No. 11 Cincinnati Outlasts Short-Handed Tulsa on Sunday, 82-74

Sunday, February 25

Highland Heights, Ky.

11 AM

Tulsa

17-11, 10-6

Cincinnati

25-4, 14-2

Tulsa

Cincinnati

No. 11 Cincinnati Outlasts Short-Handed Tulsa on Sunday, 82-74

2/25/2018 1:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score (.pdf) | Season Stats ( .pdf)

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Junior Etou scored a game-high 21 points, but No. 11 Cincinnati went on a 27-6 second-half run and held off visiting Tulsa for an 82-74 win on Sunday afternoon at BB&T Arena.

Etou went 7-of-16 from the floor and hit four 3-pointers for the Golden Hurricane (17-11, 10-6), who played without injured starting point guard Sterling Taplin. Corey Henderson Jr. added 11 points and Tulsa tied a season-high with 18 assists on its 27 baskets.

Making his first collegiate start in place of the injured Taplin, freshman Elijah Joiner finished with six points, four rebounds and a season-high six assists.

"Obviously we were down a man (Taplin) and everybody understood before the game that everybody else had to pick up and do a little bit more," head coach Frank Haith said. "I'm really proud of our kids' effort, how we played, how we competed. Cannot fault our effort and how we carried ourselves. We came into this game believing we could win and I'm proud of how we competed. We can build on this game."

Meanwhile, Gary Clark and Jarron Cumberland each scored 17 points to pace the Bearcats (25-4, 14-2). Cincinnati also got 15 points apiece from Jacob Evans and Cane Broome and the home squad shot a season-best 55.4-percent.

An Etou 3-pointer followed by a bucket inside from Martins Igbanu, who finished with nine points, in the early minutes of the second half stretched the TU lead to 52-44. However, the Bearcats outscored the Hurricane 27-6 over the next nine minutes to grab a 71-58 lead, their largest of the afternoon.

Tulsa used the long-ball to claw back into the game as Henderson hit a pair of triples, while Etou and Curran Scott also connected from behind the arc. Scott scored again inside to pull the Hurricane within 78-72 with 4:41 to play, but it would get no closer as Cincinnati closed out the 82-74 win.

Both teams started the game on fire offensively and the Golden Hurricane hit eight of its first 11 shots, including a 7-of-9 effort behind the arc, for a 23-21 lead. The Bearcats also had a hot start, knocking down six of their first seven 3-pointers.

Joiner hit his first two triples of the game as the teams traded baskets over the first 10 minutes. Cincinnati broke a 28-all tie with a four-point play and led 42-35 with 5:04 left in the half.

However, Tulsa would outscore the Bearcats 12-2 over the final 4:20, including a 9-0 run over the last three minutes, to take a 47-44 lead to intermission. The 47 points from the Golden Hurricane are the most against Cincinnati, which came into the game ranked second in the nation in scoring defense (56.9 ppg), all season.

Henderson started the 9-0 spurt with a layup before Igbanu scored twice inside. After a technical foul on the Bearcats' bench, Scott hit a pair of free throws and Igbanu hit one more for the 47-44 lead.

Tulsa will return to the road for a 6 p.m. (CT) matchup at ECU (10-16, 4-11) on Thursday, March 1.

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