TicketsJan. 9, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Cincinnati suffered its first loss in BIG EAST Conference play, a 70-59 setback to No. 4 Connecticut. Over the next few days, the Bearcats will hope that they do not lose one of the few big men for any appreciable time.
The loss ended UC's winning streak at 10 and gave the Bearcats a 13-3 record, 2-1 in the BIG EAST.
The Bearcats also lost the services of Armein Kirkland for the final 28 minutes of the game, and maybe games to come, when the 6-8 senior suffered a sprained left knee.
"We don't know the status but the initial prognosis is not good," head coach Andy Kennedy said in his postgame radio show. "We are hopeful it's just a bad sprain."
Kirkland was enjoying one of his best games of the season when felled by the injury. He had scored 14 of Cincinnati's 18 points when he limped to the bench after seemingly hyper extending his leg while making a drive down the side of the key to the basket.
The Bearcats also had the services of James White and Eric Hicks curtailed due to foul troubles down the stretch run of the first half, but were within four points, 37-33, at halftime.
Cincinnati continued to battle, and tied the game at 44-all with 15:47 to play. Connecticut went on a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to take its first sizeable lead of the contest. UC cut the margin to six points, 65-59, with 3:47 remaining, but its comeback attempt stalled.
"We had opportunities and just did not make the play," recounted Kennedy. "I was disappointed that we did not capitalize, whether it was Jihad going 0-for-9 or Cedric McGowan not rebounding on the defensive end."
Hicks, who entered the contest averaging a double-double over his previous five games, had another noteworthy performance despite playing on a gimpy ankle. The 6-6 senior scored 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked seven shots. Hicks found the going difficult early-on trying to score against the taller UConn front line players, as witnessed in the 6-of-15 field goal performance from the team's shooting percentage leader.
White finished with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. The remainder of the Bearcats did not perform the way they had in recent contests. Devan Downey failed to reach double figures in scoring for the third straight game (7 points). McGowan got just six points and four rebounds. UC got zero points from its bench.
The Huskies used their size advantage--UConn's three frontline players are 6-11, 6-10 and 6-9--to score inside and keep the Bearcats from doing the same. UConn tallied 34 points from the paint and won the rebounding battle, 52-32.
Hilton Armstrong led the Huskies with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Rudy Gay, Denham Brown and Marcus Williams each tallied 11 points.
NOTES:
- Eric Hicks notched his fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, the sixth of the season and the 19th of his career. He topped the 700 plateau in career rebounding, finishing with 704. He also surpassed the 200 mark in blocked shots and now has 202.
- Hicks extended his streak of games with at least one blocked shot to 15. He has rejected 47 shots over his last 10 games and has 24 blocks over his last six contests.
- Armein Kirkland reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time in the last nine games.
- James White scored his 1,000th career point and finished the game with 1,114. The Florida transfer has scored 932 as a Bearcat.