73–66 88 December 6, 2020 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 77–69 89 December 11, 2021 Cintas Center Xavier 83–63 90 December 10, 2022 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 80–77 91 December 9, 2023 Cintas Center Xavier 84–79 Series: Cincinnati leads 51–40

Source^{[21] [22]}

Wins by venue

Category	Cincinnati	Xavier
Schmidt Field House	3	3
Cincinnati Gardens	28	15
Armory Fieldhouse	3	1
Riverfront Coliseum US Bank Arena	8	4
Shoemaker Center Fifth Third Arena	9	7
Cintas Center	1	10

References

1. "Crosstown Shootout: A Cincinnati Tradition". Retrieved 17 April 2012.
2. "Crosstown Shootout: A Cincinnati Tradition".
3. O'Neil, Dana. "Great rivalries are made of this..."
4. "Cincinnati, Xavier both suspend four after brawl". ESPN.com. 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
5. Koch, Bill (May 22, 2012). "Exclusive: Crosstown Shootout set for U.S. Bank Arena". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
6. "Crosstown Shootout Gets New Name, Venue". WLWT. 14 June 2012. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013.
7. Goheen, Kevin. "Crosstown Shootout will return home". Retrieved 13 May 2014.
8. Staff, WLWT Digital (2021-01-11). "Customer leaves $1,000 tip for pandemic-stricken employees at Zip's Cafe". WLWT. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
9. Bentley, Quinlan. "Crosstown tip-off: Which team is in the lead now?". The Enquirer. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
10. "'Tip-off' challenge continues: UC fan leaves $2K tip at R.P. McMurphy's". fox19. from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
11. "Starting to look like a blowout: UC takes huge lead in Crosstown 'Tip-Off'". local12.com. from the original on 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
12. Quimby, Allen (8 Mar 1962). "Cincy Edges Xavier, 61-58 In Fierce Garden Tussle" (PDF). University of Cincinnati News Record. UC Libraries. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
13. "Cowbells Yet?" (PDF). University of Cincinnati News Record. UC Libraries. 7 Mar 1963. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
14. . Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
15. Thad Novak. "Rivalry Breakdown: Xavier vs. Cincinnati". Bleacher Report.
16. Michael Thomas. "Rivalry Breakdown: Xavier vs. Cincinnati". UC News Record.
17. "Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout: Here's how the University of Cincinnati Bearcats can win". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
18. Xavier Tops UC In Crosstown Shootout
19. Xavier vs. Cincinnati - Game Recap - December 19, 2012- ESPN
20. "No. 19 Cincinnati breaks Crosstown Shootout losing streak with 86-78 win over No. 24 Xavier". SB Nation. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
21. "2018-19 Men's Basketball Guide" (PDF). Amazon Web Services. Xavier Athletics. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
22. "2019-20 University of Cincinnati Basketball Media Guide". issuu.com. GoBearcats. Retrieved 14 May 2020.