PROVIDENCE, R.I - Cincinnati men's basketball put forth a statement win on Wednesday night inside Fifth Third Arena as the Bearcats, which are receiving votes in both national top-25 polls, downed UCLA, 93-64. It is one six American Athletic Conference victories through the first three days of week seven.
Wednesday, December 19
rv/rv Cincinnati 93, UCLA 64
UCLA went to Cincinnati on Wednesday night and absorbed a 93-64 loss at the hands of the Bearcats.
Jarron Cumberland scored a game-high 25 points to lead UC (10-2). He scored 19 in the first half when the Bearcats rolled to a 48-31 advantage. Keith Williams finished with a career-high 19 points, followed by Brooks with 14 points and six rebounds; and Justin Jenifer with 11 points, five assists and no turnovers. Kris Wilkes led UCLA (7-4) with 21 points.
It was the second-straight year the Bearcats have posted a convincing victory over the Bruins and gives UC a 4-2 lead in the all-time series.
After UCLA took an early eight-point lead, the Bearcats scored 11-straight points that grew into a 17-2 run during which they made seven straight field goal attempts to take a 26-19 lead. They never trailed again.
UCLA did not convert a field goal from the 13:22 mark of the first half until David Singleton made a three-pointer with 8:19 remaining. Cumberland scored the Bearcats' final 11 points.
UC led by 20 after a Cumberland basket with 18 seconds left before Wilkes banked in a long three-pointer just before time expired to leave the Bearcats with a 48-31 lead at intermission.
Brooks was an offensive force early in the game when he went right at Moses Brown, UCLA's 7-foot-1 freshman center. He scored nine of his 11 points in the game's first 10 minutes.
UCLA made a three-pointer and layup to start the second half to pull within 15, but the Bearcats responded with an 11-3 run that included three-pointers by Williams and Jenifer to increase their lead to 23 at 62-39 less than five minutes into the second half.
A step-back three-pointer by Cumberland just before the shot clock expired and a jump shot by Williams expanded UC's lead to a commanding 25 points with12:23 left. At that point, the Bearcats had made eight of 12 field goal attempts and were four-for-four from three-point range in the second half.
As the second half unfolded and the Bearcats continued to build on their lead - it reached 31 points at its apex.
UC made a season-high 12 three-point shots in 21 attempts and shot 52.4 percent from the field and held UCLA to 40.4 percent. The Bearcats made 15 of 20 free throws, out-rebounded UCLA 38-25 and forced 14 turnovers while committing only six. The Bearcats outscored the Bruins 20-7 in points off turnovers and 30-22 in the paint despite UCLA's size advantage.
UC's second straight sellout crowd - this one of 12,689 - was on hand to celebrate the official grand opening for newly renovated Fifth Third Arena. Former UC coach Bob Huggins made an appearance at halftime and received a huge ovation as the school recognized its three Final Four coaches - Huggins, Ed Jucker and George Smith.
Wichita State 84, Oral Roberts 63
Jaime Echenique and Ricky Torres both scored career highs as the Wichita State University men's basketball team defeated the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, 84-63, Wednesday evening, Dec. 19, at Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State (7-4) is scheduled to travel to VCU to conclude non-conference play on Saturday, Dec. 22. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. ET in Richmond, Va.
Senior Markis McDuffie led all scorers with 25 points on 6-for-13 shooting and went a perfect 10-of-10 at the free-throw line, while Echenique surpassed his career-best for the second straight game with 19 points, and Torres added a career-high 13 points. Samajae Haynes-Jones also reached double figures for the Shockers, netting 13 points, respectively.
Erik Stevenson and Jamarius Burton paced WSU on the glass with eight rebounds each.
After the Golden Eagles (4-10) jumped out to a 15-13 lead in the opening eight minutes of the game, the Shockers caught fire offensively, scoring 12 straight points to burst out to a 25-15 advantage after Echenique converted a jumper with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half. Echenique scored seven of the 12 points in the almost five-minute spurt, with Burton and Haynes-Jones providing the other five points.
