TicketsMarch 3, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.--Deonta Vaughn gave Bearcat fans something to look forward to in the future, but the University Cincinnati dropped its season finale 79-65 at West Virginia.
Vaughn tallied 18 points and four assists to lead UC. The freshman guard totaled all of his scoring in the second half and finished the season as the team's top scorer with his 14.5 points per game average.
Sophomore Alex Ruoff scored a career-high 23 points to lead West Virginia.
Cincinnati finishes 11-19 overall, 2-14 in the BIG EAST Conference under first-year coach Mick Cronin.
West Virginia (21-8, 9-7 BIG EAST) came out blazing, hitting five of its first seven attempts from the floor. Ruoff's third 3-pointer of the game gave a 14-6 advantage with 15:53 left in the opening period. After draining his first three attempts from behind the arc, he scored 13 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
Senior Cedric McGowan added 16 points in 35 minutes of play. In his final game wearing a UC uniform, McGowan netted points on consecutive chances to score the first points of the contest for Cincinnati. The senior from Miami, Fla., was fouled on consecutive lay-ins, making the charity toss after each field goal. The second made it 8-6 almost three minutes into the game.
Junior forward John Williamson contributed 14 points. The junior from Columbus, Ohio collected 10 of his game-high 13 rebounds in the first half.
The Mountaineers' Darris Nichols finished with 16 points and nine assists. Frnak Young totaled 12 points and six caroms.
Cincinnati was 26-of-57 overall from the floor for 45.6 percent, but made just 5 of 17 from 3 for 29.4 percent. West Virginia sank 24-of-49 for 49 percent from the field, including 14-of-28 from 3-point territory.
The Bearcats yielded 12 turnovers while the Mountaineers totaled 15 miscues.
West Virginia led 40-25 at halftime.