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On Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena, the Cincinnati Bearcats once again had 101 doses holiday cheer.
Cincinnati crushed the Arkansas Pine-Bluff Golden Lions 101-53, marking the second straight game that the Bearcats scored exactly 101 points, following their 101-70 win over the Radford Highlanders on Dec. 17.
Five Bearcats reached double figures in points, led by guard Cashmere Wright's 20. Dion Dixon was a force on both sides of the court, registering 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Sean Kilpatrick did not have one of his finest games offensively, shooting 3-11 from the field, but he tallied a career-high 6 steals.
A mismatch from the beginning, the Bearcats improved to 8-3 overall and 6-2 at home while the Golden Lions fell to 1-9 overall and 0-7 on the road.
Cincinnati stays at home over the holidays to face the Chicago St. Cougars on Friday and the Oklahoma Sooners on Dec. 29.
The Akron Zips felt right at home at home on Wednesday night in Akron, handily beating the North Carolina A&T Aggies 79-52.
Akron moved to 6-0 at home and 7-5 overall, continuing a season of contrasts at home and on the road.
Junior center Zeke Marshall led Akron on both sides of the ball. Marshall scored 20 points, one short of his season high, on 5-9 shooting from the field and 10-13 from the free throw line. And he also grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 5 shots. Meanwhile, Brian Walsh chipped in with 15 points and Nikola Cvetinovic added 12 for the Zips.
The Aggies actually led 17-9 early on, but the Zips went on a 10-0 run after that. North Carolina A&T kept it close throughout the rest of the first half, but Akron steadily pulled away during the second half.
Akron has some time off for the holidays before hosting the 8-3 Virginia Commonwealth Rams on Dec. 29.
The Seton Hall Pirates snapped a three-game winning streak by the Dayton Flyers on Wednesday night in Dayton with a 69-64 win.
The Pirates were on point offensively throughout the game, shooting 54.0 % from the field. Their sharp shooting allowed them to win on the road while grabbing just a single offensive rebound. Patrick Auda led four Pirates in double digits scoring with 18 points.
Dayton was led by forward Chris Johnson, who scored 16 points, forward Josh Benson, who added 14 points, and guard Kevin Dillard, who chipped in with 14 points.
Seton Hall, 10-1, won for the seventh straight time in its first true road game of the season. Meanwhile, Dayton dropped its first home game of the year, falling to 5-1 at home and 8-3 overall.
The Flyers stay at home for their fifth of seven straight games at University of Dayton Arena when they take on the 4-7 UIC Flames on Friday.
With Jared Sullinger limited due to injury against South Carolina it was up to Deshaun Thomas to step forward against the Gamecocks. The former Indiana Mr.s Basketball was able to do just that, as he scored a career high 30 points and helped the Buckeyes avoid a road upset. The performance was also enough to earn him Big Ten Player of the Week honors:
Player of the Week
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
F - So. - 6-7 - Fort Wayne, Ind. - Bishop Luers
· Averaged 26.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in Ohio State's wins over USC Upstate (82-58) and on the road against South Carolina (74-66)
· Posted a career-high 30 points against South Carolina, adding six rebounds and three assists in the road victory
· Recorded 23 points and three assists against USC Upstate
· Shot 74.2 percent from the field for the week, including 81.3 percent against the Gamecocks
· Earns his first Player of the Week award
· Last Ohio State Player of the Week: Jon Diebler (March 7, 2011)
It is Thomas' first Player of the Week honor in his Ohio State career.
With Big Ten play just around the corner the Ohio State Buckeyes can't afford to have star forward Jared Sullinger sidelined for long. Sullinger will be limited this week with a bruised foot, but the Buckeyes should be able to handle things if he needs to miss time.
Cleveland State, meanwhile, can go into Horizon League play with a solid record of wins with a trip to Big East member South Florida on Monday. The Vikings are already 10-1, and a win over South Florida, even though the Bulls are expected to finish near the bottom of the Big East, would be beneficial to their NCAA profile.
Here is the full week of games for teams from Northeast Ohio as well as the Buckeyes. Most team will be playing their final non-conference games this week before conference play begins in earnest just after Christmas.
Monday:
Cleveland State at South Florida 7 p.m. ESPN3
Youngstown State at Akron 7 p.m.
Tuesday:
Lamar at Ohio State 8:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
Ohio at Northern Iowa 8 p.m.
Thursday:
Miami (OH) at Ohio State 8:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
Toledo at Florida Gulf Coast 7:05 p.m.
Robert Morris at Youngstown State 7:05 p.m.
Bowling Green at Florida International 7:30 p.m.
Kent St. Vs. Texas-Arlington Final Score: Golden Flashes Fall 74-73
A six-game winning streak came to an abrupt end on Wednesday night in Logan, Utah for the Kent State Flashes, as they fell on a late three-pointer to lose 74-73 to the Texas-Arlington Mavericks.
LaMarcus Redd III hit a three-pointer with six seconds to go in regulation to sink Kent St. after Randal Holt had made one of two free throws to give the Golden Flashes a two-point lead. Kent St. did not get off a game-winning attempted shot of their own.
With the loss, Kent State falls to 8-2. The Golden Flashes had not lost in nearly a month, when they dropped a 57-53 decision to the Cleveland St. Vikings on Nov. 22..
It was little wonder that the final three-pointer of the game went in, as both teams made and took plenty of threes all night: Kent State made 9-21 from outside while Texas-Arlington made 10-24 from deep. The game-winning shot marked the first time that Texas-Arlington had led since they were up 36-33 in the opening minutes of the second half.
Holt led Kent St. with 20 points, while Carlton Guyton added 18 and Justin Greene chipped in with 17.
The Golden Flashes have little time to recover, as they take on the 6-5 Utah St. Aggies on Thursday night.
Dec 21 8:44p by Alex Boeder