The #18 Bearcats took care of business against USF, 68-54. Cincinnati’s Kevin Johnson got the scoring started early with a three point shot just a minute into the game, but both offenses were slow starting with just 25 combined points midway through the first period of play. The Bulls held their own for much of that half, where they trailed by as much as 11 and were within two with eight minutes to go, mostly kept within a couple of scores of the Bearcats.
A late run by USF got them within six points with 33 seconds remaining in the first half, but an untimely foul and lost rebound dashed any hopes of going into halftime tied. The Bearcats would take an eight point lead, 30-22 into the locker room for the halftime break. Cincinnati’s dominating 14-4 lead in the paint and outscoring the Bulls, 11-4 off of turnovers more than accounted for their lead going into the second half.
Things got ugly after halftime. The Bearcats went on an 11-2 run to start the second half, leading by 19 with 13:36 left in the game, 43-24. Cincinnati led the entire period by double digits, by 24 at one point, with the gap never narrower than 14 after the first few minutes of the half.
Four Bearcats scored double digits, with forward, Gary Clark, notching a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Fellow forward, Kyle Washington, also had 13 points while guards, Jacob Evans and Kevin Johnson had 10 and 14 points, respectively. Cincinnati dominated the paint, 36-16, and points off of turnovers, 24-8. The Bulls handed the ball over 21 times to just ten turnovers from Cincinnati.
Despite getting badly outscored in the paint, the Bulls managed to outrebound Cincinnati, 38-35. Forward, Tulio Da Silva, led USF with 11 rebounds. Guard, Geno Thorpe, was the only Bull to score in double digits, scoring 19.
The Bearcats improve to 23-3 (12-1) on the season, while the Bulls drop to 7-18. USF has won just a single game since the promotion of interim head coach, Murry Bartow, following the dismissal of Orlando Antigua. Bartow was proud of the way his team kept fighting at the end, noting that other teams he has been a part of might have quit being down to a ranked team.
“When you’re down 20, that can go to 30, quick,” said Bartow after the game. “So, we’re down 24 with six, seven minutes to go, and you’re playing a top 20 team and you quit, you get beat 35. That’s what happens. So, a lot of fight in these guys.”
Next up for the Bulls is a pair of road games at Tulane on Saturday and Tulsa the following Thursday. They have two home games left, hosting UCF on March 2nd and Temple on March 5th. Cincinnati will play Tulsa on Saturday.