Bearcats' Season-High Shooting Seals Victory

Dec. 18, 2008

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CINCINNATI - Deonta Vaughn led a crushing first-half run, and Cincinnati had its best night of the season from behind the 3-point arc Thursday night, setting up a 75-63 victory over Mississippi State in the first of two games at U.S. Bank Arena in the BIG EAST/SEC Invitational.

UC scored 70-plus points for the eighth time this season after scoring over 70 points just seven times last season.

Cincinnati (8-2) made a season-high 12 3-pointers, including nine in the first half. Vaughn led a 20-2 run that closed the first half and put the Bearcats in control at 47-29. Vaughn made four 3-pointers and a driving bank shot in the spurt, scoring 14 points in four minutes. He finished with 16 points and six assists.

Jarvis Varnado scored a career-high 24 for Mississippi State (7-4) and led a 12-point run that cut the deficit to 55-48 midway through the second half, but the Bulldogs got no closer.

Freshman Yancy Gates fell one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. Gates' nine rebounds led UC, and Vaughn added a career-high seven boards.

Cincinnati outrebounded Mississippi State 41-27, improving to 8-0 on the season when outrebounding its opponents.

The Bearcats play their fourth game of a five-game, nine-day home stretch on Saturday, Dec. 20, when it hosts Eastern Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena.