National Basketball Association
Cincinnati 56, Southern Methodist 50
When: 11:00 AM ET, Saturday, January 3, 2015
Where: Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials:
# Jeff Clark, # Karl Hess, # Zelton Steed
Attendance:
10013
By SportsDirect Inc.
Cincinnati 56, SMU 50: Farad Cobb scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half as the host Bearcats ended the Mustangs’ eight-game winning streak.
Octavius Ellis went 6-of-7 from the field to finish with 12 points and added three steals for Cincinnati (10-3, 1-0 American Athletic), which learned on Friday that Mick Cronin will not coach for the remainder of the season. The Bearcats overcame 18 turnovers – one shy of matching a season high – and a 6-of-19 effort beyond the arc with 59.1 percent shooting in the second half.
Ryan Manuel scored all 14 of his points in the second half for SMU (10-4, 1-1), which fell a game short of matching its longest winning streak since 1997-98. Nic Moore chipped in 11 points but committed a career-high six turnovers while Yanick Moreira tallied all nine of his points in the opening 20 minutes.
SMU used a 14-3 surge to build an early eight-point edge, but Cincinnati held the Mustangs to one field goal over the final eight-plus minutes of the first half to claw within 22-19. Manuel hit three straight shots in the first 3 ½ minutes after the break to keep SMU in front temporarily before Cobb scored nine straight points to spark a 15-2 surge and give the Bearcats a nine-point lead midway through the second half.
Manuel continued his stellar play with two more buckets, but was answered yet again by Cobb, who sank two 3-pointers as Cincinnati stretched the margin to 49-39 with four minutes to go. Markus Kennedy answered with a dunk and capped an 8-2 spurt for the Mustangs on a bank shot with 28 seconds left, but the Bearcats went 5-of-6 from the foul line thereafter to preserve the victory.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cronin (arterial dissection) announced he will remain in an advisory role as part of his recovery. Assistant coach Larry Davis is 3-1 in Cronin’s absence. … SMU lost the rebounding battle for only the second time (29-26) while its offensive output was the worst of the season – 21.5 points below its AAC-best scoring average. … The Bearcats have held their opponents below 70 points in 17 consecutive games – the longest streak in the nation.
Top Game Performances
| Southern Methodist |
|
Cincinnati |
|
Ryan Manuel 14 |
Scoring |
Farad Cobb 18 |
|
Nic Moore 4 |
Assists |
Troy Caupain 4 |
|
Markus Kennedy 5 |
Rebounds |
Gary Clark 7 |
|
Nic Moore 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Troy Caupain 4 |
|
Keith Frazier 2 |
Steals |
Octavius Ellis 3 |
|
Ryan Manuel 1 |
Blocks |
Coreontae DeBerry 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Southern Methodist
|
50 |
42.9 |
3-11 |
5-9 |
13 |
21 |
1 |
8 |
17 |
| Cincinnati
|
56 |
46.3 |
6-19 |
12-15 |
9 |
28 |
6 |
10 |
18 |
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