TicketsNov. 29, 2005
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Dayton shot 61 percent in the first half and Brian Roberts scored a game-high 24 points, leading the Flyers to a 75-66 win over Cincinnati on Tuesday night before a crowd of 9,199 at Fifth Third Arena. The setback is the first for UC under interim head coach Andy Kennedy.
Cincinnati (3-1) did get an outstanding inside performance from Eric Hicks as the 6-6 senior scored a team-high 18 points, while grabbing a game-best eight boards. James White added 15 points, including 8 of 10 from the foul line, but the senior made just 3 of 10 field goal attempts. Cedric McGowan had one of the best games of his short career, scoring a personal-high 13 points, including a trio of three-pointers, while pulling down seven rebounds.
For Dayton (3-2), the win marked the Flyers first in Cincinnati since a 70-69 victory on Feb. 11, 1971, a span of 15 contests. In addition to Roberts' 24 points, Monty Scott scored 16 and James Crisp of nearby Loveland added 14. After the blistering first half, Dayton finished the game shooting 49 percent from the floor.
It appeared as if defense was going to be key for the Bearcats in the first couple of minutes as the Flyers committed turnovers on their first two positions, with White knocking down a triple for the first score of the evening. Cincinnati would go on to pull out to a 9-4 lead, only to see Dayton tie the game for the first time courtesy of a 7-2 run.
The first half would go on to feature a total of six tie scores and nine lead changes, but the first 20 minutes ultimately belonged to the visiting Flyers. In the middle stages of the half, the lead teetered back and forth, with Cincinnati going up by three at the 7:49 mark on a dunk by Hicks.
With just over five minutes to go before the half, an acrobatic dunk by White put UC in front 31-28, but that mark would go down as the Bearcats last lead of the night. For the next two minutes and change, Dayton outscored the Bearcats 12-0 to pull into a first-half high lead of nine. Four charity tosses by White cut the deficit to five, but a Bearcat field goal drought of 5:19 led to a 43-35 Dayton lead at the break.
Cincinnati got the second half off to a fast start on a Hicks layup, but a 6-2 Flyer spurt pushed the visitors in front by 10 for the first time all night. Still down by 10 at the 15:35 mark, the Bearcats went on a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to trim the deficit to three at 55-52. UC would attempt to cut into the lead after two misses by the Flyers, but a Devan Downey turnover thwarted the rally.
Later in the half, UC would again find itself down 10 as Scott dropped in a three with 8:05 remaining. Still down by 10 approaching five minutes left, the Bearcats made one final push, scoring seven of the next nine points to climb within 71-66 with 3:05 to go.
But that would be the beginning of the end for UC as the Bearcats missed their final eight field goal attempts, spanning the last three minutes of play. The cold spell late pushed UC's field goal percentage to .381 for the night.
The road doesn't get any easier for the Bearcats as 11th ranked Memphis comes to Fifth Third Arena for a nationally televised battle on Saturday. Tip-off in the ESPN-covered game is set for 3 p.m.