TicketsFeb. 10, 2007
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -John Williamson led the University of Cincinnati with 19 points, but Rutgers served as an unfriendly host by rallying for a 73-69 BIG EAST win on Saturday.
Adrian Hill scored 18 points and Jaron Griffin added 14 points for the Scarlet Knights (10-15, 3-9). Marquis Webb scored 11 points and Hamady N'Diaye blocked seven shots.
After Cedric McGowan's feed to Williamson setup a layin to give Cincinnati (10-14, 1-9) a 67-61 lead with just over four minutes left, the Scarlet Knights went on a 9-0 run that featured six points from Hill.
The Bearcats' Deonta Vaughn added 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting in 39 minutes of action. Jamual Warren contributed 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
UC then cut the lead to 70-69 on a dunk by Williamson with 1:02 left to play, but Anthony Farmer hit two free throws with 30.8 seconds left. Warren missed on a jumper, collected the rebound and misfired a jumper from behind the arc on the right wing with six seconds left that could have tied the game. Hill added 1-of-2 foul shots with two ticks remaining for Rutgers.
UC outrebounded Rutgers by a count of 28-25. UC turned the ball over 10 times and enduced 12 miscues.
The difference came at the free throw line where Rutgers drained 26-of-30 including 18-of-20 in the second stanza. Cincinnati netted 7-of-10 charity tosses.
Utilizing a dose of zone defense with its staple of halfcourt man-to-man, UC forced six turnovers and held Rutgers without a field goal for 8:20 of the second half. Rutgers stayed in the game by hitting all of its freethrows through the drought and kept UC close at 63-58 with just under five minutes remaining.
The Bearcats had appeared ready to run away with the game early on, jumping out to a 17-6 lead to start the game. The visitors connected on five of their first field goal tries, including a pair of 3-pointers by Vaughn and another by Gentry. Warren's driving lay-in and ensuing free throw made the lead 11 with 14:21 left in the opening frame.
Rutgers came roaring back with a 16-0 run midway through the half and held a 39-29 cushion at the break.