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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Pete Mickeal saw it coming and made it happen.
Mickeal scored 20 points, setting up the blowout he predicted,
as third-ranked Cincinnati forced a fast pace and ran past UNC
Charlotte 81-54 Wednesday night.
Cincinnati (13-1, 2-0 Conference USA) ran its homecourt winning streak to 37 games by beating the team that tormented it like no
other last season.
UNC Charlotte (7-6, 0-1) lost by 13 points in Cincinnati last
season, but won its games in Charlotte and the conference
tournament. Their rematch Wednesday proved that this is not the
same Cincinnati team.
It's much, much better.
"In some ways, they are," admitted Tremaine Gardiner, who led UNC Charlotte with 12 points. "It's definitely a better offensive
team than they had last year."
Mickeal, a senior forward, brashly predicted a Cincinnati
blowout this week, saying, "We're gonna kick their butt at home
like we always do."
He was right. Asked Wednesday why he was so confident, Mickeal said, "Our ability to blow teams out."
Cincinnati got its fastbreak offense rolling early, fashioned a
20-point first-half lead and never let it get closer than 19 points
in the second half.
UNC Charlotte's two wins last season were set up by its zone
defense. Cincinnati figured out a way to beat it Wednesday _ beat
it downcourt.
"We didn't let them do what they wanted to do," said Kenyon
Martin, who scored 14 points and had 13 rebounds. "We're getting a
lot better on both ends. They got some open looks in both halves,
but as a whole I think we played tremendous."
The Bearcats went ahead 16-5 by scoring four of their first
seven baskets off fast breaks. Cincinnati kept up the breakneck
pace throughout the first half as it pulled ahead 46-26.
Mickeal got it rolling by hitting a 3-pointer and two fastbreak
layups during the opening spurt. Martin also had a steal and dunk
in the run.
"If there's a better team in the country, I'd like to see
'em," UNC Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. "They were even more
impressive in person than they were on film. We played every
defense we have in the first half and it didn't matter. They just
scored."
While the Bearcats found a strategy that worked, UNC Charlotte
never figured out how to attack Cincinnati's flowing man-to-man
defense. The only place the 49ers got open shots was the perimeter
-- eight of their first 12 baskets were 3-pointers.
The 49ers shot only 27.5 percent from the field and were 9-of-34 on 3-point attempts.
UNC Charlotte guard Diego Guevara was booed every time he touched the ball and cheered whenever he missed, and that was
fairly often. Guevara, who scored a career-high 25 points in a New
Year's Eve win over George Washington, was only 2-of-9 from the
field for six points.
Last season, Guevara was the focal point of one of Cincinnati's
ugliest moments. Fans at the Shoemaker Center booed and threw coins
because they were annoyed by his custom of blowing a kiss to his
wife, Patricia, after each 3-pointer.
The on-court debris prompted coach Bob Huggins to take the
courtside microphone and give a speech that mimicked former Bengals
coach Sam Wyche and later drew a reprimand from the conference.
Huggins told fans that unlike other places, they had class in
Cincinnati.
Huggins was on his good behavior Wednesday, and the crowd lost interest and left early as the game turned into a blowout.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
North Carolina Charlotte Clubhouse
Cincinnati Clubhouse
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