Big East Tournament: Cincinnati Bearcats Defeat Providence Friars 61-44
The Cincinnati Bearcats (22-10, 9-9 Big East) defeated the Providence Friars (17-14, 9-9 Big East) 61-44 in the second round of the 2013 Big East Championship tournament today at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
UC let an 18 point lead in the first half shrink down to four points with 17:31 left in the game before recovering.
Sean Kilpatrick led the Bearcats in scoring with 17 points while JaQuon Parker had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Cheikh Mbodj scored eight points, had five blocked shots and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Friars were led in scoring by Kadeem Batts who had 14 while Bryce Cotton scored 12 and LaDontae Henton added eight.
The Bearcats started the game off hot on both ends of the floor, establishing an 18 point lead with 6:25 left in the first half. Then Providence went on a 15-5 run to end the first half, going into halftime down by eight.
Providence scored the first four points of second half, cutting the lead to four with 17:31 left in the game.
UC didn’t score a point for nearly six minutes from 2:51 left in the first half to 16:55 left in the game.
Later, the Bearcats did not make a field-goal for nearly six minutes, from 12:55 to 6:57 left in the game.
The Bearcats shot 40 percent from the field compared to the Friars, who shot 28.1 percent. UC was 5-of-15 (33 percent) from beyond the arc compared to Providence, who were 1-16 (6.3 percent). Cincinnati shot 70.6 percent from the free-throw line while Providence shot 63.6 percent (7-of-11).
UC outrebounded Providence 42-32.
The Bearcats are set to play the Georgetown Hoyas (24-5, 14-4 Big East) in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Big East Championship tournament on Thursday at 12 p.m. at The Garden.
