Dec. 21, 2010

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OXFORD, Ohio - Cincinnati used a 15-1 run at the end of the first half and effective offensive rebounding throughout the game to beat Miami, 64-48, and stay undefeated.

UC's Dion Dixon lead the Bearcats with 23 points, while Nick Winbush and Antonio Ballard scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bearcats improved their season record to 11-0 while the RedHawks fell two games under .500 at 5-7.

Sixteen of Cincinnati's 40 rebounds Tuesday night were of the offensive variety, including six by Ibrahima Thomas and five offensive boards each by Yancy Gates and Dixon. Thomas had an impressive double-double against Miami, scoring eight of his 11 points in the second half and grabbing 13 total rebounds.

Though Miami held UC to just 38.9 percent shooting from the field, it shot only 36.4 percent itself, including just seven-of-22 in the second half.

Miami fell behind early, but had a 7-0 run to take a 12-10 lead at the 11:54 mark. The RedHawks extended their lead to 20-16 on sharp shooting from behind the arc by Nick Winbush. The senior forward from Shaker Heights hit three consecutive threes to give Miami a 20-16 lead.

Following a timeout at the 7:55 mark, Allen Roberts drained Miami's fifth three-pointer in seven tries and Quinten Rollins floated in a jumper from the lane to stretch the RedHawks' lead to 27-20. From that point on, it was all Bearcats. UC's Dion Dixon hit a long-range three and followed it up with a lay-up. Cashmere Wright stole the ball on a UC double-team and went end-to-end for a lay-up to put Cincinnati ahead, 28-27, a lead it would never relinquish.

Seven more consecutive points by UC gave it a 35-28 halftime lead. Dixon wound up with 14 points in the first half on five-of-nine shooting.

Ballard tallied the first basket of the second half to cut UC's lead to five, but the Bearcats outscored the 'Hawks by a 22-9 margin over the next 13 minutes to build an 18-point lead, 57-39. Thomas scored eight points during that span. Three consecutive foul shots by Dixon with 3:08 left in the game gave Cincinnati its largest lead, 63-44.

Ballard scored seven of Miami's 20 second-half points.

Miami plays next at Belmont on Dec. 30, then follows up that game with a contest against highly ranked Kansas on Jan. 2.

--www.MURedHawks.com--