Tickets Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
CINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team started the game on a 5-0 run and never looked back, surging past visiting East Carolina, 69-48, Tuesday in American Athletic Conference action at Fifth Third Arena.
Cincinnati (11-3, 2-0 American) led 38-22 at the half on the way to handing East Carolina (7-9, 0-3 American) its third straight loss to open American play. The Bearcats have won four in a row.
The Pirates offense struggled, firing at a 27-percent clip (17-of-63) from the floor. UC turned ECU's 10 turnovers into 13 points and tallied 10 points on the fast break.
Gary Clark (Clayton, N.C./Clayton) pulled down a career high 16 rebounds, the most for a Bearcats player in a game this season and the most since Mike Williams grabbed 16 against Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 20, 2008. Clark finished with eight points, four blocks, four steals and three assists, including throwing down an alley-oop dunk to close out the first half.
Octavius Ellis (Memphis, Tenn./Trinity Valley CC) and Kevin Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) led UC with 12 points apiece. Ellis added nine rebounds and three blocks. Troy Caupain (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) scored 10 points and dished out a game-high six assists.
Coreontae DeBerry (Holland, Mich./Hutchinson CC) tied his career high with nine points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.
Walk-on Zach Tobler (Fort Thomas, Ky./Covington Catholic) added his first career basket on a layup late in the game.
ECU's BJ Tyson finished with a game-high 13 points and team-high seven boards and Terry Whisnant totaled 11.
The Bearcats start at two-game road swing at UConn on Saturday. The game tips off at 11 a.m. ET and airs on ESPN2. UC continues the trip with a Thursday, Jan. 15 matchup at Memphis on ESPN or ESPN2 at 7 p.m., before returning to Fifth Third Arena against Temple on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
To purchase tickets to UC home men's basketball games, visit BearcatsBasketball.com or call 1-877-CATS-TIX for more information.