TicketsMuhammad Leads Bearcats To Senior Night Win
UC clinches first round bye in C-USA Tourney
Contact: Brian Teter
3/2/2005
Jihad Muhammad scored a career-high 24 points in UC's 77-56 win over Tulane. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Jihad Muhammad scored a career-high 24 points, dropping in six three-pointers along the way to lead No. 21 Cincinnati to a 77-56 win over Tulane on Senior Night at Fifth Third Arena. A crowd of 12,262 witnessed the contest that marked the final home game for UC seniors Jamaal Lucas, Jason Maxiell, John Meeker and Nick Williams.
The victory improves the Bearcats record to 23-6 overall and 11-4 in Conference USA. UC?s win, coupled with Saint Louis? upset of Memphis guarantees the Bearcats a first-round bye in next week?s conference tournament.
Maxiell joined Muhammad in double figures with 18 points, moving past Robert Miller for 11th place on UC?s career scoring list with 1,506 points. Eric Hicks scored 10 points and grabbed 10 boards to record his 11th career double-double and eighth this season.
Three Tulane players reached double-digits, led by Taylor Rochestie?s double-double of 14 points and 10 boards. Quincy Davis tacked on 12 points, while Ben Benfield added 10.
The Bearcats got off to a red hot start, scoring the game?s first 10 points, all but two coming by Williams and Maxiell. The Green Wave finally got on the board at the 16:23 mark with a pair of free throws, but didn?t get their first field goal until nearly eight minutes had expired. UC?s lead reached 13 at the 12:11 mark when Muhammad drained his second trey of the night.
The early stages of the game featured a scary moment for the Bearcats as Williams left with a sprained left foot after a hard foul.
?It (Williams? injury) put a damper on my spirits,? said Bearcat head coach Bob Huggins. ?He?s been playing great lately. The scary thing is that?s the same foot that he broke. I think he?s going to be fine. It?s a damper because it?s senior night.?
Tulane started to bounce back as Davis sparked a 7-2 Green Wave run that drew the visitors to within six. Davis scored five of the seven points during the nearly four minute spurt, drawing Tulane to within 19-13. But Cincinnati came right back with a 7-0 run of its own to bring the lead back to 13 at 26-13.
The Green Wave kept battling however, getting back to within six with just over 1:30 left before the break. UC closed the half with a jumper by Armein Kirkland and a put back by Hicks to take a 32-22 cushion into the half.
The first half stats were fairly even as both teams struggled from the floor. UC made just 12 of 32 shots (.375), compared to 8-for-26 (.308) for Tulane. The Bearcats won the first half rebounding battle by a 24-16 cushion. Muhammad led all players with nine first half points.
Tulane continued to fight in the second half as Donnie Stith?s three with 14:19 remaining brought the visitors to within five at 43-38. Four points by Muhammad highlighted a 9-2 UC run that pushed the Bearcat advantage back into double digits where it would stay for the remainder of the night.
With just under five minutes left to play, Muhammad dropped in his sixth and final three of the night to push the Bearcat advantage to a game-high 23. That drew a slew of replacements for the Bearcats as Meeker, Ryan Patzwald and Asrangue Souleymane all saw playing time. Meeker made the most of the opportunity in his final home contest, making two of four free throws and a jumper in the last minute and a half to finish with four points.
UC recovered from its first half shooting woes, by shooting nearly 54 percent in the second half to end the night at .452. Tulane also bumped up its shooting to .448 for the second stanza to finish the night at .382.
The Bearcats must now gear up for their final C-USA regular season contest when they travel to Memphis on Saturday. Tip-off from the FedEx Forum is set for 4 p.m. EST.