Field Level Media
Feb 3, 2018
Junior guard Jacob Evans scored 19 points and No. 8 Cincinnati never trailed while posting a 65-57 victory over Connecticut on Saturday in American Athletic Conference play at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.
Senior forward Kyle Washington added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Bearcats, who won their 14th consecutive contest. Junior guard Cane Broome added 10 points for Cincinnati (21-2, 10-0 AAC).
Junior guard Jalen Adams scored 20 points to lead the Huskies (11-12, 4-6), who have dropped five of their past six games. Sophomore guard Christian Vital added 18 points and nine rebounds for UConn, which had twice as many turnovers (10) as assists (five).
Both teams shot below 40 percent from the field -- the Bearcats finished at 38 percent and the Huskies shot 37.
UConn trailed by 14 points with under three minutes left but made a frantic push to pull within 61-54 before Vital missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 20 seconds remaining. Adams drained a 3-pointer as the Huskies moved within 63-57 with 6.2 seconds left before the Bearcats closed it out to improve to 6-1 in true road games.
Cincinnati controlled the game from the outset by scoring the first 13 points while UConn missed its first 10 field-goal attempts.
The Huskies finally got on the board when Vital converted a layup with 12:19 left in the first half.
The Bearcats led 21-10 after two free throws by senior forward Gary Clark with 6:02 to play before Adams scored all six points during a 6-2 push that pulled UConn within 23-16 with 2:18 to go.
But Evans drained two late 3-pointers as Cincinnati finished strong to take a 32-21 lead into the break.
UConn trailed 40-30 after a layup by Adams with 15:06 to play before the Bearcats answered with an 8-1 run to take a 17-point lead on Broome's 3-pointer with 12:21 remaining. A short time later, Evans tallied six straight points to give Cincinnati a 55-36 advantage with 7:58 remaining.
Vital scored seven points during a 9-2 surge as the Huskies crept within 57-45 with 3:34 to play.
-- Field Level Media