Box Score FINAL STATS

CINCINNATI – A red-hot start by No. 20 Cincinnati proved too much for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to overcome on Tuesday night, when the Bearcats held off the Gamecocks for a 73-59 win at Fifth Third Arena.

The Bearcats (2-0) scored the game's first seven points and never looked back in the first meeting between the two teams. They connected on seven of their eight 3-point attempts in the first half to build a lead that the Gamecocks (1-2) just couldn't overcome, even with a courageous second-half rally.

Jax State outscored the Bearcats by nine in the second half and outrebounded the larger home team by five in the final 20 minutes to claw back to within 10 points late in the game. Junior Mason Leggett and sophomore Brian Williams each scored 16 points to lead JSU, while senior Stephen Hall pitched in 12.

“I thought we competed harder in the second half,” JSU head coach James Green said. “We didn't come ready to start the game the way we should've. I didn't see the detail that we needed to be able to get off to a good start against a team as good as Cincinnati.”

Leggett, a guard from Zachary, La., and Williams, a guard from Lawrenceville, Ga., each scored 15 in the final half, while Hall, a forward from Birmingham, got all 12 of his in the second half.

Leggett was 8-for-15 from the floor and dished a pair of assists, while picking up four boards in 33 minutes on the floor to pace the Gamecocks in just his third career game at the Division I level. Williams was 7-for-15 from the floor and dished three assists, but he did commit six turnovers in a game that saw his squad turn it over just 13 times while forcing the Bearcats into 20.

Cincinnati's Dion Dixon scored 16 points in the first half and Cashmere Wright scored 16 in the second half to drive its offensive night. Wright ended up with a game-high 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting, while Dixon's 20 points came on a 7-for-16 night that started with a 4-for-5 first-half from behind the arc.

Dixon, Justin Jackson and Yancy Gates each grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to drive a 40-32 Cincy advantage on the glass that started with a 13-rebound advantage in the first 20 minutes. Hall and junior Tarvin Gaines each nabbed five boards for the Gamecocks, while Gaines, a native of West Memphis, Ark., scored eight points.

Nothing went JSU's way early and it never could overcome the slow start. The Bearcats scored the game's first seven points and connected on seven of their eight 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes to sprint out to a 44-21 advantage at the half.

Dixon connected on four of those treys in the first half to lead all players with 16 points, while Mason Leggett's six points led JSU. The Gamecocks did force 11 UC turnovers and committed just seven, but a 13-rebounds advantage by the Bearcats limited JSU's opportunities in the opening half.

“I didn't think we practiced hard enough leading into this game and we didn't come out with the amount of intensity that we needed,” Green added. “We did do a better job of that in the second half and were able to make it more of a game down the stretch.”

After back-to-back baskets gave Cincinnati a 48-21 lead early in the second half, the Gamecocks were finally able to mount a run. JSU used seven points from Williams and six from Leggett to fuel a 15-1 run that spanned 4:51 and cut the Bearcats' lead to 49-36 with 13 minutes to play.

The Gamecocks threatened to cut it closer but after being whistled for just six fouls over the game's first 31 minutes, they were called for three quick fouls within a minute. The Bearcats took to the line and made JSU pay with five charity shots that stretched their lead back to 18 at 60-42 with just under eight minutes remaining.

JSU would rally again late to cut the UC lead to 10 in the final two minutes, but that would be as close as it would come before the final horn blew.

JSU returns home on Saturday, when the Gamecocks host Alabama State at 6 p.m. in Pete Mathews Coliseum.