Bearcats come alive in second half to top Temple
Tom Groeschen , tgroeschen@enquirer.com 9:07 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2017
Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jacob Evans (1) is denied under the basket by Temple Owls forward Obi Enechionyia (0) in the second half.
Sam Greene
Make that nine in a row.
The No. 20-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats rallied from a six-point deficit in the second half to beat Temple 81-74 on Wednesday night, for UC’s ninth consecutive win.
A crowd of 10,718 watched at Fifth Third Arena, the fourth straight game that UC has topped 10,000 at home.
Senior guard Troy Caupain led UC with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Junior forward Kyle Washington and senior guard Kevin Johnson each had 16 points, with Johnson scoring all of his 16 after halftime. Sophomore wing Jacob Evans had 15 points, and junior forward Gary Clark had seven points, seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists.
UC shot a blazing 73.9 percent from the field after halftime, on 17-for-23 shooting. That was following a first half where UC shot only 33.3 percent (11-for-33).
UC (16-2, 6-0 American Athletic Conference) beat the Owls (10-10, 1-6 AAC) for the second time in two meetings this season. UC beat Temple 56-50 in Philadelphia on Dec. 28.
Overall, Temple has lost six of its last seven games. Sophomore guard Shizz Alston Jr. tied his career high Wednesday with 25 points.
UC grabbed a 6-0 lead before Temple took a shot, with the Owls committing two early turnovers. UC would lead for most of the half, but Temple forged ahead 28-26 by halftime.
UC was getting its chances offensively, but missing most shots. The Bearcats were 11-for-33 from the field in the first half, while Temple was an economical 11-for-18.
The game saw only six fouls in the first half, four of those on UC. UC shot only two free throws and Temple shot four in the first half.
Evans led UC with 11 points in the first half, followed by Washington with six and Caupain with four. UC starters Clark and Johnson both went scoreless in the first half, each going 0-for-3 from the field.
Temple pulled out to a 37-31 lead early in the second half, before UC started to get hot. The Bearcats ran off a 31-16 scoring binge to take a 62-53 lead with 7:15 left. A 3-pointer by Johnson made it 62-53 and brought the crowd roaring to its feet, with Temple taking a timeout to stop the onslaught.
UC at that point was in the midst of an astonishing 10-for-10 shooting streak from the field. When that extravaganza finally ended, the Bearcats were ahead 68-56 with just over 4 minutes left.
LOOK WHO’S HERE: New UC head football coach Luke Fickell was at the game. Fickell sat for several minutes in one of the student sections, with several taking photos of the coach.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../96747036/