Oral Roberts answered though, and was able to trim the deficit to 36-33 going into halftime after a 9-2 run over the final three minutes of the stanza.
Echenique led Wichita State at the half, tallying 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
The Shockers scored the first five points of the second half and built its lead to 41-33 after an Echenique layup and McDuffie three-pointer less than one minute into the period.
ORU cut the advantage to 41-35 after a Chris Miller jump shot, but McDuffie extended the Shocker lead over the next minute, going a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line to build the advantage to 47-36.
Wichita State didn't let up, and utilized a 14-2 run from 6:38 to 1:17 to balloon its lead to 82-59 after a Burton layup.
For the game, the Shockers shot 44 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range, and went 16-of-22 at the foul line for 73 percent.
WSU outrebounded ORU, 41-31, and outscored the Golden Eagles in the paint, 32-26, and off turnovers, 19-6.
Emmanuel Nzekwesi netted 17 points and pulled down six boards, leading Oral Roberts.
Memphis 99, Little Rock 89
Memphis placed five players in double figures - including freshman Antwann Jones who made his debut as a starter - to outlast Little Rock, 99-89, Wednesday night at FedExForum.
Senior guard Jeremiah Martin led the Tigers with a season-high tying 22 points, followed by seniors Kyvon Davenport and Kareem Brewton, who came off the bench to score 15 apiece. Freshman Tyler Harris added 14 points and Jones scored 13.
Jones was instrumental in the closing minutes, allowing the Tigers (6-5) to overcome a two-point deficit (86-84) with 3:52 left. Jones tied the game with a strong driving layup, then fed Martin for back-to-back layups and, a minute later, zipped a no-look pass to Davenport for another layup and a 95-86 cushion.
His first start also included a team-high six assists (tying Alex Lomax, who he replaced in the lineup), five rebounds and two blocked shots.
For the second straight game, Davenport had a productive second half. He had 26 of his career-high 31 points in the second half last weekend against Tennessee and Wednesday night he had 13 points and 13 rebounds after halftime. He finished with a career-high 15 rebounds to post his fourth double-double of the season and his 12th of his career.
Rayjon Tucker, a Florida Gulf Coast transfer, had 29 points to lead all scorers.
Memphis, which led by nine points at halftime, watched Little Rock score two quick baskets after the half to trim the advantage to 48-43. The Trojans eventually tied the game at 66 on a dunk by Kris Bankston. Two free throws from Markquis Nowell 24 seconds later gave the Trojans a 68-66 lead.
The Tigers pulled back ahead by six (75-69) with 9:27 to go, but couldn't pull away from the Trojans (5-7). The game was tied at 77, 81, 83 and 86 during a late six-minute stretch in the game before Jones ignited a final run.
In the first half, the Tigers overcame a sluggish start to take a 48-39 lead. The UofM trailed by four (22-18) with 11 minutes left in the half, but rallied behind a 20-4 run in the final six minutes for a 48-35 lead.
During the run, the Tigers got contributions from a host of players. Martin scored five points, Raynere Thornton added four and Lomax scored three.
The Tigers shot 44.4 percent in the opening half and made 12 of 15 free throws. But the UofM was particularly dominant on the boards, outrebounding the Trojans, 28-11. Thornton led the first-half rebounding with nine.
UConn 97, Drexel 65 - Tuesday
Behind 65 percent shooting, including 8-11 from three in the second half, the UConn men's basketball team ran Drexel off the floor, 97-65, Tuesday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Huskies improve to 9-3, while Drexel drops to 6-6.
Jalen Adams and Tarin Smith paced the Huskies with 20 points apiece, with Christian Vital and Alterique Gilbert joining them in double figures with 17 and 10 points, respectively. Vital lead the Huskies on the boards with six rebounds.
