By Hunter Tickel | The News Record Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates came off the bench to score 16 points, after getting shutout against Lipscomb last week.
UC defeated the Winthrop Eagles 74-57 Tuesday, Dec. 22, at Fifth Third Arena maintaining its perfect 6-0 record at home.
Sophomore forward Yancy Gates led all halftime scorers with 14 points going 6 of 8 from the field. Gates had a disappointing outing the previous game playing only four minutes.
Photos: UC vs. Winthrop - 12.22.09
“Just getting ready for the Big East,” Gates said on his play before 7,292 at Fifth Third Arena. “I came out trying to get touches and play an all-around game.”
UC’s first possession was a turnover, the first of seven in the first half. Junior forward Ibrahima Thomas was aggressive early, scoring five points in the first three minutes and taking a charge on defense.
“The more games I play the more I will get into it,” Thomas said. “I wanted to go to a school where the system fitted my game.”
The Eagles led 4-3 before UC gained the lead, and did not trail for the rest of the game.
The Bearcats have trailed after five minutes in both of their two previous games, but they led 21-11 after five in this one.
A Gates dunk late in the half gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the half at 32-15.
Senior guard Deonta Vaughn played 10 first half minutes, and did not attempt a shot. The halftime score was 39-23.
A 3-pointer by Thomas extended the Bearcats’ lead to 44-25 in the second half. The Eagles cut the lead to single digits at 54-45 half way through the second half.
UC was unable to ice the game until Vaughn caught fire with five minutes remaining with back to back 3-pointers and two free throws. It was only Vaughn’s second and third field goal of the game.
“In the first half we executed our offense as good as we have all year, played really well, and then went on vacation in the second half,” said UC head coach Mick Cronin.
Vaughn passed Steve Logan for fourth on the career 3-point field goals made list. He also became tied for 10th on the career-scoring list with 1,584 points.
“Well he [Vaughn] has worked hard at it [shooting],” Cronin said. “What I liked about the first half was he didn’t shoot the ball at all because he wasn’t open. He was 3-4 tonight, the one he missed he was off balance.”
The Eagles came into Tuesday’s game only averaging 59.4 points per game, shooting 36 percent from the field. The stingy UC defense held Winthrop to 37 percent shooting for the game, and disrupted the flow of the Eagles offense with the constant full-court press.
The Bearcats largest lead of the game was 72-50 with two minutes remaining in the game.
Gates led the Bearcats with 16 points and had seven rebounds. Vaughn and Thomas were the only other Bearcats in double figures with 11 points each.
“We lacked energy and focus in the second half,” Cronin said. “I was pleased with Gates effort but displeased that we didn’t get him the ball enough in the second half.”
UC came into the game ranked 18th in the nation in rebounding with plus-8.6 per game, and continued that success with a 12-rebound advantage over the Eagles.
The Bearcats have eight days to prepare for the conference opener at home against No. 11 Connecticut Wednesday, Dec. 30.
No comments:
Post a Comment