Xavier no match of Cincinnati this year
Gates leads Bearcats with 22 points, 14 rebounds

By Bill Koch • bkoch@enquirer.com • January 6, 2011


AP Photo/Al Behrman
Yancy Gates shoots over Xavier forward Jamel McLean in the first half.

Frustrated that he had yet to beat Xavier in two previous tries, hometown product Yancy Gates put on a show Thursday night.

The 6-foot-9 junior forward from Withrow High School scored a season-high 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the University of Cincinnati Bearcats to a 66-46 victory over the Musketeers in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout before a sellout crowd of 13,176 at Fifth Third Arena.

It was the largest margin of victory for either team since UC beat XU, 75-55 in 2001-02. The Bearcats held the Musketeers to their lowest point total of the season.

The win ended a three-game UC losing streak against XU. The Bearcats have never lost four in a row to the Musketeers.

UC (15-0) is off to its best start since the 1998-99 team also won its first 15 games.

XU (8-5) was led by Jamel McLean, who scored 18 points. Junior guard Tu Holloway, who averages 21.3 points, was held to five points, his lowest total of the season. His previous low was 10 points against Butler.

With Hit King Pete Rose and Pete Rose Jr. watching from the floor seats near the south basket, Gates had one of the best games of his UC career, scoring in a variety of ways, from fade-away jump shots to baseline jump shots to dunks.

He scored 12 points in the first half when UC built a 28-20 lead.

XU made a run early in the second half, closing UC’s lead to five with 15:06 left, but the Bearcats responded with 11 straight points to take a 46-30 advantage, getting six points from Gates during that stretch.

Holloway was called for a technical foul when he threw an elbow at UC’s Ibrahima Thomas under the XU basket with 13:11 left.

UC expanded its lead to 17 on two free throws by Gates with 9:48 to go and was never seriously threatened the rest of the way. The Bearcats led by as many as 22.

Kenny Frease staked XU to an early 4-0 lead while UC struggled to find its rhythm offensively.

With UC trailing, 10-4, Dion Dixon made a layup and after an XU turnover Larry Davis made a 3-pointer from the corner to pull the Bearcats within one point at 10-9.


AP Photo/Al Behrman
Cincinnati guard Larry Davis reacts after making a 3-point shot in the second half.

UC would go on to outscore the Musketeers, 12-2, to take a 16-12 lead in Rashad Bishop’s 3-pointer with 8:32 left in the half.

With Holloway limited to two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the first half, XU had a difficult time scoring against UC’s half-court defense. Twice in the first half, the Bearcats forced the Musketeers into a shot clock violation.

XU went more than 10 minutes without a field goal from the 10:14 mark until McLean’s layup ended the drought.

Gates carried the load offensively for UC, scoring 12 first-half points and making six of his seven shots. He also pulled down five rebounds.

UC lead by as many as 11 points it the first half.

UC forced nine XU turnovers and outscored the Musketeers, 15-0, off turnovers in the first half, while holding XU to 33.3 percent shooting.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110...eakingnews

I hope the version in the paper is more interesting than that.

Cincinnati stays unbeaten by routing city rival Xavier

CINCINNATI -- Growing up in Cincinnati, power forward Yancy Gates watched the city's crosstown basketball rivalry produce memorable finishes. With one of his best games, he became part of the lore and a lopsided win.

Gates scored a season-high 22 points, and Cincinnati (No. 25 ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP) extended the second-best start in school history, beating Xavier 66-46 on Thursday night to win back the city's backyard bragging rights.

"It was quite obvious that Yancy Gates decided it was time to win the crosstown shootout," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said.

Quote:Fast Facts

• Yancy Gates recorded his ninth career double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds.

• The Bearcats improved to 15-0, matching the second-best start in school history, after 1998-99.

• Xavier went just 1 for 10 from 3-point range on the night.

• The Musketeers lost for the first time in their past four meetings with Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's 15-0 start matches the 1998-99 team for second-best in school history. The latest win was the sweetest yet.

No matter the circumstance, Xavier (8-5) had managed to get the better of its crosstown rival for years. The Musketeers had won three in a row and eight of 11 in the series, which often gets overheated. Xavier's Terrell "Tu" Holloway got a technical for throwing an elbow Thursday.

None of the Musketeers could stop Gates, a 6-foot-9, 265-pound power forward who scored most of his points on outside jumpers. He went 10 of 16 from the field and had 14 rebounds, hitting shots from everywhere.

"Definitely one of my best games since I've been in college," Gates said. "In practice, we play around and I hit shots like that. It was like that. I just wasn't playing around."

Xavier's only consistent scorer was forward Jamel McLean, who had 18 points. Xavier scored its fewest points in seven years.

Holloway, the Musketeers' leading scorer at 21.3 points per game, managed only five on 2-of-13 shooting.

"Sometimes you have tough shooting nights, I guess," Holloway said. "They're a tough, physical team. They made us all work hard to get baskets. They're just a physical team."

The annual game is one of the city's centerpiece sporting events. Baseball hits king Pete Rose -- a Cincinnati native -- and Pete Rose Jr. sat courtside.

This one meant a lot more to the Bearcats, who had home-court advantage, wore throwback uniforms and had a pronounced edge in numbers. Xavier is down to nine scholarship players because of injuries.

For the Bearcats, it came down to credibility. They tore through an easy nonconference schedule -- ranked 335th out of 345 Division I teams -- in front of a 13,000-seat arena that was less than half-full most of the time. They moved into the Top 25 for the first time this week and drew their first capacity crowd for the annual grudge match.

The Bearcats have lived in Xavier's basketball shadow for years. Cincinnati hasn't reached the NCAA tournament since 2005, Bob Huggins' last season as coach. Xavier has been there every year -- one of only a dozen teams to make each of the last five NCAA tournaments.

The series' most lopsided win in nine years was a big step in the Bearcats' comeback.

Xavier quieted the crowd by pulling out to a 10-4 lead, dominating upfront. Seven-foot center Kenny Frease had a jumper and a putback over Gates, who grew up in Cincinnati and appreciates the rivalry's lore.

Gates led the Bearcats back, hitting three jumpers during a 16-4 run that put Cincinnati ahead to stay, pounding his chest after one of them.

"I don't think that's his game, shooting fadeaways," McLean said. "He was hot today. We just caught Yancy on a hot night."

Gates also had the most emphatic play, blocking Frease's baseline shot and sending the brawny center sprawling on the floor. His fast-break layup made it 26-15 with 2:35 left in the half. He had 12 points in the half, making six of his seven shots.

After Xavier got the lead down to five, Gates hit a fadeaway 17-foot jumper that sparked an 11-2 run and pushed the lead to 46-31. Holloway got a technical during the run for throwing an elbow under the basket.

Gates' rebound and putback made it 58-41 with 6 minutes left, taking all the drama out of the final minutes. When he left the game with 36 seconds left, the fans chanted "Yancy! Yancy!"

"That's always a good feeling," Gates said. "You get a boost when you hear the crowd saying your name. You know you did a good job."

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=310062132

Love the pic of Larry!!!!!