PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Cincinnati-Clermont outshot the second-ranked University of Pikeville men’s basketball team 50.0 to 48.2 percent from the field, but the Bears dished out 31 assists and the Cougars gave up 31 turnovers to help the Bears roll to a 117-83 win on Saturday in the Danny VanHoose Classic.
The Bears hit 10 more field goals and 12 more free throws to help prove the difference against a UC-Clermont team that couldn’t take care of the basketball. UPIKE, which had just 11 turnovers, shot over 42 percent from three (11-of-26) and held a 64-33 lead at halftime.
Things evened up a bit in the second half as the Cougars scored 50 points to the Bears’ 53. But the first-half damage was too much to overcome. The Cougars led just once at 2-0, but trailed by 10 at 15-5 just five minutes later on a jumper in the paint from Kenny Manigault.
Fast forward six minutes later and UPIKE was up by 22 on a free throw from Michael Eneh and went on to post a lead of 31 points at the break as Jackson Hussey’s free throw with a minute on the clock was the final point of the half.
The Cougars trimmed the deficit to 22 points in the second half with 7:12 to play, but the rally didn’t continue as UPIKE went on a 20-5 run to go up by 37 points on a three by Hobo McCoy. Starting at the 5:56 mark, Bruce Haynes tallied nine straight points of the run by hitting three consecutive 3-pointers.
Macari Brooks and Manigault led the Bears with 21 points each, while Kevin Kornegay had a season-high 18. Brooks and Malik Jacobs led UPIKE on the glass with seven boards each, helping it lead the game 45-26, and K.K. Simmons tallied 11 points and a game-high eight assists.
UC-Clermont was led by Phil Cook with 24 points, hitting 3-of-4 shots from behind the arc and 10-of-14 total shots from the field. Cook also buried his only free-throw attempt.
UPIKE is back in action at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday against No. 25 Cumberlands at the East Ky. Expo Center.
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