Once Vaughn and Stephenson departed, it opened the doors for Kilpatrick to step into a major role with the Bearcats.

Now a sophomore, the 6-foot-4 wing is a major reason why Cincinnati (15-4 overall, 5-1 in the Big East) is off to its best start in conference play since joining the league in 2005.

He drained a game-winning 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left Wednesday to lead Cincinnati to a 70-67 over No. 13 UConn at Gampel Pavilion.

For the season, Kilpatrick is leading the Bearcats in scoring at 16.2 points per game to go with 4.7 rebounds. He ranks sixth in Big East games in scoring at 17.7 points per game.

“Kilpatrick I think is really, really one of the better players in our league,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said Thursday on the Big East conference call.

“He’s very unselfish. We tried to get a little extra pressure on him and he gets the ball off, and that’s what makes him more special because of the fact that he can really light you up.”

When Bearcats coach Mick Cronin first approached Kilpatrick about redshirting two years ago, he wasn’t thrilled about it. After all, he had averaged 28.4 points across a four-year career at White Plains High School and finished as the program’s all-time leading scorer. He then prepped a year at Notre Dame Prep.

“I thought, ‘Nah, no way,’” Kilpatrick told SNY.tv two years ago. “That was my first reaction. But I spoke to my mom and my dad about everything with Coach Cronin and they figured it would be a good idea.”

Asked if his feelings were hurt, Kilpatrick said: “No, not really. I’m just a person that takes sacrifices for the team. I didn’t look at it like it was hurting my feelings. I took it with a grain of salt and said this can help me a lot more to work on my game and continue to keep working hard in the classroom.”

So far the move has paid off, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the man they call “SK.”

Kilpatrick made headlines before the Xavier game Dec. 10 when he called out fellow New York native Tu Holloway entering the game.

Appearing on WQRT-AM in Cincinnati, Kilpatrick was asked if he were a better player than Holloway.

“I’ll let the fans decide,” Kilpatrick said, according to The Sporting News.

Pushed by host Andy Furman to give his own opinion, Kilpatrick said, “Yes I am.”

Furman then asked Kilpatrick if Holloway would start for the Bearcats.

“Would he, with the players we have now?” Kilpatrick responded. “I would say no.”

Since the brawl and the loss to Xavier Dec. 10, Cincinnati is 10-1, with their only loss a two-point home decision to St. John’s Jan. 7.

Kilpatrick has scored in double-figures in all but one of those games, including going for a career-high 27 in a 68-64 win at Georgetown Jan. 9.

“Sean Kilpatrick is a guy we recruited because he was already that kind of [aggressive] player,” Cronin said Thursday. “He’s always been a very, very confident offensive player. He’s worked really hard with my assistant coaches on his 3-point shooting and that’s really taken his game to another level.”

Kilpatrick shot just 5-for-15 in the UConn game, but Cronin had the confidence in him to take the big shot.

“I’m glad that Coach has that kind of confidence in me to go the length of the floor,” Kilpatrick told Cincinnati.com. “When I saw that everyone was covered, I decided to just get the ball and go on. All I saw was a path and then someone cut the path off and I just wound up shooting it.”

Only a sophomore, Kilpatrick can still improve his ball-handling and his ability to create off the dribble.

Who knows how high is ceiling is, but the former redshirt from White Plains is now leading the Bearcats toward another NCAA Tournament bid.

“The kid works hard and when you got talent and you have tremendsous work ethic and mental toughness,” Cronin said, “you got a chance to make yourself a player and that’s what you’re seeing with him.”

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Despite playing without Yancy Gates, Octavius Ellis and Cheikh Mbodj, the Bearcats are a perfect 4-0 since the brawl and are averaging nearly 94 points per game. In two of those wins, they topped the century mark.

Cincinnati is actually playing better without the 6-foot-9 Gates and the 6-10 Mbodj.

Sophomore wing Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains, N.Y., whose smack-talking about Xavier guard Tu Holloway helped stir up bad feelings before the brawl, is averaging 17.3 points in the four games since the fight, and has two 20+ outings in that span.

It will be interesting to see how the Bearcats (9-3) — notorious for their soft non-conference schedule — respond when Gates and Mbodj do come back Jan. 4 against Notre Dame.

First the Bearcats have Oklahoma Thursday before opening Big East play on New Year’s Day at Pitt.

Xavier, meantime, lost its first three games after the brawl before beating Southern Illinois, 87-77, on Christmas for its first post-fight win.

Holloway went for his second straight 20+-point outing in the game (26 in a loss to Hawaii and 21 vs. Southern Illinois) and Monmouth transfer Travis Taylor scored a career-high 13.

