Cincinnati Overcomes Early Deficit to Rout No. 14 Illinois, 71-51

KANSAS CITY -- The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team turned an early 15-point deficit into a stunning, 71-51 statement win over No. 14 Illinois in the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Classic on Monday night.

Cincinnati earned its highest-ranked win since defeating No. 11 Houston, 69-57, in the 2019 AAC Championship game. Wes Miller also became the first UC coach to win his first five games at the school. Only Anthony Chez (1902) and Tay Baker (1965) had won their first four out of the program's 28 all-time head coaches.

It was also UC's largest margin of victory over a ranked team since a 69-47 dismantling of No. 17 Georgetown on March 5, 2011.

""I'm excited for our guys and our program," Miller said. "It was our first time on a national stage, and I thought our guys performed well. I didn't like how we started the game in terms of our offensive execution and what we believe in defensively. After the first eight minutes or so, our team really started trying to guard the right way. That's something we're trying to build our program on, and I thought we did a nice job against a real good team. We held a top-15 team to under 30 percent from the field and 14 percent from deep."

Kofi Cockburn, arguably the nation's top player, had 12 points in the first eight minutes as Illinois built a 23-8 lead. UC pulled within 24-17 at the 7:25 mark, making five of seven field goals in the process. The Illini also went the next 6:44 until their next field goal, as the Bearcats pulled within 26-22 before that dunk at 5:12. 

Viktor Lakhin's put-back dunk off his own miss gave Cincinnati its first lead of the night, 30-29, at the 2:04 mark.

Saunders had a team-high 11 points at the break, as UC led 34-31, and finished with a career-high 20. He had 19 against Memphis last season as a freshman.

Jeremiah Davenport poured in eight of the Bearcats' first 12 second-half points, including a three at the top of the key from Abdul Ado, that forced an Illini timeout at 16:54, trailing 46-35.

Illinois had a 9:48 field-goal drought as UC built a 17-1 run during that time. It was ended by a Cockburn layup but answered by one from DeJulius on the succeeding possession for a 58-38 lead at 8:29. 

Cincinnati will take on the winner of Arkansas and Kansas State at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night for the championship.

NOTABLE
-The Bearcats (34-31) have led at the half in every game this season.
-It was UC's first ranked win since defeating No. 21 Houston (64-62) on Feb. 1, 2020.
-The Bearcats' bench outscored Illinois' 33-18. It entered the night winning that battle an average of 36.5 to 12 this season.
-UC, which increased its free-throw percentage in each of its first four games, went 17-for-20 at the line, its third-straight game above 80 percent.
-UC (40-36) has won the rebounding battle each game this season.
-Jeremiah Davenport, who had a season-high 19 points, has scored in double-figures in each game.
-Mike Saunders went 9-for-10 at the line after a career-high 7-for-9 on Tuesday against Alabama A&M. 
-All five meetings against Illinois have come on neutral floors. Wes Miller was on the 2005 North Carolina team that defeated Illinois for the national title.