TicketsBearcats 9-0 After Win Over LaSalle
Moore has first double-double in triumph
Contact: Brian Teter
12/22/2004
Chadd Moore had 10 points and 10 assists in UC's win over LaSalle. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Six Bearcats reached double figure scoring as No. 16 Cincinnati scored its ninth win in a row to open the season, with a 84-63 victory over LaSalle on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena.
James White and Eric Hicks led the Bearcats with 15 points each, but it was junior guard Chadd Moore that provided one of the most sparkling performances of his career for UC. Moore came off the bench to score a season-high 10 points, while adding career-bests of 10 assists and six rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Jason Maxiell had 12 points and Nick Williams 11 for the Bearcats (9-0), while freshman Roy Bright posted his second straight double-double with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Besides Moore?s breakout performance, the story of the night was LaSalle?s Steven Smith. The junior exploded for a career and game-high 35 points on 13 of 23 shooting. After scoring 23 in the first half, the Bearcats were able to slow Smith slightly after the break, allowing just 12 more points, before the Explorers? top scorer fouled out with 3:05 to play. LaSalle drops to 1-7 on the year with the defeat.
?I told our guys that Smith is a really good player,? UC head coach Bob Huggins explained. ?He is the best player that we?ve seen thus far and they run lots of plays for him. We really thought he would get his points and he did.?
After allowing the Explorers to shoot .565 in the first half, UC slowed the visitors after the break, as LaSalle shot .417 to end the night at nearly 49 percent. The Bearcats finished the night at just .394, but a decisive 45-26 edge of the boards that led to 17 second chance points for UC proved to be the difference.
?At halftime we talked about playing hard every day,? Huggins continued. ?In a few days, we play a good Miami team and then we go to (Las) Vegas and play the number one team in the country. I think that we practice harder than we play every day and we need to carry that over.?
Smith and the Explorers started the night hot, as the junior from Philadelphia scored 10 of his team?s first 13 points to put the Bearcats in an early eight-point hole. UC battled back behind a pair of Hicks buckets and one by White to get back within two at 13-11. But LaSalle and Smith once again pushed ahead, going up by six at 20-14 at the 9:31 mark of the break.
The complexion of the game took a dramatic turn from there for the next nearly four minutes as the Bearcats went on a crushing 17-0 run to take a 31-20 lead over the Explorers. Moore, who entered the night averaging just 4.6 points per game, keyed the spurt, scoring eight points, including a pair of three?s during the run.
Smith then went back to work adding eight of his team?s final 11 points of the half, as the visitors outscored the Bearcats 11-6 over the last five minutes of the frame to close to within 38-31 at the break.
By the break, Smith had already bettered his season average of 20.4 points per game with an astounding 23 first half points. Jihad Muhammad and Hicks led the Bearcats with nine points each, while Moore added eight.
LaSalle carried a sizable shooting advantage into the lockerrom as they shot .565 to .382 for the Bearcats. The Bearcats did dominate the boards, however, holding a 21-12 edge, including 12-3 on the offensive glass.
The second half saw the Bearcats quickly turn their seven-point halftime lead into an advantage of over 20 in the first seven minutes of the half. Leading 43-34, the Bearcats exploded on a 15-2 run to increase the advantage to 58-36 at the 12:49 mark. Williams provided the spark during the spurt, scoring nine of his 11 points during the run for the Bearcats.
For the balance of the second half, the Bearcats went to their inside trio of Bright, Hicks and Maxiell. The threesome combined to score 19 of UC?s final 24 points of the night as the Bearcats pushed the final margin to 21 points.
?We did everything we could against a very good team,? LaSalle head coach John Giannini stated. ?I?m not down on my team at all. They gave me everything they had.?
Just four players scored for the Explorers, as Smith for accounted for over half of LaSalle?s offensive output. Darnell Harris was also outstanding for the visitors, scoring 19 points, including five three-pointers.
The Bearcats will be back in action following the Christmas holiday when they face local rival Miami (Ohio) on Monday, Dec. 27. The contest, which will be held in downtown Cincinnati at US Bank Arena, will get underway at 8 p.m.