Bench Excelled as Bearcats Rout MVSU

Feb 29, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard Sean Kilpatrick (23) celebrates at the end of the game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at the FifthThird Arena. The Bearcats defeated the Golden Eagles 72-61. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

After UC opened their regular season with sloppy play and a sluggish bench effort against UT Martin, they got redemption on Tuesday night as the team dominated Mississippi Valley State by a score of 102-60. The Delta Devils never had a chance as the Bearcats out-scored them 2-1. This was the highest scoring effort for Cincinnati since their 105-69 win over North Carolina in 2005.

The Bearcats took control of the game right out of the gate. They went on a scoring frenzy and took the lead with a 23-4 run led by Cashmere Wright. Cincinnati led 43-23 at the half and dominated on the glass 32-16. After halftime, they came out just as strong as they went in, going on an 18-7 run and extending their lead to 61-30 with 14:10 left in the game.

UC held MVSU to only a 29.4 shooting percentage, while the Bearcats dominated with 55 percent shooting for the game. That included a crazy 67 percent in the second half.

The Bearcats were a lot happier with their performance last night, but still were unsettled in the turnover department. In the blowout win, Cincinnati turned the ball over 15 times, which is down from last week, but still more than they wanted.

“If you want to play this style and win games and actually make it to where we want to make it, we’ve got to take care of the ball,” Wright said in an interview with ESPN on the subject of Bearcat turnovers.

Turnovers or not, the Bearcats still looked good and did improve their play against the Delta Devils.
Sean Kilpatrick led the Bearcats in scoring with 20 points. He also finished the day with 1 assist and 8 rebounds. JaQuon Parker came in with 13 points, 2 assists, and 4 rebounds. Cashmere Wright added 11 more points with 5 assists, followed by Cheikh Mbodj with 8 points and 6 rebounds, and Justin Jackson adding 5 points and 8 rebounds.

The Bearcats, off the bench, excelled this week, accounting for 45 points that pushed the team into the triple digits on the scoreboard. The bench charge was led by Jeremiah Davis III who put down 9 points, 2 assists, and 4 rebounds. Titus Rubles was one of the three bench players to put 8 points on the board. He had the second most rebounds on the team at 8 and added 5 assists. David Nyarsuk, and Jermaine Sanders scored 8 points each and combined for 1 assist and 6 rebounds. Shaquille Thomas, Ge’Lawn Guyn, and Kelvin Gaines rounded out the bench effort with combined 12 points, 3 assists, and 8 rebounds.

Cincinnati is at home on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. against North Carolina State in the AT&T Global Sports Invitational.