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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
NEW ORLEANS - This was uncharted territory for University of Cincinnati forward Quadri Moore.
The RallyCats who had bused down from Cincinnati were chanting his name. One of them held a sign that read, "Quad Squad," this for a player who started the game averaging only 7.8 minutes and 2.8 points per game.
But on this day, the students - about 100 strong - plus about 50 boosters who flew down on the team charter, had good reason to cheer for Moore, who came up big Saturday when the Bearcats were in first-half foul trouble, and sparked them to a 78-61 victory over Tulane before 2,001 fans at Devlin Fieldhouse.
No. 20 UC was leading by only one and starting forwards Kyle Washington and Jacob Evans were both on the bench with two fouls when Moore entered the game with 11:40 left in the first half. He promptly buried a 3-pointer to steer the Bearcats back on track. By the end of the half he had scored 11 points, making four of five shots from the floor and all three of his attempts from 3-point range to help UC build a 38-22 halftime lead.
"Obviously, Quadri Moore is the star of the game for us with our foul trouble in the first half," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "Usually you're just trying to survive with Jacob and Kyle on the bench, your leading two scorers. Instead we pulled away."
The Bearcats (17-2 overall, 7-0 in the American Athletic Conference) extended their winning streak to 10 games as they prepare to face No. 22 Xavier in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Thursday at Fifth Third Arena. Tulane fell to 4-15, 1-6.
Moore, a 6-foot-8 junior from Linden, New Jersey, scored a career-high 14 points in 20 minutes, also a career high, and he pulled down a season-high six rebounds. He had season highs in eight of 12 categories.
"I'm a part of the team too," Moore said. "I'm probably not in a lot of people's scouting reports, though, so that makes my life a little easier. But it feels good to have a day like this every once in a while."
Moore was part of another balanced scoring effort that saw four UC players reach double figures for the second straight game and the third in the last five. Evans led the way with 15 points. Troy Caupain and Kevin Johnson each scored 14. Cameron Reynolds led Tulane with 20.
It was a nice homecoming for Evans, from nearby Baton Rouge, although it got off to a rocky start. Evans picked up his second foul and went to the bench with 17:35 left in the first half. That's where he stayed until intermission, much to the chagrin of his friends and relatives who had made the one-hour drive to see him.
But he made their drive worthwhile when he came back in the second half to score 13 of his 15 points. He finished with six field goals in seven attempts and two of three from long range.
The flurry of fouls called against UC in the early going - five in the first five and a half minutes - set the stage for a game that was called extremely close to the vest by the officiating crew of Jose Carrion, Patrick Evans and Kyle Regetz. By halftime, the Bearcats had been called for 13 fouls that led to 11 made free throws for the Green Wave. UC finished with 23 fouls to just 14 for Tulane.
"It was a little frustrating, but we were winning and that's all I care about," Evans said. "You can't let the game get into the refs' hands. You've got to be able to play smart and don't even give them a chance to call a foul on you."
That mirrored the message from Cronin, who advised his players to be careful with every defensive move they made. When you block a shot, he told them, make sure you do it softly so as not to draw too much attention to yourself.
"It made us gun shy, I think, definitely in the second half," Cronin said.
But even 23 fouls weren't enough to make the game close. The Bearcats, who shot 56.4 percent from the field, never trailed by fewer than 15 points in the second half. The UC bench outscored Tulane's 25-4, and much of that was due to Moore, who had made only three treys in nine attempts this season before Saturday.
"I've always had confidence in my shot," Moore said. "Any time I go into the game I'm just trying to get my shots off the way we're running the offense. Usually when I go in things are spread out so that makes it easier on me, so I can step out. A lot of teams don't expect that I'm gonna do that, so I get a lot of easy shots."
Moore's breakout performance, Cronin said, was a testament to his perseverance.
"I couldn't be happier for a human being than I am for Quadri Moore today," Cronin said, "because so many kids would just quit, transfer, go home, find an easy way out. He's a good player, but there's pretty good players on this team, so it's hard for him to get minutes. But he continues to work. It shows how far he's come with his character. Plus, like I told him, if you send that kind of message, the coach can hear it. You play like that, you're gonna get more minutes."
To show their appreciation for the loud, enthusiastic support they received on the road, Moore and his teammates went into the stands after the game and sang the UC alma mater with their fellow students.
"It felt like a home game, really," Moore said. "I think that's what made us more pumped up than we would usually be on the road."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.