Cincinnati - The Cincinnati Bearcats (18-13, 7-11) hammered the West Virginia Mountaineers (9-21, 4-14) Saturday afternoon 92-56
West Virginia senior center Jesse Edwards tipped in a Kobe Johnson miss for the game's first bucket, but Cincinnati ripped off a 9-0 run, prompting WVU head coach Josh Eilert to take a timeout at the 15:35 mark.
The Mountaineers responded out of the timeout with a 10-2 run, capped off with threes from senior guard Kerr Kriisa and Noah Farrakhan as West Virginia reclaimed the lead 12-11 with 12:20 left to play in the first half.
The Bearcats went on a 17-3 run, aided by technical fouls on Eilert and Kriisa, and grabbed a 36-22 lead with 2:07 remaining in the half.
West Virginia ended the half with a 7-0 run, led by senior guard RaeQuan Battle hitting a long jumper and a three to cut the deficit to seven, 36-29, at halftime. Cincinnati forward Simas Lukošius led all scorers with 12 points, shooting 3-6 from three-point range.
RaeQuan Battle buried a mid-range jumper to open the second half, but the Bearcats quickly took over the game.
The Bearcats were driving the lane with ease, producing 48 points in the paint on the day. Senior Cincinnati guard John Newman III and sophomore guard Dan Skillings Jr. were the recipients of easy looks at the rim. Skillings put up 15 second half points to finish the day leading all scorers with 17 points while Newman put in 10 second half points and ended the afternoon with 14 points.
Cincinatti senior forward Jamille Reynolds put the Bearcats up 24 with his second three of the season after he was left open at the top key as Cincinnati was on cruise control and rolled 92-56.
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