Cincinnati Pulls Away For 74-66 Win Over DePaul
CINCINNATI (AP) — Dion Dixon and Sean Kilpatrick each scored 16 points and Cashmere Wright scored all 11 of his in the second half to help Cincinnati pull away from DePaul for a 74-66 Big East win on Saturday night.
Justin Jackson set a career high with 14 points for the Bearcats (16-7, 6-4), who ended the game with a 12-2 run and snapped a three-game losing streak. Yancy Gates also finished in double figures with 11 for Cincinnati.
Cleveland Melvin scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Blue Demons (11-11, 2-8), who have lost seven of their last eight games. Melvin had his third double-double of the year and second in consecutive games by halftime with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Jamee Crockett added 17 for DePaul before fouling out with 5:39 left in the game.
The Blue Demons, who won at Rutgers on Jan. 25, were trying to win back-to-back Big East road games for the first time since January 2007.
Mistake-prone DePaul committed 18 turnovers, helping Cincinnati enjoy a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
Crockett, who scored a total of seven points in DePaul's last game, scored eight in the first 4 minutes to help the Blue Demons open up a 9-6 lead. Melvin followed up with 12 in just over 4 minutes as the Blue Demons led by as many as five points twice in the first half.
The Bearcats, the Big East leaders in 3-point field goals going into the game, missed their first eight before Kilpatrick connected with 7 seconds left in the first half to cut DePaul's halftime lead to 38-36. They went 3 of 15 on 3-pointers for the game.
The Blue Demons, who were second in the conference in 3-pointers, made just 2 of 10 in the first half and finished 5 of 17 for the game.
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