Cincinnati completes sweep of SMU
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Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Jermaine Sanders scored 15 points and Farad Cobb added 14 off the bench to help Cincinnati to a 62-54 road victory over No. 23 SMU on Thursday night.
Sanders also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and Troy Caupain also supplied 14 points for the Bearcats (16-6, 7-3 AAC), who have won five of their last six.
"It was the Bearcat way tonight. We kept defending and rebounding when our offense was horrible," Bearcats interim coach Larry Davis said.
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Cincinnati took a 56-50 win over SMU at home on Jan. 3.
Cannen Cunningham paced the Mustangs (18-5, 9-2) with 14 points and Sterling Brown had 12. Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy were held to 15 points combined on 4-of-17 shooting, with Moore going 1-for-8 from the floor in the setback.
"We weren't prepared offensively at all. We didn't handle their zone or their matchup very well," SMU coach Larry Brown said.
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SMU was denied its ninth straight win, which would have been its first nine-game run since 1997-98.
Sanders knocked down a corner 3 to cap a 10-2 run that gave the Bearcats a 53-46 lead with 4:47 to play in the second.
With just over two minutes left and Cincinnati up by five, Brown followed his own miss for a layup that made it a 55-52 game. Shaquille Thomas responded at the other end with a desperation 3-pointer as the shot clock was set to expire.
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Each team gave the ball up over the next two possessions, then Kennedy came up with an offensive rebound of Moore and his put-back cut the deficit to four with under a minute left.
The Bearcats made their free throws in the closing seconds, however, and they held on to sweep the season series.
Sanders opened the second half with a three-point play that started an 8-1 run for a 28-26 Bearcats lead.
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Moore followed with three free throws after getting fouled from beyond the arc. He hit a 3-pointer moments later as part of a 10-2 run and SMU moved in front 36-30 with 13 1/2 minutes to play.
Caupain then nailed a 3-pointer that capped a 7-0 burst for the Cincinnati that gave it a one-point lead and the game remained tight down the stretch.
Cincinnati went 7-of-11 from the floor in the first half, but found itself trailing at halftime due in large part to 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
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Cunningham's layup with over seven minutes left gave the Mustangs a 17-9 lead, then the Bearcats responded with a quick 7-2 burst to close the gap.
SMU maintained its edge and brought a 25-20 lead into the locker room at the break.
Game Notes
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Cincinnati is 5-2 in the all-time series ... The Bearcats are 6-2 against ranked opponents over the past two seasons ... SMU had won 31 of its last 33 at home ... Cincinnati outrebounded the Mustangs 32-25.