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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Kenyon Martin had a few words for his
Cincinnati teammates at halftime Wednesday night.
"I told the team, 'I'm not losing again,' Martin said. "There
is no way we're not going back out there and win.' "
Martin was right. He scored a career-high 27 points, including
16 in the second half, as No. 1 Cincinnati rallied to beat Tulane
72-59.
Martin also had 13 rebounds for his 20th career double-double, his third straight and fifth of the season.
"Usually we jump out on people real good," said Pete Mickeal.
"We didn't do that this time, but the championship team that we
are, we withstood their best run."
Cincinnati (15-1, 4-0 Conference USA) used a full-court pressing defense in the second half to come back from a nine-point halftime deficit. The Bearcats forced three Tulane turnovers in the first
1:20. The Green Wave did not take a shot until 17:54 and did not
sink a basket until 17:03.
"They went into that press and we didn't handle it," said
Tulane guard Dylan Osean. "Once they got back into the game, we
stopped doing what we had been doing and that was that."
The Bearcats went on a 12-3 run in the first five minutes of the second half to tie the game at 38 on Steve Logan's basket at 14:43.
Cincinnati took its first lead of the game on a jumper by Pete
Mickeal with 12:21 left.
Cincinnati never trailed again, hitting 58 percent of its shots.
Tulane was unable to get inside and made only 7 of 26 from the
field in the second half.
Mickeal had 18 points for Cincinnati, Logan had 12.
Osean led Tulane with 14 points. Trello Galloway and Sterling
Davis each had 12.
Since losing to Xavier by two points on Dec. 18, Cincinnati has won the last six games by at least 15 points each -- getting off to
quick starts in each of those games.
Against Tulane, the Bearcats struggled early. By the time
Cincinnati made its third field goal of the game at 12:47, Tulane
was ahead 16-9. The Bearcats shot only 35 percent in the first half
and trailed 35-26 at the break.
"That intensity they had in the first half couldn't be kept up
all game," Martin said. "I don't know ay team that can stay that
high the whole game."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
Tulane Clubhouse
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