Drexel held an early, and brief, 9-to-7 lead, but UConn used a 14-1 run and held the Dragons without a point for nearly five minutes to take a commanding 21-9 lead midway through the first half. The Huskies advantage grew as large as 20 points in the opening half following a Sidney Wilson block and ferocious tip slam to put the home team ahead 36-16. The Dragons wouldn't go quietly, however, and outscored UConn 12-6 over the final six minutes to cut the Huskies' lead to 42-28 at the half.
UConn completely took the game over in the second half, hitting seven of its first eight shots from the field as they put a stranglehold on the Dragons. Tyler Polley and Christian Vital each knocked down two treys while Jalen Adams and Alterique Gilbert added triples of their own as the Huskies grew their lead to 25 points with just under 12 minutes to go in the game. UConn was on cruise control for the rest of the evening, coasting to a 32-point victory.
UConn shot 65 percent from the field in the second half, including 8-11 (72 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Huskies capitalized on 17 forced turnovers, tallying 27 points.
The home team held a 10-1 advantage in fast break points and got 35 points from the bench.
USF 82, FIU 73 - Tuesday
Laquincy Rideau scored 28 points and USF held FIU to 23 points under its season average en route to an 82-73 victory Tuesday evening at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
FIU (8-3) entered play ranked second in the NCAA in scoring with an average of 96.6 points per game and had scored at least 80 points in all but one of its 10 games this season. Panther senior guard Brian Beard began the night averaging a team-high 22.6 points per game, but USF limited him to four points on 0-for-8 shooting from the field.
Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) hit a career-high four three-pointers and added seven rebounds, nine assists and five steals to help USF secure its fourth straight win, marking the first time since the 2013-14 season the Bulls have won four consecutive games.
David Collins added 16 points and Alexis Yetna finished one point shy of a double-double with 13 rebounds and nine points. Sophomore Justin Brown chipped in with 13 points and made three 3-pointers after making his first start of the season. USF connected for a season-high 10 triples and finished 71.4 percent (10-for-14) from beyond the arc to record the second-highest single game three-point percentage in school history.
USF (8-2) raced to an 11-point lead midway through the first half before FIU used an 8-0 run to pull within three points. Rideau scored seven of the next nine point for USF to push the lead up to eight. Three-pointers from
Rideau and Brown over the final two minutes gave USF a 14-point lead at halftime.
Brown gave USF its largest lead of the game with a three-pointer in the corner to up the advantage to 23 points six minutes into the second half. FIU answered with a 22-6 run to crawl within seven points with just under nine minutes remaining.
The Bulls would use free throws over the final eight minutes to hold off FIU on their way to opening the season with eight wins over the first 10 games for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
ECU 49, Charlotte 55 - Tuesday
Jon Davis scored 18 points with eight rebounds and seven assists and Charlotte beat ECU, 55-49, on Tuesday night inside Halton Arena.
Malik Martin added 13 points and seven rebounds and Milos Supica had 10 points and eight boards for Charlotte (3-5).
Shawn Williams scored 16 points, Seth LeDay 14 and Jayden Gardner, the American Athletic Conference's leading scorer at 19.0 per game, finished with 11 for the Pirates (6-5), who entered the game on the strength of back-to-back wins.
Addison Hill made a 3-pointer for his only points of the night to get the Pirates within two with 1:54 left but that was the only field goal either team had in the final 4:45. Davis and Brandon Younger made two free throws each in the final seconds to secure the win.
After Hill's 3-pointer, ECU had three possessions in which it could either tie or take the lead, but were unable to convert and forced to foul.
Neither team reached 40 percent shooting with the two squads combining to make just 10 of 36 from the arc. ECU finished 19-of-52 (.365) from the floor and Charlotte was 20-of-51 (.392). The Niners won the battle of the backboards, claiming 36 rebounds to the Pirates' 31.
UPCOMING GAMES