TicketsNov. 24, 2010
CINCINNATI - Junior forward Yancy Gates scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds and sophomore guard Cashmere Wright had his second double figure scoring game in as many tries, scoring 10 to guide the University of Cincinnati to its fourth straight victory, 54-41, over Savannah State (1-6) on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena.
Gates was one rebound shy of his third double-double of the year and Wright's double-digit scoring performance was the second time in his career his scoring production was in double figures in two straight games.
Savannah State took a 3-2 lead to start the game, the first lead UC gave up in 79:12. The lead lasted 18 seconds before the Bearcats pounced on SSU's match-up zone. Cincinnati then went on a 10-0 run, preventing the Tigers from scoring for 4:39 and owning a 12-3 advantage.
Savannah State bounced back with a 12-6 run over a 13:01 stretch and pulled within three, 18-15, with 7:07 to go in the half. Dion Dixon ended the Tiger run with a hard drive to the basket and started an 11-4 run for Cincinnati that gave the Bearcats a 29-19 advantage at the end of the first period.
Senior forward Rashad Bishop lifted the Bearcats to start the second half, scoring eight points in a 12-5 run for UC over the first 6:19 of the half. After four points from the Tigers, UC pulled away, using six points from Gates to push its lead to 20, 48-28, with 4:23 left in the game.
Savannah State kept things interesting, going on an 11-2 run of their own that got them as close as 11, 50-39, but UC hit its free throws over the final 1:16 to go home with its fourth straight win.
Wright was perfect from the free throw line, 4-for-4, and UC shot 73.7 percent from the free throw line (14-for-19), its highest free throw percentage since going 4-for-4 as a team against Louisville on Jan. 24, 2010. Bishop was perfect from long range (2-for-2) and from the charity stripe (2-for-2), finishing with eight points and matching his career-high in steals with three.
Nine different players showed up in the scoring column for Cincinnati against the Tigers. Jovonni Shuler led SSU with 14 points.
The Bearcats (4-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) will play next on Saturday, Nov. 27 against Dayton in a neutral game played at US Bank Arena at 7 p.m. Cincinnati will look to win its fifth game to start the season since 2004-05.