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Bearcats Devour Guard-depleted Pirates
JUMP
TO BOX SCORE
CINCINNATI (AP) — Steve Logan and Field Williams scored 18
points apiece, and the nation's toughest defense added a new twist — a pesky
full-court press — as No. 4 Cincinnati beat East Carolina 75-48 Tuesday night
for its 20th straight win.
Cincinnati (20-1, 8-0 Conference USA) extended the country's
longest winning streak by extending its defense. The Bearcats emerged from
their preferred half-court, man-to-man setup early in the first half, forced
a flurry of turnovers and pulled away.
The Pirates (7-13, 1-7) were a good guinea pig for the
press. Before the game, coach Bill Herrion suspended starting point guard
Travis Holcomb-Faye and shooting guard Brandon Hawkins for violating a team
rule.
Both sat helplessly on the bench in their black warmup suits
as Cincinnati went to the press and went on a 15-0 run early in the first
half. East Carolina had six turnovers and missed its only shot during the
4-minute spurt. Logan scored seven points in the run, which put Cincinnati
ahead 17-2.
Gabriel Mikulas led East Carolina with 12 points. Freshman
guard Devin Boddie and senior Bryan Foxx started and combined for four
points.
East Carolina had 18 turnovers as it lost its fourth in a
row and seventh in eight games.
Cincinnati's streak has been built upon tight man-to-man
defense the Bearcats have rarely used the press or half-court trap. Heading
into the game, Cincinnati was giving up 56.3 points on average and holding
opponents to 35.7 percent shooting the lowest figures in Division I.
The press worked well against an overmatched opponent
Tuesday. The Pirates had trouble getting the ball past midcourt they got a
pair of 10-second calls and never recovered from Cincinnati's 15-point run.
The Pirates cut the lead to eight points before Williams a
3-point specialist got into the game and made shots over East Carolina's
zone defense. Williams, on a hot streak the last four games, made 4-of-6
3-point shots during one stretch as Cincinnati built the lead to 38-18 late
in the half.
Williams, who slumped early in the season, is 15-of-24 on
3-pointers the last four games.
East Carolina never got closer than 18 points in the second
half, as Cincinnati went back to the press from time to time. The Pirates,
who have the worst-shooting team in the conference, made only 39.2 percent
from the field.
ECU has until Saturday to regroup for a 7 p.m. home game
against another league rival from the Midwest, Saint Louis. The Billikens
defeated the Pirates 85-72 on January 19 at the Downtown St. Louis Savvis
Center.
Box
Score
EAST CAROLINA
48, CINCINNATI 75
EAST CAROLINA
(7-13)
Brown 3-9 0-0 6, Bing 2-9 4-6 9, Mikulas 5-7 2-3 12, Foxx
0-0 0-0 0, Boddie 2-9 0-1 4, Duckett 1-1 0-0 2, Badiane 3-4 0-0 6, Moore
4-13 0-0 9, Twitty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 6-10 48.
CINCINNATI
(20-1)
Davis 6-8 0-0 12,
McElroy 3-5 1-4 7, Little 2-6 0-2 4, Stokes 5-10 0-2 10, Logan 7-14 0-0 18,
Williams 6-14 0-0 18, Meeker 0-1 0-0 0, Lucas 0-1 0-0 0, Barker 0-1 0-0 0,
Flowers 1-2 2-2 4, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0, Hubbard 0-1 0-0 0, Grove 1-1 0-0 2,
Maxiell 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-67 3-10 75.
Halftime:
Cincinnati 40, East Carolina 22.
3-Point Goals:
East Carolina: 2-9 (Bing 1-1, Moore 1-7, Brown 0-1)
Cincinnati: 10-27 (Williams 6-12, Logan 4-10, Meeker 0-1, Barker 0-1,
Hubbard 0-1, Davis 0-1, Stokes 0-1).
Rebounds: East Carolina
33 (Bing 10); Cincinnati 39 (Davis, Little, Stokes, Flowers 6)
Assists:
East Carolina 9 (Brown 3), Cincinnati 22 (Logan 9).
Total Fouls: East
Carolina 14, Cincinnati 13.
Fouled Out:
Badiane
Attendance:
12,324.
02/23/2007 10:59:32 AM
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bonesville.net
contributed to
this report.
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