TicketsFeb. 9, 2013
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CINCINNATI — The 17th-ranked University of Cincinnati men's basketball team fell to No. 23/25 Pittsburgh 62-52 Saturday evening at Fifth Third Arena.
UC redshirt junior guard Sean Kilpatrick led all scorers with 16 points, but had just one in the second half. Bearcats junior forward Titus Rubles followed with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Pittsburgh senior guard Tray Woodall (14 points) led a Panthers trio of double-digit scorers. Pitt freshman center Steven Adams scored 13 points and junior forward Talib Zanna tallied 11 and a game-best nine rebounds.
UC shot just 22.7 percent from the field in the game's final 20 minutes, compared to its 40.7 percent clip in the first, as Pittsburgh held the Bearcats without a basket for the game's final 9:21.
After UC outrebounded Pitt 18-12 in the first half, the Panthers returned the favor by hauling in 18 second-half boards compared to 15 for the Bearcats.
Pittsburgh shaved Cincinnati's lead down to one point after going on a 7-1 run before a 3-pointer from UC senior point guard Cashmere Wright from the left baseline extended the Bearcats lead to 35-31. Wright's 3-pointer led to an 8-3 UC run and a 40-34 lead for the Bearcats at the 12:16 mark of the second half.
Pitt again cut Cincinnati's lead to one point, 40-39, before Wright and Rubles scored five straight points for a six-point Bearcats lead with 9:21 left.
The Panthers went on an 8-0 run, capped by a layup by junior guard Trey Ziegler with 6:21 remaining to take a 47-45 lead - Pitt's first since it was up 24-23 with 2:26 left in the first half.
Rubles tied the score 47-47 with a pair of free throws with 5:54 left. Cincinnati went ahead by one point at 48-47 with 4:55 left after Kilpatrick scored his first point of the second half by making one of two free throws.
Pittsburgh outscored UC 15-4 the rest of the way to close out the game.
Kilpatrick led all scorers with 15 first-half points, including nine of UC's first 21 points, to help the Bearcats build a 31-26 lead at the break.
Following an early back and forth, the Bearcats made the first big run when they outscored Pitt 12-4 run over a 4:22 span that was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore guard Jermaine Sanders and Kilpatrick for a 19-12 lead at the 8:30 mark.
A Kilpatrick jumper in the lane extended the Bearcats lead to 21-13 before Pittsburgh totaled 11 straight points to take a 24-21 lead with 3:04 left in the first half.
Facing its largest deficit of the first half, UC scored layups by senior guard JaQuon Parker and redshirt freshman guard Shaq Thomas, followed by six quick points from Kilpatrick for a 10-run that gave the Bearcats a 31-24 lead with 57 seconds left in the first half.
Villanova will visit Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. tipoff against Cincinnati. The BIG EAST matchup will be televised locally on FOX Sports Ohio.