Even though Holloway, the team’s star, only missed one game because of the fight and junior Mark Lyons two, the Musketeers have still struggled.

They host Gonzaga on New Year’s Eve Day before opening A-10 play at La Salle Jan. 4.

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**Watch the video above**

Yancy Gates issued a tearful apology Monday for his role in the now-famous Cincinnati-Xavier brawl, and the future of the game itself is in doubt.

“I want to apologize, really, to the whole city of Cincinnati, for my actions,” Gates, 22, said in reference to his cold-cocking of Xavier center Kenny Frease. “The actions that I displayed are not what I’m about, not what the University of Cincinnati is about.”

With his eyes full of tears, he added: “I’m just not that type of person. A lot of people have been calling me a thug, a gangster.”

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said the four suspended players, including Gates (six games), would have to earn their way back on the team.

“Nobody should represent a university, any university, on a scholarship and not realize it’s a privilege,” Cronin said. “No one will take the floor for me if they don’t understand that. They will believe it’s a privilege. If we failed at all — as coaches, as administrators — it’s that our kids aren’t getting that message enough.”

Cronin and Bearcats AD Whit Babcock said no decision had been made on the future of the game, but Cronin said he wouldn’t mind seeing the series ended.

“If it can’t be played the right way, it doesn’t need to be played,” Cronin said.

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Sean Miller

Instead, he ended up appearing to condone their bloody brawl Saturday with Cincinnati that left eight players on both teams suspended.

Now, the Arizona coach is backtracking. In a big way.

“I made comments following our win Saturday over Clemson regarding my former team, Xavier University,” he said in a statement. “These remarks were in response to a question as to whether I have been following Xavier’s on-the-court successes this season.  My comments were directed toward my admiration of their on-the-court toughness and their respective approach to giving great effort as a team.

“In no way was I condoning a fight.  At the time of my press conference, I was only responding to my belief in several players that I once coached and a head coach, Chris Mack, that I have great respect for.”

Miller was originally quoted in the Arizona Daily Star as appearing to defend the Xavier players for their part in the brawl.

After the game, Xavier’s Tu Holloway also referred to the Xavier players as “gangsters” and said he and his teammates were “zipping them up.”

“If Cincinnati tries to do what they did (Saturday) they’re going to get a fight,” Miller said after Arizona beat Clemson on Saturday, per the Daily Star.

“So I’m proud of those guys.” [...] “They have a chance to win it all,” Miller said. “It’s just such a great story. I’m really proud of those guys and I watch them any time that I can. No one’s going to bully those guys.”

He added he was not surprised about the brawl.

“Happens every game,” he told the Star. “I’m proud of those guys, I really am. I would fully expect there to be a fight.”

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Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, Octavius Ellis and Cheikh Mbodj will each be suspended for a total of six games — meaning they are out until the Jan. 4 Big East game against Notre Dame — and Ge’Lawn Guyn for one game.

The suspensions will take effect immediately and will be concurrent with the NCAA-standard one-game mandated suspensions that would be applied to Gates and Mbodj for ejections from the game for fighting.

For Xavier, freshman Dezmine Wells, who had a mandatory one game suspension for being ejected from the game for fighting, has been given an additional three games by Xavier and will serve a four-game suspension.

Sophomore Landen Amos will miss four games. junior Mark Lyons two and senior Tu Holloway one.

“After reviewing all available video and giving due deliberation to the seriousness of this behavior, we have decided to take these actions,” said UC athletic director Whit Babcock. “We want to deal with this in a prompt and direct manner and send the message that we will not tolerate this from those who have the privilege of representing the University of Cincinnati.

“We have advised the Big East Conference of our decision and the measures we’re taking. I’m thankful for the full support of (UC) President (Gregory H.) Williams and (UC men’s basketball head coach) Mick Cronin.

“Further, I want to apologize to our students, alumni, faculty and staff, as well as to our fans and community. We hold our student-athletes to a very high standard and take very seriously the role that our entire department plays in reflecting the overall image of this great university. We will continue to work diligently to represent the Bearcat family and the Cincinnati community in a first-class manner. There will be zero tolerance for a repeat of this behavior.”

Said Xavier AD Mike Bobinski: ”I have been working closely with Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner Bernadette McGlade and the A-10 staff since yesterday afternoon. We have all thoroughly reviewed the video evidence from a variety of sources. The Atlantic 10 fully supports our decisions on the suspensions announced today.

“We accept full responsibility for our part in the events that occurred at the end of our game yesterday. It was both embarrassing and disappointing and clearly did not reflect the standards of behavior we expect from our student-athletes. We resolve to do whatever is necessary to prevent an incident like this from occurring in the future. Additionally, we regret the poorly-chosen words our student-athletes used in the post-game press conference and have addressed the matter with them.”

