National Basketball Association
Cincinnati 58, Connecticut 57
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 28, 2016
Where: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Officials:
# Roger Ayers, # Ray Natili, # Brian O'Connell
Attendance:
13242
By The Sports Xchange
Forward Gary Clark scored 13 points, including a basket and a free throw with 12.1 seconds remaining, as Cincinnati rallied for a 58-57 victory over Connecticut in a American Athletic Conference game Thursday at XL Center.
Cincinnati (16-6, 6-3 AAC) trailed by four after guard Jalen Adams hit a driving layup with 1:44 remaining. But the Bearcats got a layup from forward Jacob Evans (seven points) with one minute left and then took the final lead after a missed shot by UConn guard Daniel Hamilton.
The Huskies (14-6, 4-3) had 10 seconds for one final play. But guard Sterling Gibbs (14 points) missed on a drive into the lane. Forward Shonn Miller (11) missed again off an offensive rebound and Adams missed on a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Forward Farad Cobb also had 13 for Cincinnati, which won five of its last six games.
Hamilton's first basket of the game, a 3-pointer with 16:43 remaining, gave the Huskies a 43-36 lead. But the Bearcats stormed back with a 9-0 run and took a 45-43 lead on Clark's put-back.
From that point, the two teams went back and forth with the largest lead coming on a 3-pointer by Evans with 7:16 left that put Cincinnati ahead 53-50. The game was tied six times and there were 12 lead changes.
Gibbs and guard Rodney Purvis combined for 21 points in the opening period, leading UConn to a 36-31 lead at the half. All of Gibbs' points came in the final 3:41. He electrified the home crowd with three consecutive 3-pointers in the span of one minute to give UConn a 29-27 lead.
Gibbs then assisted on a 3-pointer by Purvis and with 1:06 remaining he hit a jump shot to increase UConn's lead to 34-29. Miller's baby hook was UConn's seventh consecutive made basket and closed out the half for the Huskies.
Cincinnati scored the first six points of the game and led 22-18 before forward Kentan Facey scored to begin UConn's run at the end of the half. The Bearcats won the battle on the boards 20-13 and outscored the Huskies 9-0 on second-chance points in the first half.
Top Game Performances
Cincinnati |
|
Connecticut |
Gary Clark 13 |
Scoring |
Sterling Gibbs 14 |
Kevin Johnson 4 |
Assists |
Daniel Hamilton 8 |
Octavius Ellis 7 |
Rebounds |
Daniel Hamilton 8 |
Gary Clark 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Jalen Adams 2 |
Troy Caupain 2 |
Steals |
Shonn Miller 3 |
Gary Clark 4 |
Blocks |
Shonn Miller 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Cincinnati
|
58 |
38.2 |
8-21 |
8-12 |
12 |
34 |
10 |
7 |
14 |
Connecticut
|
57 |
38.3 |
6-16 |
5-8 |
17 |
30 |
7 |
7 |
14 |