TicketsBearcats Dominate Second Half Of 77-53 Win Over Miami
Hicks has career night in 10th straight win
Contact: Brian Teter
12/27/2004
Eric Hicks had career highs of 21 points and 17 rebounds in UC's win over Miami (Ohio). |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---No. 16 Cincinnati turned in a dominating second half performance and got a career night from Eric Hicks as the Bearcats rolled to their 10th straight win, a 77-53 triumph over local rival Miami (Ohio) on Monday night before a crowd of 15,486 at U.S. Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati.
Hicks scored a game and career-high 21 points, while also pulling down a career-best 17 rebounds to lead the Bearcats to their fourth 10-0 start to a season in the last 10 campaigns. James White and Armein Kirkland also reached double figures for the Bearcats, scoring 18 points each.
As they have become accustomed to this season, the Bearcats once again dominated in the interior, outrebounding the RedHawks by a 46-32 margin. In addition to Hicks? 17 boards, White grabbed eight and Jason Maxiell added six. UC also did a tremendous job of shutting down the RedHawks? frontline, as they held Nathan Peavy, Danny Horace and Monty St. Clair to a combined 17 points and nine rebounds. Horace, who entered the night ranked second nationally with 12.3 rebounds per game, along with a team-high 17.9 points per outings, was held to 10 points and just four rebounds.
Further proof of the Bearcats? dominance of the interior came from the season-high 13 blocked shots and Miami?s .319 shooting percentage, a season-low for a Cincinnati opponent.
?It?s the first time in a while that we have been able to play Maxiell and Hicks together for extended time,? UC head coach Bob Huggins observed. ?When those two guys are together, it?s a lot more physical.?
The Bearcats who took a lead of 36-25 into halftime and shot .400 from the floor in the half, came out hot on both ends of the court in the second half, shooting a blistering .520 and holding Miami to only .349 in the second 20 minutes. UC started the second half on a 17-5 run over the first 7:21 to open up a 53-30 advantage. Despite making just one field goal for a span of three minutes, the Bearcats widened the advantage to 25 with some steady free throw shooting in the second half. White finally broke the field goal drought with a thundering fast break jam and a triple by Jihad Muhammad put the Bearcats in a 32-point advantage.
The game opened with Miami in control as the RedHawks jumped to an early 7-2 lead. UC used the longball to take its first lead as back-to-back three?s by Kirkland and White capped a 9-0 Bearcat run that pushed the home team into a 14-9 advantage.
Miami clawed back to get within 15-13, but a three-point play by Maxiell with eight minutes remaining put Cincinnati back up nine at 24-15. UC would never trail again in the half, but only due to a 12 of 17 first half performance from the free throw line. After Maxiell?s lay-up, the Bearcats went nearly 6:30 without a field goal, not getting another bucket until a jumper by Kirkland with 1:32 to play in the half. During the stretch, however, Hicks, Kirkland and Roy Bright all knocked in a pair of free throws, while Maxiell added one of his own. Miami also had trouble converting field goals as they scored just two over the final 5:42 of the first half and went without converting a shot from the floor for a total of 7:55 carrying into early in the second half.
At the break, UC held a sizable 26-14 edge on the boards. Peavy had already recorded his fourth foul with over six minutes remaining before the break, ultimately fouling out with 9:39 still to play.
The RedHawks, who fall to 6-3 on the year and have now dropped seven in a row to the Bearcats, placed two players in double figure scoring. Doug Penno came off the bench to score a team-high 11 points in just 12 minutes of play, including a trio from behind the arc. Horace added 10 points for Miami.
?It?s been a rough night,? said Miami head coach Charlie Coles. ?This is one of those games for us that will take me three or four months to figure out. I thought we got a royal whoopin.?
The Bearcats still have a pair of games left on their schedule this week, as they will play the final two rounds of the Las Vegas Classic. UC faces Longwood on Thursday (Dec. 30) at 9:30 p.m. ET, before battling top-ranked Illinois at 8 p.m. ET on New Year?s Eve.