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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Cincinnati is ready to start a new winning streak. Leonard Stokes scored 30 points and Steve Logan added 24 as the Bearcats responded to having their 20-game winning streak snapped with an 85-66 victory over Conference USA rival Charlotte. Cincinnati (21-2, 9-1 C-USA) remained tied with Marquette in the American Division of Conference USA. The Bearcats saw their winning streak end Saturday with a 74-60 defeat at Marquette. Stokes made 7-of-10 shots for 16 points in the first half as the Bearcats took a 44-34 lead. Charlotte (14-7, 8-2) scored the first five points of the second half, but Stokes capped a 7-0 run with a jumper for a 51-39 advantage with 16:38 left. "Leonard did tonight what he is good at," Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said. "He took the ball to the basket. He does as good a job of scoring with contact as anybody we have had for awhile." Cam Stephens scored to pull the 49ers within 59-50, but Logan drilled a jumper and a 3-pointer for a 64-50 cushion with 8:07 to go. Stokes' running jumper made it 69-53 and Logan followed with another 3-pointer as the Bearcats established a 19-point cushion with 5 1/2 minutes remaining. Stokes made 11-of-15 shots after making shooting just 2-of-9 for six points against Marquette. When Stokes was not doing the damage, Logan carried the load, nailing four 3-pointers and handing out six assists. "When Leonard makes shots like that, we are pretty good because you know that Steve Logan is going to make shots," Huggins said. Cincinnati shot 51 percent (30-of-59) and outrebounded the 49ers, 43-31. Stokes had eight rebounds while Immanual McElroy and Donald Little each grabbed seven. "We caught Cincinnati at a bad time," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. "They execute well. We had some problems matching up with them." Jobey Thomas scored 15 points for Charlotte, which saw its seven-game winning streak end. The 49ers' last defeat was a 71-58 loss at Cincinnati on January 8. The Bearcats were greeted by an angry Huggins in the locker room at halftime despite their 10-point cushion. The volatile coach was angry at his team's 4-of-11 showing from the free-throw line but saw Cincinnati make all 14 of its attempts at the line in the second half. "I chewed their butts out over the free-throw shooting and I don't normally do that," he said. "But we were standing up there like we were tentative and we just can't do that." Cincinnati improved to 1-1 on its most difficult road trip of the season, a three-game journey that concludes at No. 16 Wake Forest on Saturday. Curtis Nash scored 14 points and reserve Kevin Johnson added 10 for the 49ers, who shot just 38 percent (21-of-56). "We made runs but they took us out with their defense," Lutz said. "We had a chance to beat a top five team at home but it slipped away." . |
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