In what seemed like a game getting away from the Bearcats early Wes Miller once again made a defensive change and strategery change that worked big time. Taking away the big man Kofi Cockburn and the interior offense of Illinois seem to be due diligence for the Bearcats. Cockburn and Curbelo had 24 of the 31 points for Illinois and Mike Saunders, Jr. made probably the biggest impact of the first half coming off the bench to score 11 and lead a couple of huge runs for the Bearcats. The only question would be if the Cincinnati Bearcats could continue the game plan and shut down Cockburn and company enough to steal a win against a top team in the nation.
Cincinnati started the second half the same way they ended the first half and that was defense. The Bearcats went on a 15-4 run to increase their lead 49-25. Jeremiah Davenport finally came alive after a slow start and was able to hit a couple of tough shots including 3 triples to help the run. The Bearcats then went old school and played some hard tough defense and didn’t allow Illinois to get any momentum to even try and make a comeback in this game. Cincinnati would push the lead up to 20 with a little more than 8 minutes left and it was just trying to run the clock out. Illinois battled back to cut the lead to 17 at one point, but that would be as close as they would come. Cincinnati would be able to get a couple more baskets in garbage time as it was a runaway for the Bearcats. The Bearcats would be able to run out their walk-ons to end the game and finish what they started. Wes Miller and company moved to 5-0 on the year. The Bearcats get a signature win on the national stage and show everyone just what Bearcat basketball is all about.
Cincinnati’s leading scorer was Mike Saunders, Jr. with 20 points which were a career-high. The sophomore came off the bench and provided a spark with his speed and ball-handling skills. Following Saunders, Jr. was Jeremiah Davenport with 19 points and the junior got hot in the second half and led the Bearcats run to pull away beginning the second half. Cincinnati is now 5-0 on the year and will wait till the end of the night to figure out who they play tomorrow night. Cincinnati will either play No. 13 Arkansas or Kansas State tomorrow night at 9:30 in the championship game.
