TicketsJan. 31, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio---Cedric McGowan recorded one of the best performances of his Cincinnati career, helping Cincinnati snap a two-game losing streak with a 73-60 win over South Florida in BIG EAST action on Tuesday night in Fifth Third Arena.
McGowan scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a game-best 14 rebounds to lead the Bearcats to victory. Jihad Muhammad showed his shooting touch with 18 points, including connecting on 4 of 9 from behind the arc. Eric Hicks struggled from the floor, connecting on just 5 of 16 attempts, but still managed to finish with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots for his ninth double-double of the year.
UC improves to 15-7 on the year with the victory, evening its BIG EAST mark at 4-4. USF falls to 6-14 overall and remains winless in the BIG EAST at 0-7.
The Bearcats trailed for much of the evening, but used a 14-3 run midway through the second half to pull into a double digit lead. Cincinnati rode the spurt to a 51 percent shooting effort in the second half. UC also turned up the defense after the break, allowing the Bulls to shoot just 38 percent in the second half.
The already depleted Bearcat roster took another hit when James White injured his ankle in the first half. The 6-7 senior swingman was able to return to the line-up, but contributed just 16 minutes for the Bearcats. That left it up to McGowan to fill in the gaps.
"I thought Cedric McGowan was fantastic," stated Bearcat head coach Andy Kennedy. "With James White going down and Eric Hicks not playing Eric Hicks basketball, we still found a way to win against a team I have a lot of respect for. I am just happy that our guys rose to the challenge and lived to fight another day."
The opening to the night's contest was far from good to the Bearcats as USF jumped to an early 11-4 lead. The Bearcats would reel off 11 of the next 13 points, though to take their first lead of the evening at 15-13.
After falling behind 19-17, Hicks evened the score for the fourth time in the half with a lay-up, only to see USF outscore the Bearcats 7-2 over the next three minutes to take the lead at 26-21. UC came right back with six of the next eight at get within one, but the visiting Bulls scored the last four points of the half to take a 32-28 lead into halftime.
Following a shooting performance of just 32 percent in the first half and trailing by four at the break, Cincinnati's difficulties continued early in the second half as USF opened up a 39-32 lead just two and a half minutes into the frame. The lead would teeter back and forth after the Bearcats fought back, but Muhammad's three with 11:11 to play put Cincinnati into a lead it would not relinquish. Muhammad's triple was the start of the aforementioned 14-3 run that gave Cincinnati its largest lead to that point at 62-51 with 6:54 to go. The Bearcats would continue to lead down the stretch, pulling into a game-best lead of 14 with under a minute to play.
All five of the USF starters finished the game in double figures, led by Solomon Jones' with 14, along with eight boards. McHugh Mattis had 13, along with six blocks, while James Holmes tacked on 12. Melvin Buckley turned in 11 points and Collin Dennis 10.
"They were physically more aggressive (in the second half)," stated USF head coach Robert McCullum. "They are one of the more physical teams that we have faced all year, not that we didn't expect that, but more than any game we have played in this conference."
The Bearcats are back in action this Saturday, traveling to West Virginia for the first of two meetings with the Mountaineers. Tip-off in Morgantown in a game to be telecast on WXIX-TV is set for Noon.