TicketsDec. 19, 2005
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Five Cincinnati players scored in double figures for the third time this season as Cincinnati tallied its fourth straight win, an 84-63 triumph over Arkansas-Monticello on Monday night in UC's Fifth Third Arena. The game was Cincinnati's second of four as part of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic and improved the Bearcats' record to 7-2 on the year.
The Bearcats used the long ball to aid in their victory as UC connected on a season-high 12 shots from behind the arc, including five by senior guard Jihad Muhammad. James White turned in his usual solid all-around performance, scoring a game-high 18 points, grabbing six rebounds and notching three steals, going over both the 900-point and 400-rebound plateaus for his career. Muhammad and Eric Hicks each scored 15 points, with the latter pulling down six boards and blocking three shots.
"Honestly, I anticipated this," UC head coach Andy Kennedy said of the Bearcats' outing. "Our concentration wasn't there from start to finish. A couple guys stepped up, but their zone got us very tentative. It made us force some shots that we shouldn't have taken. I never thought we got into a flow. They controlled it with their tempo."
The Bearcats' story on the interior was junior college transfer Cedric McGowan, who led all players with a career-high 13 rebounds, while adding nine points. Devan Downey pitched in 13 points for UC, while Armein Kirkland had 12.
The performance by McGowan caught the attention of Kennedy who noted the affect his outing had on the outcome.
"Cedric made a huge transformation from the start of the game to the way he finished," Kennedy stated. "He ended with 13 rebounds for us and gave us that cushion that we needed on the glass."
Nate Newell, the Boll Weevils' leading scorer at over 20 points per game, paced the Arkansas-Monticello attack with 16 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Brandon Mayweather asserted himself on the interior, scoring 13 points and notching eight rebounds. Torre Doty added 14 for the Boll Weevils who fall to 4-3 on the year.
UAM proved to be a scrappy, energized group in the first 20 minutes, but despite shooting 54 percent in the first half, still trailed 38-28 at the break. The Weevils scored the first basket of the game less than a minute in, but quickly found themselves trailing by seven after an 11-2 scoring run by UC. After UAM cut the deficit to five approaching 13 minutes to play, a three-pointer by Kirkland and a Hicks' dunk drove the lead into double figures for the first time in the game.
The visitors would then rattle off five straight points to cut the deficit to five, but Muhammad came up big, nailing two three-pointers in an 11 second span to push UC's advantage back to 11.
Later in the half, Cincinnati increased its lead to a first-half high 12 when White converted a three-point play with 2:53 to go. White's lay-in with four seconds left pushed the Bearcats to the 10-point halftime cushion.
After shooting red hot in the first half, UAM went cold after the break missing eight of its first nine shots to fall behind by 17 at 48-31. After Newell knocked down a three to cut the deficit to 12 with 13:59 left, Cincinnati outscored UAM by a 27-12 margin over the next seven-plus minutes to open its lead to 27.
A Hicks dunk with under three minutes to play put UC up by a game-high 28, leading Kennedy to clear his bench for the final three minutes of play.
The performance by Cincinnati impressed Boll Weevils' head coach Mike Newell.
"They've come a long way in the last four games," he said. "Andy (Kennedy) has done a tremendous job. He's got them playing very, very well. They are shooting the ball well, they're athletic, they dribble-penetrate. Defensively, they're long, they gave us troubles. I was proud of our kids. You want to come and play against these teams and in these types of environments."
UC continues its span of four games in six days, traveling to Las Vegas for two contests later this week. The Bearcats will look to avenge a 75-66 loss to Dayton on Thursday, before meeting LSU on Friday. Both games are slated to begin at 10:30 p.m. ET.