ST. LOUIS - Cincinnati guard Armein Kirkland poured in a game-high 22 points as the 20th-ranked Bearcats rolled past Saint Louis 69-53 tonight at Savvis Center in the Conference USA men's basketball game. Kirkland knocked in three treys as the 'Cats shot 54.5 percent from the arc in the first half to bust open a tight game.
"We were going to concede the three-point line a little bit in an attempt to protect the rim," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "We're not athletic enough man-to-man to stay with them. We have to take a chance playing a team like that. Our chance was to stop them in the lane, and hope that they don't stroke it from three, but in the first half they did."
The underdog Billikens played a spirited first half and enjoyed their largest lead at 12-8 on senior forward Izik Ohanon's jumper. Ohanon played a superlative first half, making 6-fo-8 shots and leading all scorers with 14 points. With the Bearcats leading 23-22 with 6:09 remaining in the half, UC went on a 9-0 run to take control; UC leading scorer Jason Maxiell notched four points in the rally, while junior swingman Armein Kirkland capped the spurt with a long trey. UC carried a 34-24 lead to halftime.
Billiken leading scorer Reggie Bryant opened the second half with a trey to cut the deficit to seven, but UC guard Jihad Muhammad answered with a triple. The Bills never got closer than seven again. Billiken junior guard Anthony Drejaj made back-to-back lay-ups to pull SLU within 56-47 with 5:58 to play, but the 'Cats answered with a 9-0 run to put an end to any suspense.
The Billikens' offense was hampered in the second half when freshman guard Dwayne Polk had to leave with a sprained ankle, and Bryant had to leave the game after getting poked in his right eye. Bryant recently missed two games with iritis, an inflammation of his left eye.
Cincinnati (13-1, 2-0) leading scorer Jason Maxiell finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Swingman James White chipped in with 13. Muhammad added a game-high six assists without a turnover. The 'Cats shot 45.8 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from the arc and 50 percent from the free throw line. UC out-rebounded the Bills 38-34.
Ohanon topped the Bills with 18 points, while Drejaj popped in 13. Sophomore center Ian Vouyoukas matched Maxiell for game high honors with nine rebounds. The Billikens shot 36.4 percent from the floor, 22.2 percent from the arc and 81.8 percent from the free throw line. The Bills had only 11 turnovers, while UC had been forcing nearly 18 per game.
The Billikens (3-11, 1-1) plays its first C-USA road contest at Charlotte next Saturday with a 6 p.m. (CT) tip-off at Halton Arena.
