CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Fairleigh Dickinson men's basketball team dropped its final non-conference tilt of the season, 119-68 to No. 23/25 Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Bearcats (9-2) were locked in from the opening tip as they forced the Knights (2-9) to commit a season-high 22 turnovers and shot 64.7 percent from the field.
Stephan Jiggetts paced the Knights with a team-high 24 points to go along with five assists. Jiggetts converted 11-of-12 (91.6%) from the line as the Knights registered a season-best 90.9 percent (20-for-22) clip at the charity stripe.
Darian Anderson was the lone other Knight to score double-digits and finished with 13 points and three rebounds. Sophomore forward
Nadi Beciri came off the bench and led the team with six rebounds in his 16 minutes of action.
Seven Bearcats scored in double figures led by Kevin Johnson's 18 points. The team's leading scorer on the season, Kyle Washington, scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and added a team-high eight rebounds in the win.
Cincinnati, who entered the game known for its defensive prowess, buried 12-of-25 (48%) from 3-point range. Prior to Saturday's win, the team had shot just 29.6 from behind the arc this season.
The nationally-ranked Bearcat's stifling defense held the Knights to a season-worst 31.7 percent field goal percentage.
Following the loss, head coach
Greg Herenda said, "The Bearcats were obviously rested and ready for us today. They are, at the very least a Top 25 team and they showed it today. When they shoot like that in this building its scary."
Herenda continued, "I have to be honest, I think the turnaround from a very physical game at Rutgers a few nights ago did not help. We were a step slow to a lot today and Cincinnati was and is ultra-quick and athletic at both ends of the floor."
The Knights opened 3-of-6 from downtown with treys by Anderson, Jiggetts and
Earl Potts Jr., however, the Bearcats led 14-11 at the first media timeout.
A nearly four-minute drought followed for the Knights, which allowed the Bearcats to build a double-digit lead, 22-11.
The Knights opened the contest just 3-for-10, while the Bearcats were extremely efficient connecting on 10-of-12 including a pair of 3-pointers.
A soft floater in the paint from
Tyrone O'Garro ended a nearly five-minute stretch without a basket for the Knights but the Bearcats quickly pounced with five straight points by Justin Jenifer, which extended the lead to 31-14 midway through the stanza.
Over that stretch, the Knights were plagued by seven turnovers, which the Bearcats turned into 10 points.
The Bearcats continued to surge as they stretched their run out to 24-3 and opened up a 38-14 lead with 7:21 to go in the half.
Fifteen Knights' turnovers in the stanza led to 22 points for the Bearcats, who shot 67.6 percent from the field and led 65-26 at the break.
In addition to the 23-for-34 overall performance, the nationally-ranked Bearcats connected on 6-of-11 (54.5%) from downtown. The only blemish on the Bearcats' first-half line was a 13-for-22 (59%) free throw performance.
The Knights were limited to a season-low seven made baskets in the first half on their 29 attempts. Anderson finished the half with a team-high nine points and Jiggetts chipped in with seven.
Three Bearcats scored in double figures in the opening stanza led by Johnsonand Jacob Evans, who netted 15 apiece.
Cincinnati continued to thrive and opened the second half with a 14-6 run, which firmly put the game out of reach.
"What we need now most is to rest and recover. I am still so very proud of my guys. We just went through a scheduling gauntlet and it will only make us a better team going forward.
The Knights have 12 days off before they begin their defense of the Northeast Conference title againt Saint Francis U on Thursday, December 29. Tip-off in the conference opener is set for 7:30 p.m. at Stratis Arena.
