TicketsDec. 1, 2012
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CINCINNATI — Cashmere Wright's buzzer-beating jump shot lifted No. 17/16 University of Cincinnati (7-0) to a 58-56 win over Alabama (6-1) Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.
With six seconds left and the score tied at 56-56, Wright took an inbounds from pass from Titus Rubles and dribbled three-quarters the length of the floor all the way to the left baseline before hitting a step-back, fade-away over Crimson Tide 7-footer Moussa Gueye as the game clock expired.
Wright, who finished the game with eight points, and Sean Kilpatrick, who totaled a team-best 13 points, each toppled the 1,000-career point total. The only other time a pair of Bearcats reached 1,000 career points in the same game was Danny Fortson and Darnell Burton on Feb. 29, 1996 against Memphis.
JaQuon Parker also tallied 13 points while hauling in a team-high six rebounds. Rubles was the third Bearcat to reach double digits with 10 points off the bench.
The Bearcats scored the first seven points of the game, capped by a Wright fast-break reverse layup at the 17:03 mark that gave him his 1,000th-career point.
A 6-0 UC run capped off by a Rubles steal and fast-break layup put the Bearcats in front 17-4 at the 11:30 mark of first half, at which point the Crimson Tide had more turnovers (eight) than shots from the field (seven).
Alabama guard Trevor Lacy scored seven points during a 12-2 Crimson Tide run that cut Cincinnati's lead to 19-16 with 6:11 remaining in the first half.
With 3:53 left in the first half, Kilpatrick made a pair of free throws for his 1,000th career points, which increased UC's lead to 27-20.
Cheikh Mbodj's layup with 3:20 left in the first marked six straight points for the Bearcats and gave them a 29-20 lead.
Crimson Tide point guard Trevor Releford's 3-pointer at the buzzer made the score 33-27 Bearcats at the half.
Rubles and Mbodj led the Bearcats with eight first-half points.
Cincinnati forced 16 Alabama turnovers, including 10 in the first half, which resulted in 16 points and a 33-27 halftime lead.
Alabama went on a 9-4 run to start the second half and took its first lead, 38-37, at the 14:16 mark on a jumper by Lacy, who led all scorers with 16 points.
The Bearcats and Crimson Tide had eight lead changes and five ties in the final minutes of the game after UC led the entire first half and the first 5:44 of the second half.
A Kilpatrick layup following four offensive rebounds gave the Bearcats a short-lived 43-40 lead before Releford made a 3-point play to tie the score with 11:28 left.
After a Releford layup gave Alabama a two-point lead, Kilpatrick quickly made a fast-break layup while getting fouled to tie the score 56-56 with 41.4 seconds left.
After Kilpatrick's potential go-ahead free-throw was off target, Alabama called a timeout with 30.7 seconds left in the game and 25 ticks remaining on the shot clock. Following the timeout, Teleford let the clock run down before driving to his left and attempting a layup that was swatted away by junior forward Justin Jackson, which was recovered by the Bearcats, who called a timeout and set up Wright's game-winner.
Cincinnati's next game is Thursday at 7 p.m. against Arkansas-Little Rock at Fifth Third Arena. The contest will be televised live on FOX Sports Ohio.