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto issued this statement:

“The very unfortunate events that occurred in the final seconds of Saturday’s Cincinnati-Xavier basketball game have no place within intercollegiate athletics.  The University of Cincinnati has responded with swift, expeditious and appropriate action, which The Big East Conference fully supports.”

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The game between No. 8 Xavier and crosstown rival Cincinnati was called with Xavier up 76-53 and 9.4 seconds left when the teams got into a full-fledged brawl on court and the referees called it.

After Xavier’s Tu Holloway jawed with the Cincinnati bench, a brawl ensued. Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates unloaded a punch to Xavier center Kenny Frease’s face, and Cincy big man Cheikh Mbodj later stomped on Frease’s head. Frease was left with a cut under his left eye and blood pouring out.

Expect both to be suspended for a good while.

Xavier’s Mark Lyons and Dez Wells also threw punches.

“You know, that’s what you’re going to see from Xavier and Cincinnati,” said Holloway, a New York native who finished with 17 points and 6 assists. “We got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here.

“We got a whole bunch of gangsters in our locker room. Not thugs, but tough guys on the court. And we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game. That’s our motto, ‘Zip ‘em up.’ And that’s what we just did to them.”

Cincinnati President Dr. Gregory H. Williams issued the following statement:

“I’m extremely disappointed with what happened at the end of today’s Crosstown Shootout. I am reviewing this situation with (athletic director) Whit Babcock and  Mick Cronin and we are working to ensure this will never happen again.

“I appreciate Coach Cronin’s strong post-game comments and I want to support his position that this behavior is not what we expect of representatives of the University of Cincinnati. We will thoroughly investigate this incident and will act swiftly and firmly. We hold our student-athletes to a high standard and this behavior will not be tolerated.”

Cronin said he made his players take their jerseys off after the game, and that he will now sort through who gets suspended and who gets booted from the team.

“I’m going to meet with my AD and my President and I’m going to decide who’s on the team going forward,” Cronin said. “That’s what the University of Cincinnati is about. Period.”

The Big East and the Atlantic 10 can levy additional penalties beyond what the individual schools choose to do.

Dan Gavitt, Big East Associate Commissioner, said the league would sort out its course of action going forward.

“We will talk to the officials and engage with the coaches and the institutions so it might take some time,” he said in a statement.

“We’ll start with what penalties incurred through the game officials and go from there and see what is appropriate.

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In this video interview from Big East Media Day, Cincinnati senior forward Yancy Gates talks about his summer with adidas Nations and the World University Games tryouts; several of his younger teammates, including Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains, N.Y., and Jermaine Sanders out of Rice High School; and his expectations for the No. 21 Bearcats.

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Thomas will be cleared for practice activities at the conclusion of the fall quarter in mid-December.

The 2011-12 academic year will be considered a redshirt season for Thomas, who will have four years of eligibility to play for the Bearcats starting in the fall of the 2012-13 school year.

“We are very happy that Shaq has been cleared to attend the University of Cincinnati,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said. “He is a wonderful young man as well as a great player. Obviously, we wish he could play this season, but the circumstances dictate he must focus on academics. I know Shaq plans on using this year to work on improving each day. It is nice to know we will have one of the best freshmen in the country playing for us next season.”

Thomas comes to Cincinnati after playing two seasons at NIA Prep in Newark, N.J., where he averaged 28 points and eight assists during the 2010-11 campaign. He was tabbed a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and Scout.com and listed as the 81st-best player nationally by Rivals.com. He is the nephew of long-time NBA veteran Tim Thomas and the half-brother of New York Liberty standout Essence Carson.

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Shaquille Thomas,

“He was cleared to go to school,” his grandmother, Dorothy Thomas, told SNY.tv. “He’s leaving now. He’ll be out of here in a couple days.”

Cincinnati operates on a quarterly system and school begins next week. The first quarter ends Dec. 10.

It remains unclear if Thomas will have to miss any time on the basketball court, but he won’t miss any school.

“I do not miss [any] school days,” Shaq Thomas, the nephew of former NBA forward Tim Thomas and the half-brother of Essence Carson of the WNBA’s New York Liberty,  said by text.

Thomas was one of four NIA Prep basketball players, and six total athletes, initially declared ineligible by the NCAA, as first reported by SNY.tv.

One of his NIA teammates, Towson signee Kelvin Amayo, was later denied a waiver by the NCAA, and a source said he was now considering propping at Marshall.

Dorothy Thomas said she’s relieved to learn the news about Shaq.

“Oh, yes, I am,” she said..

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