The Cincinnati Bearcats welcomed the SMU Mustangs into Fifth Third Arena on a super cold and snowy Thursday late evening game on ESPN. Cincinnati came into the game 10-4 and SMU came into the game 11-3 and on an 8 game winning streak. Would Cincinnati be able to get their first AAC win and break SMU’s 8 game winning streak?
Cincinnati came out hot as Mika Adams-Woods knocked down two 3’s in a row followed by John Newman chipping in four points. They started out ahead 12-6 showing more energy on both sides of the floor against a game SMU squad. David DeJulius joined the party having a stretch were he went 4-of-4 from the field for eight points. DeJulius finished the half with a game high 15 points on 5-of-9 from the field and three assists. Cincinnati shot 46.9% from the field and 90% from the line to take a 44-27 lead into halftime. They also out rebounded SMU 21-17 in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half Cincinnati kept pace even though SMU did decide to change over into a zone, but Adams-Woods was the star of the second half knocking down a couple of timely 3’s to keep SMU at bay. Adams-Woods finished with a career high 17 points. SMU’s star guard Kendrick Davis finished with 16 points, but it was on 6-of-18 from the field, which was inline with the Bearcats defense this evening. Mike Saunders had a career high seven assists, Newman played his best game as a Bearcat on the scoring end finishing with 12 points. DeJulius finished with 22 points and six assists. Cincinnati took home a 77-60 win and won the battle on the boards 43-40.
Cincinnati is now 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the AAC. They stopped SMU’s 8 game winning streak cold at Fifth Third Arena. They are off until Sunday where they will go on the road to play Memphis at 3:30 on ABC.
