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CINCINNATI -- Farad Cobb (West Palm Beach, Fla./NW Florida State College) scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to help lead the University of Cincinnati men's basketball team to a 56-50 win over SMU in the Bearcats' American Athletic Conference opener, Saturday in Fifth Third Arena.
Cincinnati (10-3, 1-0 American) won its third straight game and snapped SMU's (10-4, 1-1 American) eight-game winning streak. UC won its sixth straight conference opener.
Cobb took over the game midway through the second half, scoring nine straight points to turn a two-point deficit into a five-point lead the Bearcats would not relinquish. During a span of 1:44, the junior-college transfer tallied a jumper, fast-break layup after a steal, three pointer and a pair of free throws, part of his game-high 18 points.
UC was in a three-point hole at halftime, largely due to 12 first-half turnovers. SMU failed to take advantage, converting only five points off of the Bearcats giveaways in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bearcats erased the deficit with a 7-4 run out of the locker room, knotting things up at 26 apiece with 17 minutes remaining. The teams traded buckets and SMU held a 30-28 lead with 14:06 to go, setting up Cobb's nine-point solo act.
Octavius Ellis (Memphis, Tenn./Trinity Valley CC) followed Cobb's barrage with a jumper at 11:26, making the margin seven, 37-30, capping an 11-0 run by the Bearcats over 2:45. The Mustangs went almost four minutes between field goals and turned it over 17 times in the game.
Moments later, a thunderous dunk by Gary Clark (Clayton, N.C./Clayton) brought the season-high crowd of 10,013 to its feet as UC pushed the advantage to nine, 41-32 with 10:01 to go.
SMU did not fold, chipping away at the UC lead and using a 9-2 run to pull within three, 51-48, with 27 ticks left on the clock. UC hit five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Ellis finished with 12, going 6-for-7 from the field and adding six rebounds and three steals while Clark had eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and a pair of assists.
UC forced 17 turnovers and converted 20 points off the SMU miscues and won the battle of the boards 30-25.
Ryan Manuel's 14 led the way for the Mustangs with Nic Moore also finding double digits with 11 points after nailing three triples.
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