TicketsMarch 4, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - On an emotional Senior Day at Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati all but assured itself of an NCAA bid with a 78-75 win over No. 16 West Virginia in front of a sold out crowd on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Eric Hicks led the Bearcats (19-11, 8-8 BIG EAST) to the win, making 7-of-11 shots from the field to score 18 points with eight rebounds. Fellow seniors James White (15 points) and Jihad Muhammad (17 points) also scored in double-figures and Devan Downey had 16 points and 10 assists.
The Mountaineers (20-9, 11-5) were led by Kevin Pittsnogle's 23 points and nine rebounds, while Mike Gansey added 20, making four three-pointers in the second half.
Downey's two free throws with 1.3 seconds left clinched a win in which UC never trailed in the second half, but was never able to shake WVU completely. The teams combined to shoot .582 from the floor in the second half and make 11-of-21 three-pointers to score 85 total points.
"It was a grind," said Bearcat head coach Andy Kennedy. "It was an appropriate ending. We played about as well as we could, hit them as hard as we could. They just kept coming. That is a quality basketball team. It was not given. Nothing this year has been given to us."
White, Muhammad and another senior, Chadd Moore, made treys in an 11-1 run that gave the Bearcats a 48-35 lead less than four minutes into the second half.
The Mountaineer offense starting knocking down threes to chip away at the lead and eventually embarked on a 10-4 run, keyed by five Gansey points, to close to 60-56 with 8:21 left.
UC quickly scored the next four points on a White lay-up and Muhammad steal and score. Two minutes later Gansey drained back-to-back triples to cut the lead to 66-64 with 5:02 on the clock.
Moore answered right back for UC, making a three of his own. The teams then traded rapid fire scores for two minutes until a Patrick Beilein trey pulled WVU within 75-73 with 2:39 left.
The offenses then went cold and UC found itself with the ball with under a minute left. The Bearcats ran the shot clock down and Moore got open for a three and missed. Hicks was able to keep the rebound alive and Moore ran it down, forcing WVU to foul.
Hicks made one-of-two foul shots with 25 seconds left and Moore grabbed another big rebound, coming down with a Pittsnogle miss with 6.9 seconds left. He missed the free throw giving WVU the ball with 3.2 seconds left.
Still up by three, the Bearcats fouled Pittsnogle with 2.3 seconds on the clock. He made the first and tried to miss the second, but it bounced off the backboard and in.
The Mountaineers then fouled Downey with 1.3 seconds left and the frosh made both.
The seniors got UC stared early as Hicks and Muhammad had three-pointers and White scored a lay-up to put the Bearcats ahead, 8-2.
After WVU cut the lead to one, Downey pushed it back to five with consecutive scores. Those were UC's last field goals for four minutes as the Mountaineers ran off 12 of the next 14 points to take a 19-14 lead. Pittsnogle had five points in the run, including a three-pointer to cap the rally with 11:22 left.
The Bearcat defense clamped down and allowed just one WVU field goal for nearly seven minutes. The UC offense also produced, putting together a 19-4 run to take a 33-23 lead with 3:18 to go in the half.
Hicks, who led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, scored the first baskets of the run. Downey then found Cedric McGowan and White for easy scores. Muhammad made another three before Hicks punctuated the run with a powerful dunk.
Beilein and Gansey connected on triples for WVU to cut the lead to 37-31 at the break.
Hicks was 5-of-6 from the field to lead UC to 52 percent shooting in the opening stanza. The Bearcats connected on 3-of-9 three-pointers and hit all eight free throws. Hicks added five rebounds to his 13 points and White scored eight points with five boards. Downey handed out six assists with four points.
WVU shot .419 from the field, but made just 5-of-15 three-pointers and missed its only free throw. Pittsnogle scored a team-high 11 points and had five rebounds. The teams combined for just nine turnovers.