National Basketball Association
Connecticut 58, Cincinnati 56
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, March 14, 2014
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Officials:
# Ray Natilli, # Gary Maxwell, # Rick Crawford
Attendance:
11888
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 21 Connecticut 58, No. 12 Cincinnati 56: Shabazz Napier scored 15 points and DeAndre Daniels notched 14 points and nine rebounds as the Huskies outlasted the Bearcats to advance to the championship game of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Memphis.
Ryan Boatright nailed two big 3-pointers and Amida Brimah had seven rebounds and four blocks for the fourth-seeded Huskies (26-7). Niels Giffey contributed 11 points for Connecticut, which will meet No. 2 seed Louisville in Saturday's final.
Sean Kilpatrick had 14 points and four steals for top-seeded Cincinnati (27-6), which allowed the Huskies to shoot 43.9 percent and 53.8 percent from beyond the arc. Justin Jackson had 10 points and eight rebounds and Jermaine Sanders also provided 10 points for the Bearcats.
Cincinnati increased its four-point halftime lead to seven on a jumper by Shaquille Thomas with 14 minutes left, but it was all Connecticut over the next nine minutes as the Bearcats managed just one field goal in that span. Boatright hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Huskies a 46-43 lead and Napier followed with one of his own and Brimah had a dunk to push the lead to eight points before Sanders hit a 3-pointer to break a 17-2 run by the Huskies.
Kilpatrick also had a 3-pointer to bring the Bearcats to within four points, but Napier hit a jumper and Boatright canned two free throws to seal the win. The difference in the first half came after Connecticut's Brimah left with his second foul with eight minutes remaining, which helped vault the Bearcats from a 21-16 deficit to a 31-27 advantage at intermission.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Napier was 3-of-7 and had eight points, but the Huskies turned the ball over 11 times in the first half. ... Thomas suffered a dislocated finger on his left hand in the opening minute but returned with 14:15 remaining in the first half for the Bearcats. ... Cincinnati shot just 37.9 percent from the floor and made 6-of-13 free throws.
Top Game Performances
| Connecticut |
|
Cincinnati |
|
Shabazz Napier 15 |
Scoring |
Sean Kilpatrick 14 |
|
Ryan Boatright 2 |
Assists |
Justin Jackson 3 |
|
DeAndre Daniels 9 |
Rebounds |
Justin Jackson 8 |
|
Ryan Boatright 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Sean Kilpatrick 2 |
|
Niels Giffey 2 |
Steals |
Sean Kilpatrick 4 |
|
Amida Brimah 4 |
Blocks |
Justin Jackson 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Connecticut
|
58 |
43.9 |
7-13 |
15-18 |
10 |
26 |
8 |
4 |
15 |
| Cincinnati
|
56 |
37.9 |
6-16 |
6-13 |
10 |
26 |
3 |
9 |
8 |
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