TicketsKirkland's Career-High Leads UC To Win At Dayton
Junior scores 23 in 65-55 victory
Contact: Brian Teter
12/4/2004
Armien Kirkland scored a career-high 23 points at Dayton. |
DAYTON, Ohio?Cincinnati used a pair of second half runs and a career-high 23 points from junior swingman Armien Kirkland to pull away from a pesky Dayton squad, 65-55 on Saturday afternoon at UD Arena. The win improves the 24th ranked Bearcats? record to 4-0 on the young season.
Trailing by two points 11 minutes into the second half, the Bearcats used an 8-0 run to push ahead of the Flyers, 48-42. After Dayton got back to within a point at 50-49, Cincinnati closed the deal with an 11-2 run over a three-minute span to finish off the Flyers.
The Bearcats once again dominated the interior, outrebounding their opponent for the third straight game, this time by a 42-30 margin. UC?s inside tandem of Jason Maxiell and Eric Hicks combined for 20 points and 17 rebounds, with Maxiell contributing 12 of those points.
James White was the third Bearcat to reach double figure scoring as he tallied 11 points. Mark Jones led the Flyers (1-3) with 12 points, while leading scorer Monty Scott scored just nine after being saddled with early foul trouble. Nathan Plummer also reached double figures with 10 points.
The second half started miserably for both teams as the squads combined for just four field goals in the first nine minutes of the half. UC, which went over four minutes without a field goal early in the half, fell behind by a 39-36 score when Plummer knocked down a pair of free throws. The Bearcats eventually retook the lead on a pair of Maxiell free throws, but fell behind once more when Scott drained a three with 9:32 to play to make it 42-40.
But at that point, the Bearcats went ahead for good, scoring the next eight points of the game to take control. Four different UC players scored during the run, highlighted by a thunderous putback jam by Maxiell. The Bearcat defense also proved up to the task as they held the Flyers without a point for nearly three minutes.
Facing a five-point deficit, Dayton scored five straight to once again make it a one-point game. But a pair of free throws by Kirkland with four minutes to play started the 11-2 run for the Bearcats that ultimately led to the victory. Kirkland and White carried the load during the spurt, scoring a combined nine of UC?s 11 points in the nearly three minute span.
The game got off to a good start for the Bearcats as both White and Kirkland hit early three?s to help the visitors take an early 12-8 lead. Dayton fired back, though, scoring 11 of the next 15 points, including six straight to open a three-point cushion at 19-16. The see saw first half continued into the break, as a total of five lead changes and three ties occurred before the break. Trailing by four, Dayton scored six of the last eight points of the first half to take a 33-31 lead into the locker room.
The two teams shot an identical 39 percent from the field in the first half, with Dayton knocking down six of its 13 three-point attempts. UD also held the first half advantage on the boards by a 20-15 margin. Kirkland led all players in the first 20 minutes with 13 points.
The Bearcats return to the friendly confines of Fifth Third Arena on Thursday (Dec. 9) when they host SEC member Vanderbilt at 8 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the UC Ticket Office at 513-556-CATS or logging on to www.ucbearcats.com.