TicketsJan. 24, 2007
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The University of Cincinnati defense found itself unable to answer No. 9 Pittsburgh's inside-out attack, falling 67-51 at Fifth Third Arena.
Pittsburgh's (18-3, 6-1) Levance Fields made a career-high six 3-pointers, and finished with 18 points to lead a long-range spree. Pitt went 12-of-19 from 3-point range.
John Williamson tallied 15 points and six rebounds to lead Cincinnati (10-9, 1-4), which couldn't build upon its upset of West Virginia on Saturday.
The game began with offensive fireworks, when Williamson slammed home the first two points off of a pass by Deonta Vaughn on the first possession of the contest. After Fields recorded what would be his lone misfire of the night, Marcus Sikes drained a jumper to put Cincinnati up 4-0 just over one minute into the game.
But, Pitt responded by connecting on its next three shots from the floor to take an 8-4 lead. The visitors wasted little time in stretching the deficit to 12, at 23-11 following a trey by Antonio Graves.
With a 3-pointer by Vaughn, the Bearcats trimmed the margin to eight, at 34-26 with 1:25 remaining in the half, but the Panthers answered with four points on their next two possessions going into the lockerroom.
The relentless Bearcats challenged the Panthers with a multitude of different pressures, but Fields' 6-of-7 performance from behind the arc keyed the winning effort. Ronald Ramon and Sam Young added 10 points apiece for the visiting Panthers.
Pitt went 10-of-14 on 3s in the first 20 minutes, setting up a 38-26 margin at the break. Pitt was the third ranked team Cincinnati has played this season.
Cincinnati was able to keep the deficit at 12 early in the second stanza, but a 14-2 run put Pitt up by 24, 58-34 with 10:32 remaining.
For UC, Vaughn contributed 13 points, five assists and a pair of steals. Sikes finished with 10 points. Jamual Warren finished with three steals and four caroms.