TicketsBearcats Earn Road Win, 89-74, at TCU
Muhammed scores team-high 21 to lead UC
Contact: Brian Teter
2/26/2005
Jihad Muhammad scored a team-high 21 points in UC's 89-74 win at TCU |
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jihad Muhammad snapped out of a shooting slump in a big way, scoring a team-high 21 points to lead No.22 Cincinnati (22-6, 10-4 C-USA) to an 89-74 victory against TCU (17-7, 7-7 C-USA) in men's basketball action today at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
Muhammad shot 8-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc against the Horned Frogs while also adding three assists. He was shooting .304 (17-of-56) over his last eight games and had not recorded an assist in his last three.
The Bearcats shot a season-high .612 from the field, including 70 percent in the second half to overcome 22 turnovers.
After TCU jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, the Bearcats slowly crept back into the contest, finally knotting the score at 21 on the second of consecutive Muhammad three-pointers.
UC closed the first half with a 12-3 run to take a 40-34 lead into the locker room.
The Bearcats extended their lead with a 12-4 outburst to open the second stanza and never allowed TCU closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
An old-fashioned three-point play by TCU's Aaron Curtis cut the Bearcat lead to 10 with 5:53 remaining, but UC triples on three consecutive possesions, two by Muhammad, pushed the lead to 18.
The Bearcats knocked down 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
UC's No. 2-ranked field goal percentage defense allowed TCU to hit only 38 percent of its shots, the 19th time this season that the Bearcats have held an opponent to under .400 from the field.
Texas native Jason Maxiell scored 11 points, all in the first half, and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for his third-straight double-double and seventh of the season. He also eclipsed Bearcat great Kenyon Martin's 869 career rebounds to move into 14th place in C-USA history with 873.
Fellow Texans Nick Williams (14 pts.), Armein Kirkland (9 pts., 5 ast.), and Jamaal Lucas (4 pts., 4 reb., 3 ast.) helped UC move to 5-0 all-time against the Horned Frogs. Williams, a native of Arlington, reached the 700 point plateau for his career (713).
James White added 16 points and three assists for the Bearcats.
Curtis came off the TCU bench to score a game-high 22 points in defeat.
The Bearcats will play host to Tulane on Mar. 2 at 8 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena. UC will honor seniors Maxiell, Williams, Lucas and John Meeker in a pre-game cermony.