Bearcats Throttle Lifeless St. John's 76-54

Former White Plains High star Sean Kilpatrick scored 10 of his team high 14 points during a 12-3 run early in the second half. The spurt helped Cincinnati extend a 30-19 halftime advantage to a 44-23 advantage in the opening minutes of the second half. From there, without much resistance from an undermanned St. John's the Bearcats cruised to an easy 76-54 win at Madison Square Garden last night.

            Kilpatrick's first half effort mirrored both teams as he started shooting slowly. But after coach Mick Cronin told him he was rushing he began to take advantage of the room he found on the baseline against St. John's zone defense.

            "You tend to do that when you're excited to play here," the redshirt sophomore admitted.  "I was happy to be here especially being a New York kid," Kilpatrick added.  "When the shots were there I was taking them".

            And while Kilpatrick reminded those in the audience who follow local schoolboy hoops just how good his jumper is, his Bearcat teammates pounded St. John's in the paint; outrebounding them by a 44-27 margin. Yancy Gates tied Kilpatrick for team high scoring honors with 14 points while guard Cashmere Wright added 12 and 10 boards.

            For the Red Storm, who learned earlier in the day that reserve junior guard Malik Stith had left the team for personal reasons, D'angelo Harrison was the lone double figure scorer with 15 points. Moe Harkless, who tipped in the game winning basket in the Red Storm's January 7th win over the Bearcats had 6 points and 5 rebounds on just 8 shots.

            "Any win they get in the Big East this year is gravy," Coach Cronin said mindful of a St. John's roster on which all of the scholarship players are first year players.  "You can't play that way in the Big East it's unrealistic"

            For St. John's which fell to 10-14 overall and 4-8 in league play what Cronin described as unrealistic has become, for this season at least, their reality. The team's two best players, Harkless and Harrison both emphasized the need for the team to stick together.  While that certainly won't guarantee wins for an undermanned team in the Big East Conference, it's the only option they have