TicketsFeb. 17, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Freshman Devan Downey stepped to the line with just over three seconds left and calmly knocked down two free throws, giving the University of Cincinnati a wild, 66-64 win against Providence on Friday night in front of a boisterous crowd of 12,127 at Fifth Third Arena.
"Devan played extremely hard and did a lot of good things for us," head coach Andy Kennedy said of his freshman point guard. "He did the right thing by attacking the basket and made two huge free throws."
, making a strong case for BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, scored 16 points and had four steals in helping the Bearcats to their second straight win. James White led four players in double figures with 22 points, hitting on four-of-six threes, and grabbed seven rebounds.
Cedric McGowan scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had a pair of blocked shots and Jihad Muhammad poured in 13 points and had five assists.
improves to 18-9 overall and 7-6 in the BIG EAST. drops to 11-12, 4-8 in conference play.
Eric Hicks, named to the NABC All-District 10 first team earlier in the day, struggled through a 1-13 shooting night, but grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots. He moved past former teammate and current Detroit Piston, Jason Maxiell, into second place on UC's single-season block list with 94.
UC, which shot only .311 for the game, was outrebounded, 51-41. The Bearcats held the Friars to .394 shooting and forced 16 turnovers, making 12 steals.
"We certainly did not play very well offensively," Kennedy stated. "Yet some how, some way, the guys found a way to win."
jumped out to a quick 5-0 on a White layup and three. The senior from , scored 12 of UC's first 20 points.
The Bearcats led by as much as nine, 23-14, after a Muhammed three-pointer at the 10:34 mark in the first half.
embarked on a 13-4 run, beginning with a Donnie McGrath three, and capped by two free throws by Sharaud Curry, knotting the game, 27-27, with 4:30 to play.
The teams traded baskets over the final minutes of the stanza and UC took a 33-32 lead into halftime.
UC opened the second half with an 11-6 spurt to take a 44-38 lead, but Providence answered with a 16-3 run of their own, capped by another McGrath three, which gave the Friars a 54-47 lead with just under 10 minutes to play.
Muhammad scored UC's next eight points and Downey followed with a fast-break layup after a Ronald Allen steal to cut PC's lead to one at the 6:16 mark.
The Bearcats went ahead on a thunderous dunk by Hicks and extended their lead to three after a McGowan offensive rebound and dunk. quieted the crowd by scoring the next four points, to go ahead, 62-61, with 3:22 to play.
On the ensuing UC possession, had his layup attempt blocked out of bounds by PC's Randall Hanke with one second remaining on the shot clock. Hicks missed a fade-away jumper on the inbounds play, but McGowan corralled the offensive board and White hit his fourth three, giving the Bearcats a two point lead, 64-62.
A pair of free throws from Charles Burch knotted the game at 64 and after McGowan and Hicks battled for a tip-in, Herbert Hill came away with the rebound for .
With 42 seconds remaining, ran the shot clock down and got the ball into the hands of McGrath, the team's leading scorer. His three was off the mark and the long rebound found its way to , who beat everyone down the floor and was fouled with 3.4 seconds to play. The freshman knocked down both free throws and Curry's runner at the buzzer rimmed out, giving UC a hard-fought win.
The Friars were led by Hill, who scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots. Geoff McDermott had a game-high 16 rebounds and four steals, while McGrath scored 16 on just 7-of 19 shooting.