Postgame Notes
No. 7 Cincinnati 87, No. 15 USF 61
Records: Cincinnati (25-7); USF (10-23)
Cincinnati advances to face No. 2-seeded Notre Dame Thursday in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals. The Bearcats fell 66-58 to the Irish Jan. 19 in the regular season.
Cincinnati improved to 3-4 all-time in the BIG EAST Championship. The Bearcats have won three of their last four games in the tournament.
Cincinnati will make its second consecutive appearance in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals.
Cincinnati scored 87 points against USF – 14 more than the Bearcats had scored in any of their six previous BIG EAST Championship games.
The win for Cincinnati ensures that the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals will be contested between eight 20-win teams.
Cincinnati Yancy Gates was 10-of-11 from the field, registering the best field goal percentage by a Cincinnati player in a BIG EAST tournament game (.909).
Cincinnati had two 20-point scorers (Yancy Gates 25, Cashmere Wright 21) in the same game for just the second time this season (Feb. 19 at Providence).
Cincinnati has won five straight games away from home.
Cincinnati is 2-0 all-time in BIG EAST Championship second-round games.
Cincinnati will face Notre Dame for the first time in the BIG EAST Championship Thursday.
USF guard Anthony Crater left the game at halftime with a shoulder injury and did not return.
USF was outrebounded (36-25) for just the eighth time this season.