Cincinnati Dismantles Alabama State 83-51

While fans were probably more focused on this weekend’s Crosstown Shootout matchup between the No. 11 Cincinnati Bearcats and that school that begins with X, the Bearcats had some business to take care of last night. And take care of it they did, as they rolled to an 83-51 win over the Alabama State Hornets.

Cincinnati (7-0) destroyed any hope for an upset by leading by as many as 35 points while producing lopsided advantages in points in the paint (40-20) and points off of turnovers (30-7). In fact, the Bearcats only coughed up the ball seven times while ripping it from the Hornets 20 times. Surprisingly, despite the overwhelming discrepancy in those areas, Alabama State actually had as many rebounds as UC (34).

With the game well in hand, the Bearcats deployed everyone on the roster, from Gary Clark to Sam Martin. Clark followed up his MVP performance in the Cayman Islands Classic with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Ho hum, just another completely excellent all-around game from the senior. Jacob Evans had a unique game for his skillset, as he did have 12 points and two steals, but also tallied four of the team’s nine blocks. Freshman Trevor Moore added a career-high 11 points off the bench.

Cincinnati connected on 49.2 percent of its shots from the floor, but was lacking from deep, hitting only 6-of-22 three-point tries. The Bearcats also only took two more shots than the Hornets (59-57), but held a 26-2 edge in free throw attempts. The Hornets also made only 38.6 percent of their shots, including 5-of-12 from long range.

With wins in each of their first seven games, the Bearcats will now put all their focus into the biggest game of the season to this point, as they will visit Xavier on Saturday. Clark, for one, is #hyped.