TicketsFORT WORTH, Texas – The Cincinnati men's basketball team fell to No. 18-ranked Houston, 69-56, in the American Athletic Conference Championship quarterfinals on Friday at Dickies Arena.
The eighth-seeded Bearcats led by as many as 10 points early in the second half, but could not withstand hot-shooting from the first-seeded Cougars, who shot 54% for the game.
The Bearcats led 32-27 at the break and came out firing in the second half. Junior guard Mika Adams-Woods swished a triple 22 seconds into the final frame before finding junior forward Jeremiah Davenport for a layup on a fast break that put Cincinnati in front by 10, 37-27.
Houston used a 10-0 run to get back in the game and take the lead when Josh Carlton converted an alley-oop dunk to give the Cougars a 40-39 advantage with just under 14 minutes remaining. Carlton extended the Houston lead to 3 with a layup at 12:25.
Houston went up 46-41, but Davenport answered with a long contested 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 2 with 10:31 left.
Houston used an 8-0 run with seven minutes left to take a 62-49 lead on consecutive baskets from Carlton.
Davenport and senior guard John Newman III each scored 13 points, while Adams-Woods added 10.
Houston held a 37-29 edge on the glass and a 28-14 advantage in points in the paint.
Cincinnati started the game fast.
After a Mike Saunders, Jr. steal, senior guard David DeJulius found Newman III for a 3-pointer to give the Bearcats a 13-4 lead at the 14:22 mark in the first half.
The Cougars got back in the game by marking five of six shots and holding UC without a field goal for more than five minutes. A jumper by Houston guard Jamal Shead cut the UC lead to 4, 20-16, at 8:14.
A triple and two free throws from Fabian White, Jr. brought Houston within 2, 25-23, at the 6:02 mark, and a layup by Shead capped a 7-0 Houston run that tied the game at 25-25.
DeJulius swished a 3-pointer off the dribble to break a tie and give UC a 30-27 advantage two minutes before the break. Two free throws from Davenport extended the lead to 5 moments later.
FROM WES MILLER
"Well, I told the guys this in the locker room in my own way, but I'm really proud of our guys. I thought they fought like absolute crazy tonight. And yesterday and given the way that we finished the year and the win-loss column, I think you have to recognize that. I think it's expected when you put this uniform on, to fight your tail off and play with great effort and play with great togetherness. I think that's part of the standard of having this C-Paw right here. But it doesn't mean that you don't recognize it's not easy for young people to do that. But this group has been admirable throughout the last four weeks through a tough stretch to keep coming back and figuring it out.
"I thought there was times tonight we played some of our best basketball. I hate that we came up short. Give Houston some credit. Shoot, I wish we could work a little bit more on getting the ball inbounds, that play -- we burned a couple timeouts, the run-out play, that hurts. Boy, I thought we had some really good looks there in the second half. I thought we missed some open looks, and I'm not one to talk about misses and makes a lot. But we work to break them down on offense a little bit and got some really clean looks. And if a couple of those go in, then maybe it's a different game in the last two minutes."
The eighth-seeded Bearcats led by as many as 10 points early in the second half, but could not withstand hot-shooting from the first-seeded Cougars, who shot 54% for the game.
The Bearcats led 32-27 at the break and came out firing in the second half. Junior guard Mika Adams-Woods swished a triple 22 seconds into the final frame before finding junior forward Jeremiah Davenport for a layup on a fast break that put Cincinnati in front by 10, 37-27.
Houston used a 10-0 run to get back in the game and take the lead when Josh Carlton converted an alley-oop dunk to give the Cougars a 40-39 advantage with just under 14 minutes remaining. Carlton extended the Houston lead to 3 with a layup at 12:25.
Houston went up 46-41, but Davenport answered with a long contested 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 2 with 10:31 left.
Houston used an 8-0 run with seven minutes left to take a 62-49 lead on consecutive baskets from Carlton.
Davenport and senior guard John Newman III each scored 13 points, while Adams-Woods added 10.
Houston held a 37-29 edge on the glass and a 28-14 advantage in points in the paint.
Cincinnati started the game fast.
After a Mike Saunders, Jr. steal, senior guard David DeJulius found Newman III for a 3-pointer to give the Bearcats a 13-4 lead at the 14:22 mark in the first half.
The Cougars got back in the game by marking five of six shots and holding UC without a field goal for more than five minutes. A jumper by Houston guard Jamal Shead cut the UC lead to 4, 20-16, at 8:14.
A triple and two free throws from Fabian White, Jr. brought Houston within 2, 25-23, at the 6:02 mark, and a layup by Shead capped a 7-0 Houston run that tied the game at 25-25.
DeJulius swished a 3-pointer off the dribble to break a tie and give UC a 30-27 advantage two minutes before the break. Two free throws from Davenport extended the lead to 5 moments later.
FROM WES MILLER
"Well, I told the guys this in the locker room in my own way, but I'm really proud of our guys. I thought they fought like absolute crazy tonight. And yesterday and given the way that we finished the year and the win-loss column, I think you have to recognize that. I think it's expected when you put this uniform on, to fight your tail off and play with great effort and play with great togetherness. I think that's part of the standard of having this C-Paw right here. But it doesn't mean that you don't recognize it's not easy for young people to do that. But this group has been admirable throughout the last four weeks through a tough stretch to keep coming back and figuring it out.
"I thought there was times tonight we played some of our best basketball. I hate that we came up short. Give Houston some credit. Shoot, I wish we could work a little bit more on getting the ball inbounds, that play -- we burned a couple timeouts, the run-out play, that hurts. Boy, I thought we had some really good looks there in the second half. I thought we missed some open looks, and I'm not one to talk about misses and makes a lot. But we work to break them down on offense a little bit and got some really clean looks. And if a couple of those go in, then maybe it's a different game in the last two minutes."