Eastern Michigan jumps out early and beats Cincinnati 64-56

CINCINNATI (AP) — Carlos Hart scored 15 points, and Eastern Michigan built a big early lead and held off Cincinnati for a 64-56 victory on Wednesday night.

Eastern Michigan, which rebounded from a 41-point loss against sixth-ranked Louisville on Monday, led by as many as 17 points in the first half and had its largest lead in the second, 38-23, with 17:41 left. Cincinnati later used a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to 48-47 with 5:03 remaining. Day Day Thomas hit two 3-pointers and Kerr Kriisa had one for the Bearcats during the stretch.

The Eagles then pulled away with four free throws and a Hart 3-pointer to push the advantage to 55-47. The Bearcats got within 59-54 but didn’t get closer.

Hart finished with a pair of 3s and was 5-of-5 shooting from the line. Mohammad Habhab added 13 points and made 7 of his 8 free-throw attempts for Eastern Michigan (4-3), which shot 43% overall and 86% (19 of 22) from the free-throw line. Jon Sanders II finished with 10 points.

Thomas made four 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead Cincinnati (5-2). Sencire Harris added 12 points.

Sanders and Mak Manciel scored eight points apiece as Eastern Michigan shot 50% (13 of 26) overall and built a 36-23 halftime lead. Thomas scored eight first-half points to pace the Cincinnati, which shot 30% (9 of 30) from the floor.

Up next

Eastern Michigan hosts NJIT on Friday.

Cincinnati hosts Tarleton State on Monday.

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