Sooners outscored 19-6 in last six minutes, fall to 9-2 on season.
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| |
(9-2, 0-0)
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| |
1st |
2nd |
F |
| Oklahoma |
24 |
31 |
55 |
| Cincinnati |
19 |
37 |
56 |
|
(10-3, 0-0)
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| Stat Comparison |
OU |
UC |
| Points |
56 |
55 |
| FG Made-Attempted |
23-60 |
17-62 |
| FG Percentage |
38.2% |
27.9% |
| 3P Made/Attempted |
5-16 |
7-30 |
| 3P Percentage |
31.3% |
23.3% |
| FT Made-Attempted |
4-9 |
15-20 |
| FT Percentage |
44.4% |
75.0% |
| Rebounds |
46 |
37 |
| Turnovers |
17 |
8 |
|
| |
| Individual Leaders |
| Stat |
Oklahoma |
Cincinnati |
| Points |
Fitzgerald (18) |
Dixon (18) |
| Rebounds |
Osby (12) |
Kilpatrick (10) |
| Assists |
Grooms (9) |
Wright (5) |
| Steals |
Blair (2) |
2 Players (2) |
| Blocks |
Fitzgerald (2) |
Kilpatrick (2) |
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Men's Basketball Central
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CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Point guard Cashmere Wright made a driving layup with 8.8 seconds left, and Cincinnati rallied from a 12-point deficit to a 56-55 victory over Oklahoma on Thursday night.
The Bearcats (10-3) trailed by 12 with 6 minutes to go, but went to a full-court press and got a three-point play and the winning layup by Wright in the closing minute at a downtown arena where Cincinnati has won its last 17 games.
Oklahoma (9-2) had a chance to win it, but top shooter Steven Pledger missed a long 3 with a few seconds left. Pledger, who averaged 19.8 points and led Division I guards with a 57.5 shooting percentage coming in, was just 4 of 12 for 11 points against the Bearcats.
Andrew Fitzgerald led the Sooners with a season-high 18 points. Romero Osby added 12.
Dion Dixon had 18, and Sean Kilpatrick added 17 for Cincinnati. Wright made only 3 of his 14 shots, including the two biggest ones.
His three-point play gave Cincinnati only its second lead of the game, 54-53, with 39 seconds left. Osby made a layup that put Oklahoma back ahead with 20 seconds to go. Wright then drove past Osby for the winning layup.
Cincinnati hasn’t lost at US Bank Arena since 1997. A crowd of 4,439 — the smallest for a Bearcats home game this season — reveled in the late comeback.
Cincinnati was playing its first challenging game since a 23-point loss at Xavier on Dec. 10, which ended with a brawl and eight players suspended in all. With starting forward Yancy Gates and center Cheikh Mbodj serving six-game suspensions, the Bearcats have reinvented themselves, going to a four-guard offense that worked well against overmatched opponents.
The Bearcats won handily against Wright State (6-8), Radford (1-11), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-9) and Chicago State (0-13), scoring 297 points in the last three games. Gates and Mbodj will serve out their suspensions in their Big East opener at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Against the Sooners, the fire-away approach fizzled until the final minutes. Cincinnati shot only 27.9 percent from the field and went 7 of 30 from behind the arc.
The Bearcats led for only 17 seconds in the first half, which ended with Oklahoma ahead 24-19. Cincinnati had as many field goals as turnovers — seven each — in the half.
Fitzgerald had six points during a 16-5 run that gave the Sooners a double-digit lead that vanished down the stretch. Oklahoma twice missed the front end in the bonus, fueling a 14-2 spurt by Cincinnati that made it come down to the final minute.
Oklahoma had 18 turnovers in all that set up 16 points for Cincinnati.
