NKU's Eshaunte Jones drives against Cincinnati on Tuesday night.
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CINCINNATI - The inside attack of Justin Jackson and Yancy Gates prevented Northern Kentucky University from pulling off another major upset Tuesday night.
The Cincinnati big men combined for 43 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Bearcats to a 66-54 exhibition victory over NKU in Fifth Third Arena. Jackson finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Gates added 19 points and eight boards.
Jackson, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, was 8-for-10 from the field and added two blocked shots. Gates, a 6-9, 260-pound senior center, was 8-for-9 from the field and also rejected two shots for Cincinnati, which is ranked No. 21 nationally in the Associated Press poll.
Cincinnati jumped out to a 10-0 lead two minutes into the game as Gates and Dion Dixon each netted four points. The Bearcats eventually built a 30-15 advantage with 4:20 left in the first half, but NKU countered with its 3-point shooting.
After a
Tony Rack layup, the Norse began their 3-point assault.
Eshaunte Jones – whose 3-pointer gave NKU a last-second 77-74 win at West Virginia last Friday – went to work from the outside against Cincinnati in big-time fashion. Jones buried three consecutive 3-pointers to bring NKU to within 37-26.
Jon Van Hoose followed with another 3-pointer to make it a 37-29 game, but Cashmere Wright's basket extended the Cincinnati lead to 10 at halftime.
NKU was 6-for-14 from 3-point range in the first half, but the Norse finished 10-for-32 (31.3 percent) for the game.
"We shot a bunch of (3-pointers), but I only felt like a couple of them were bad looks and we've got some shooters,” NKU head coach
Dave Bezold said. “Sometimes you just have to live with it, especially when you're giving up so much size and speed you kind of have to change the battle ground. And we really did."
Cincinnati led by as many as 17 points in the second half as Jackson scored 14 for the Bearcats. NKU, however, rallied behind the 3-point shooting of Rack, who drained a trio of treys in the second half.
Rack's 3-pointer with 7:29 remaining cut the Cincinnati lead to 58-47. Two minutes later,
Ethan Faulkner buried a 3-pointer to make it a 59-52 game.
Jackson countered with a basket to extend the Cincinnati lead to 61-52, and NKU missed four straight shots. Faulkner hit a pair of free throws with 2:21 left to cut the Bearcat advantage to 61-54, but Gates hit a short jumper and Cincinnati held on to remain unbeaten (9-0) all-time against NKU in exhibition games.
Jones scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead NKU, which shot 33.3 percent from the field. The Norse actually won the rebounding battle against the bigger Bearcats, finishing with a 34-31 advantage.
Chad Jackson dished out six assists and grabbed seven rebounds for NKU, while Jones collected five steals. Faulkner and Van Hoose each finished with four assists.
Cincinnati shot 53.1 percent from the field, but the Bearcats were just 3-for-11 from 3-point range.
NKU opens regular-season play Saturday by hosting UC-Clermont at 1:30 p.m. in The Bank of Kentucky Center. That game will be played exactly 40 years to the day of the Norse's first-ever contest, a 109-65 win over Calvary (Ky.) on Nov. 12, 1971.
