 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Cincinnati played like the best team in Conference USA. Steve Logan scored 15 points as the fifth-ranked Bearcats built a huge lead and coasted to a 79-57 rout of South Florida in the quarterfinals for the Conference USA tournament. The top seed in the tournament for the seventh straight season, the Bearcats were dominant from the outset, leading by as many as 29 points in the first half. "We wanted to come out of this first game with everyone watching and send a message," Bearcats forward Leonard Stokes said. "In the tournament with teams watching, if you squeak one out, you give teams the confidence that they have a chance against you." Logan, the Conference Player of the Year, netted 13 points in the opening 20 minutes, when Cincinnati (28-3) opened a commanding 47-23 lead. "A lot of guys got some time and to realize what this is all about," said Logan, who played just 23 minutes. "I don't like to come out of the game at any time, but I will gladly do it for the sake of others to get more time." With its big lead, Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins was able to rest his starters for much of the second half. Immanuel McElroy played 25 minutes to lead the starters. "I thought we came out with great energy and were able to force the tempo to the style we wanted," Huggins said. "The first thing in my mind was to come out with intensity to take them out of what they wanted to do early." Jamaal Davis added 13 points for the Bearcats, who will meet Charlotte in Friday's semifinals. Altron Jackson scored 21 points for South Florida (19-12), which beat Alabama-Birmingham in the first round on Wednesday. The Bulls likely will have to settle for a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. Playing at arena 15 miles from their campus, the Bearcats fed off the energy of the crowd and opened a 13-2 less than five minutes into the contest on a layup by Donald Little. The lead grew to 19-4 on a pair of foul shots by McElroy with 12 1/2 minutes left in the half. In the opening 10 minutes, South Florida missed nine of its first 11 shots and committed seven of its 16 turnovers. During that same span, Cincinnati went 8-of-16 from the field, getting many of its baskets within three feet of the hoop. A basket by Brian Swift pulled the Bulls within 21-10 with 9:31 to go in the half. But Cincinnati responded with a 26-8 spurt over the next 8 1/2 minutes to take control. Logan, who made 5-of-11 shots from the field, keyed the spurt with nine points. A layup by McElroy gave the Bearcats their biggest lead of the half at 47-18 with 68 seconds left before intermission. "There's no excuse for why we didn't come out and match their intensity," Bulls forward B.B. Waldon said. "They came out ready to play and we didn't." Cincinnati shot 55 percent (16-of-29) in the first half while holding the Bulls to just 31 percent (8-of-26). The Bearcats also made 12-of-17 attempts from the line. Stokes added 11 points for Cincinnati, which shot 50 percent (27-of-54) overall and held a 41-35 rebounding advantage. The Bulls finished at 35 percent (21-of-60) from the floor en route to their lowest offensive output of the season. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
