Tulane guard Jonathan Stark first dished an assist for a go-ahead basket with 34 seconds remaining at Cincinnati on Saturday and then drilled a contested 30-foot 3-pointer to win the game at the buzzer.

It was a great way to end what had been a poor outing for Stark through the first 39 minutes. Prior to those final winning plays, he scored six points with five turnovers and three assists. Three more points, another assist and a wild victory celebration on an opponent's home court made it look much better.

[Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick 'Em: Enter for a chance to win $50K]

Cincinnati endured an ugly shooting performance and it led to a dreadful loss that play a part in keeping it out of the NCAA tournament if the Bearcats slip up again. There is a very real possibility that Cincinnati could lose several more games down the stretch of the regular season with the annual grudge match with Xavier up next, road games at Tulsa and Tulane and a home game to finish off the schedule against inconsistent but capable Memphis.

It has been a difficult season for the Bearcats playing without head coach Mick Cronin who has been sidelined because of an unruptured aneurysm since late-December. The Bearcats had lost to the likes of Nebraska, Temple and Memphis already this season but still appeared to be headed for an NCAA tournament bid before Saturday.

Cincinnati can get there, but this is definitely an ugly stain, especially coming off a 16-point loss to to the Owls. Finish the season strong and it will probably be overlooked.

[Slideshow: Best photos from Saturday's college hoops action]

This is also a young Cincinnati team and there will be questions in the coming days about how the Bearcats will respond. It's probably a good thing for coach Larry Davis that he has the rivalry with Xavier to refocus his team after this.

Cincinnati went 0-for-11 from behind the 3-point line. It is the second time in two weeks and third time this season the Bearcats have been held under 50 points in a game. All three contests ended in losses.

- - - - - - -

[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo