TicketsJan. 25, 2006
LOUISVILLE, Ky.---Taquan Dean's return to the Louisville line-up sparked the 23rd ranked Cardinals to a 67-50 win over Cincinnati in BIG EAST men's basketball action on Wednesday night before a sellout crowd at Freedom Hall. The victory snaps U of L's three-game losing streak and is the Cards' second conference win of the year.
In addition to Dean's 16 points off the bench, the Cardinals' pressure defense and 2-3 zone forced Cincinnati into its worst offensive performance of the year. In addition to the 50 points, the Bearcats committed a season-high 25 turnovers and shot a season-low .300 from the field. Despite a significant height disadvantage on its frontline, the Bearcats managed to outrebound the Cardinals by a 46-40 margin.
Even in defeat, Eric Hicks was a warrior for the Bearcats, tallying his eighth double-double of the year with 15 points, while matching his career-best with 17 rebounds. His scoring output pushed the 6-6 senior over the 1,000-point mark for his career, the 43rd Bearcat to accomplish the feat. With 1,010 points to his credit, Hicks ranks 42nd on the UC career scoring list, just three back of John Howard and 20 behind former teammate Field Williams.
With the win, Louisville moves to 14-5 overall, but holds a record of just 2-4 in the highly competitive BIG EAST Conference. UC falls to 14-6, 3-3 BIG EAST.
Trailing by 15 after a turnover plagued first half, the Bearcats looked to claw back into the ball game in the opening of the second half by scoring the first seven points of the period. As had been case with the first 20 minutes, UC once again struggled to score, tallying just one point over a nearly four-minute span. Ronald Allen finally stopped the bleeding when he hit a jumper with 12:02 remaining, but the field cut the Louisville advantage to 52-32.
While the Bearcats were struggling, Dean and the Cardinals were heating up, scoring 13 unanswered points over a three minute span. Dean was the catalyst of the outburst as he canned three long range bombs, including two in a 24 second span.
In the middle stages of the second half, Louisville would convert just one field goal in a nearly five minute span and a three by Jihad Muhammad with 5:00 left would draw UC to within 63-47. But that would be as close as UC would get, as it scored just three points in the final five minutes to finish the 17-point defeat.
The night got off to a slow start for the Bearcats as Louisville scored the first five points of the game, then the Cards got a much-needed energy boost when head coach Rick Pitino inserted Dean into the line-up with 17:14 showing on the first half clock. Dean, who had missed three of the past four games with a high ankle sprain, paid quick dividends as he knocked down a three to put Louisville up 13-4 with just over 16 minutes remaining.
At the 13:52 mark of the half, UC's outstanding freshman point guard Devan Downey converted a jumper that drew the Bearcats to within 15-8. The two-pointer would be symbolic on two unfortunate fronts for the Bearcats, as it was Downey's only points of the night and was UC's last field goal for a period of over eight minutes. Between Bearcat field goals, Brandon Jenkins would score six points and Dean five to lead the Cardinals on a 13-3 run that moved the U of L advantage to 17.
Late in the half, Allen banked in a three-pointer to cut Louisville's lead to 10, but it would go down as one of only thee field goals converted by the Bearcats in the final four minutes of the half. After seeing its lead shaved to 10, Louisville scored seven of the last nine points of the half to take a 37-22 lead into the intermission.
In addition to Dean's 16 points, the Cardinals placed three other players in double figures, led by Juan Palacios' game-high 19 points. The 6-8 sophomore also pulled down a team-high 12 boards for the Cards. Jenkins and Aaron McGee each finished with 10 points, with the latter also handing out a game-high six assists.
For Cincinnati, Muhammad had one of his better games of late as he knocked down 4 of 9 shots, including 3 of 7 from behind the arc to finish with 12 points. James White, Cincinnati's leading scorer at better than 17 points per game, was held to only nine by the Cards. The single-digit output marked the first by White since scoring just four points against Kentucky in last season's NCAA Tournament second round game.
The road gets no easier from here for Cincinnati who must travel to Georgetown on Saturday for a 12 p.m. tilt. The Hoyas, at 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the BIG EAST are coming off their biggest win of the year, a stunning upset of then-No. 1 Duke last Saturday. The match-up from the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. will be broadcast live on ESPN2.