CINCINNATI – John Flowers scored 16 points and led a second-half run that rallied West Virginia to a 66-55 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday night before a rare capacity crowd that came to reminisce about Bob Huggins.
The Mountaineers (14-6, 5-3 Big East) are 1-1 without leading scorer Casey Mitchell, a senior guard suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Joe Mazzulla added 16 points, helping to make up for his absence.
Huggins coached at Cincinnati for 16 seasons before he was ousted in 2005. The Bearcats (18-4, 5-4) haven't been back to the NCAA tournament since. Huggins improved to 3-2 against his former team.
With Cincinnati's second capacity crowd of the season watching, West Virginia dominated the boards 42-30 and gave the Bearcats their first home loss of the season. Cashmere Wright led Cincinnati with 24 points, 20 of them in the second half.
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