Boom shakalaka! UC is heating up! The Pirates were no match for the Bearcats last night. The Cats built a 38-22 halftime lead and never looked back. Gary Clark and Shaq Thomas also put on a dunkfest.
Man-child true freshman Gary Clark had a career day playing 30 minutes and racking up 8 points, 16 rebounds (led team), 3 assists, 4 steals (led team), and 4 blocks (led team). Ellis added 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Johnson had a nice game contributing 12 points. Caupain added another 10 points and 6 assists, and DeBerry added another 9 points off the bench in just 12 minutes. Walk-on Zach Tobler even got in on the action adding a bucket. In total, the bench contributed 24 points.
UC shot the ball at 47.3% from the field and 36.3% from beyond the arc, but only made 13 of 23 free throws (56.5%). The Cats scored 40 points in the paint, added another 10 off fast breaks, and 13 points off turnovers.
The Bearcats defense held East Carolina to an abysmal 27% shooting from the field and 5/22 from three point land. The Bearcats also won the rebounding battle 47-35. In a nutshell, the Cats dominated this game.
As long as UC can score 60 points they have the chance to win any game they play with their suffocating defense. In their three losses they scored 47, 54, and 55 (double OT). The team is now in stride, attacking at both ends of the floor, creating turnovers, and getting to the line. This is great news since the Cats are heading into the most difficult stretch of the remaining schedule with games at UCONN, at Memphis, and home against Temple.
Cincinnati is now 11-3 and tied atop of the AAC at 2-0. Next up is UCONN on Saturday, January 10th at 11 am on ESPN2. More here.
By Andy Smith