TicketsFeb. 15, 2006
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The University of Cincinnati took another big step towards a berth in the BIG EAST Tournament and gave its NCAA Tournament hopes a giant boost with a convincing 82-65 victory.
Four days after playing possibly their worst games of the season, the Bearcats put together what was very likely their finest to up their record to 17-9 overall and 6-6 in BIG EAST play. Syracuse fell to 17-8 overall and 5-6 in league play as the two teams swapped the No. 8 and No. 9 spots in the standings.
"It was a tremendous performance," exclaimed head coach Andy Kennedy in his postgame radio show. "I thought we came out with that look in our eye and I knew that we would have a chance if we could make some shots."
Making shots is just what the Bearcats did, shedding their recent offensive woes to shoot .515 from the floor.
Cedric McGowan broke out of his slump to post a career-high 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Jihad Muhammad continued his offensive run with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting. James White chipped in with 18 points and had his best shooting night (8-of-13) in three weeks. Devan Downey added 16 points and seven assists.
Eric Hicks was held to eight points, but gathered 11 rebounds and blocked five shots.
"Their zone was designed to take Eric out of the game, and that opened things up for some of the other guys," Kennedy observed. "If Eric is occupied on the baseline, that opens up the middle."
The Bearcats' most impressive stat was their 44-25 rebounding margin against the taller Orange front line that in their first meeting, in Cincinnati on Jan. 14, outrebounded UC by 24.
Syracuse led for just three minutes and 11 seconds of the game. Cincinnati jumped out to an early lead, with McGowan and Downey hitting rare 3-pointers in the first two minutes of play.
The Orange took their first lead midway through the first period during a 7-0 run, but UC quickly responded with a 9-0 run to regain the advantage. A late 7-0 spurt gave Syracuse a 41-40 halftime lead.
Hicks opened the second half with a layup that gave UC the lead for good and White followed with consecutive scores for a five-point lead. Leading by five with nine minutes to play, UC put the game away with a 15-2 run. The Orange went 7:13 without a field goal.
The Bearcats will have little time to celebrate the victory. Preparations began during the charter plane ride home for Friday's home game vs. Providence.
NOTES:
- Cincinnati's 44-25 rebound advantage was its largest margin of the season, topping the 18-rebound edge over DePaul in early January.
- Cedric McGowan's 19 points topped by one point his previous career high set vs. USF on Jan. 31. The junior had scored just eight points in the three games since the previous high.
- Eric Hicks' five blocked shots upped his season total to 90, one off the second-place single season total of 91 set by Jason Maxiell last season. Kenyon Martin holds the school single season record of 107 set in 1999-00.
- Hicks upped his career point total to 1,095 points and moved from No. 34 to No. 32 on the Cincinnati career scoring list.
- Hicks topped the 800 mark in career rebounding and closed the game with 806.
- Devan Downey extended his streak of games with at least one steal to 12.
- Jihad Muhammad, who entered the game having averaged 18.3 points over his previous four contests, has not averaged 18.4 points over his last five games while shooting .486 from the field and .463 from 3-point range.
- James White upped his career point total to 1,149, 967 scored during his three seasons as a Bearcat.