TicketsNov. 25, 2005
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Cincinnati held Holy Cross to 30 percent shooting and shot 59 percent in the second half as the Bearcats improved to 3-0 for the fifth time in eight years with a 77-55 win over the Crusaders on Friday night in Fifth Third Arena.
Leading by just three after a sluggish first half, the Bearcats outscored the Crusaders (2-2) 48-29 in the second half to pull away for the victory. UC also forced 19 turnovers in the win.
The Bearcats got a game-high 19 points from senior swingman James White, who played just 28 minutes while being saddled with foul trouble. In his first career start, Devan Downey added 12 points and four steals while Ronald Allen pitched in a career-high 11 points off the bench.
UC's defense proved to the key as it kept all three of the Crusaders' leading scorers below their season average. Leading scorer Keith Simmons (17.3 per game) was held to 12 points, while Kevin Hamilton (16.7) scored a team-high 13. Torey Thomas, who averaged 15.3 entering the contest, was held to just seven.
"Our athleticism and strength bothered them," explained UC head coach Andy Kennedy. "The way they play, the match-up zone, we got passive and once we got open looks, we made them miss some at the rims and that frustrated them."
Cincinnati started the game quick, scoring the first six points of the night, with four coming from White. The Crusaders would come back, scoring six of the next eight to draw back within two with 15 minutes remaining.
The first half would prove to be nip and tuck throughout, despite Cincinnati limiting Holy Cross to only 28 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes. The Bearcats would show a lead of just one as the clock wound towards 11 minutes, but an 11-2 run pushed UC up to its highest lead of the first half at 22-14.
Cincinnati's lead would stand at 27-20 with 2:54 remaining, but Holy Cross closed the opening half with a 6-2 run that drew the visitors within three at the break. Despite being outshot in the half, Holy Cross stayed with the Bearcats on the strength of a 24-18 rebounding advantage.
The Bearcats came out firing at the beginning of the second half, sparking a 16-3 run over the first 5:08 of the frame to take a 45-29 lead. UC used a balanced offensive attack in the run, with five different players accounting for at least two points. Cedric McGowan and Eric Hicks were especially strong during the spurt, finishing with five points each.
"In the second half we turned up the intensity a little bit," White stated. "We figured out the defense a lot in the second half. We did what we had to do and a lot of times it worked for us. You're used to not playing defense like that and you get caught standing around because its' different. Our best offense was our defense and it has always been that way."
The latter stages of the second half saw the Bearcats continue to pull away, as the home team pushed its lead into the 20's for the first time all night. Allen's second three-pointer of the night with 8:13 to play put Cincinnati in front by a 60-40 count and Jihad Muhammad's free throw with just over four minutes left secured a 68-46 Bearcat lead.
Down the stretch, two Dominic Tilford lay-ups pushed Cincinnati's lead to a game-high 25, but a Kyle Cruze trey with 35 seconds left cut the final margin to 77-55.
Cincinnati was able to overcome its rebounding deficit of six, cutting it to two by the final count. McGowan added to his nine points with a game-high seven boards. Hicks and Allen each grabbed five rebounds each for UC, while Muhammad passed out a game-best four assists. UC finished the contest shooting a season-best .475 from the floor.
Holy Cross got six rebounds each from Kevin Hyland, Hamilton and Colin Cunningham.
The Bearcats must now gear up for a pair of key non-conference match-ups next week as UC winds up its season-opening five-game homestand. The Bearcats host in-state rival Dayton on Tuesday (Nov. 29) at 8 p.m., with former Conference USA adversary Memphis visiting Fifth Third Arena on Saturday at 3 p.m.
"It's a big week for us, Dayton on Tuesday and then it's a Memphis game that will be nationally televised," Kennedy concluded. "It's a huge week for us and I'm hopeful we've learned a lot about ourselves. All we can do is be prepared as a team for this big week ahead."