The Sports Xchange
Nov 27, 2017
Gary Clark scored 14 points and Jacob Evans had 12, lifting No. 11 Cincinnati to an 83-51 victory over Alabama State on Monday night at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Ky.
Trevor Moore added 11 points, helping the Bearcats extend their home-court winning streak to 30 games ahead of Saturday's game at No. 21 Xavier.
The matchup against the crosstown-rival Musketeers begins a tough stretch for the Bearcats, who play No. 6 Florida in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 9 and at UCLA on Dec. 16. Sandwiched between is a home game against unbeaten Mississippi State.
Cincinnati (7-0) went deep into its bench to rest its starters, with 12 players getting into the scoring column.
It was a methodical performance for Cincinnati, which was an overwhelming favorite.
Alabama State (0-7) pulled within 11 points with five minutes left in the first half before Cincinnati pulled away, scoring 40 points in the paint against the undersized Hornets.
Somewhat surprisingly, Alabama State matched Cincinnati on the boards (the Bearcats had a 35-34 edge) and had a 15-12 advantage in the first half, although Cincinnati led by 20 at intermission.
Branden Johnson scored 10 points and Ed Jones had nine for the Hornets, who didn’t shoot a free throw until there were 55 seconds remaining in the game.
Alabama State came in allowing 94 points per game with an average margin of defeat of 28.6 points. The Hornets produced a consistent effort throughout the game, but the Bearcats' pressure defense held them to 38.6 percent shooting from the field with seven steals.
Cincinnati scored 30 points off 20 Alabama State turnovers.