TicketsDec. 7, 2013
 63 NEW MEXICO |
Box Score | Quotes |  54 CINCINNATI | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team fell in its first road game of the season, 63-54, at New Mexico on Saturday, Dec. 7. The loss marked the first of the season for the Bearcats, who now stand at 7-1, while the Lobos improved to 7-1.
Sean Kilpatrick (Yonkers, N.Y./Notre Dame Prep) led a UC team that struggled to find its shooting touch. The senior scored 19 points, 17 in the second half, while Troy Caupain (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) added 11 points and Justin Jackson (Cocoa Beach, Fla./Arlington Country Day) scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. With his 19 points, Kilpatrick now has 1,601 for his career, moving him into ninth all-time and making him just the ninth player in program history to eclipse 1,600 points.
For the game, UC shot just 29.5-percent (18-61) from the field, its lowest output of the season. Defense did keep the Bearcats in the game, as they forced 15 Lobo turnovers while committing just eight themselves. Cincinnati scored 19 points off those New Mexico miscues.
New Mexico was led by a double-double effort from Cameron Baristow, who scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Alex Kirk posted 15 points and pulled down six rebounds for UNM, while Kendall Williams added 10 points and five boards. The Lobos shot 50-percent (22-44) from the floor, while outscoring UC in the paint, 34-24.
While getting off to a slow start offensively, the Bearcats used an 8-0 run to close the first half and trail, 27-20, at the break. UC shot just 26.7-percent in the half, but only turned it over four times while forcing the Lobos to turn it over 10 times in the frame to stay in it. Caupain was the leading scorer for UC in the half, scoring seven points. Caupain started the 8-0 run by drilling a three-pointer before a Titus Rubles (Dallas, Texas/Blinn College) layup and a three from Jermaine Sanders (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Rice HS) cut it to seven at the break.
The Bearcats kept the momentum up in the second half, closing the game to two, 35-33, over the first five minutes thanks to Kilpatrick scoring seven points during that stretch. Unfortunately, it would be the closest UC would get, as the Lobos responded with a 6-0 run that included back-to-back scores by Kirk, pushing the lead back to eight, 41-33, with 12:57 to play in the game. New Mexico kept UC off the scoreboard for four minutes before a Caupain layup halted the run and was followed by a three from Kevin Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) to put the Bearcats back within five, 43-38, with just over 10 minutes left.
Foul trouble was an issue for UC, as Jackson had to leave the game with four fouls with 10:02 remaining. New Mexico responded by pushing the lead to nine, 47-38, with 9:09 to play. Kilpatrick halted the UNM run with a layup and the UC press started to get to the Lobos. Jackson checked back in with 6:19 to play and UC trailing, 51-44, but the Lobos kept the momentum. New Mexico then went on a 7-0 run to take a 56-44 lead with 4:41 to play.
A Rubles layup closed it to 57-50 with 3:28 to play, but the Lobos then killed the clock, getting a big offensive rebound from Bairstow and taking another 20 seconds off before he hit a jumper to push it back to nine, 59-50. After Johnson missed a layup for UC, Bairstow continue to help ice the game for New Mexico by getting the rebound and scoring at the other end to make it 61-50 with just 93 seconds left to play. Despite late free throws from Kilpatrick, the Lobos would hold on for the 63-54 victory.
Next up for Cincinnati is the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Classic versus Xavier on Saturday, Dec. 14. Click here for ticket information. Tipoff at U.S. Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati is set for 8:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on FOX Sports 1.