Trio helps Cincinnati cruise to 94-63 victory over Western Carolina in season opener

CINCINNATI (AP) — Baba Miller, Mustapha Thiam and freshman Shon Abaev all finished with 18 points to guide Cincinnati to a 94-63 victory over Western Carolina in a season opener on Monday night.

Miller added 10 rebounds while sinking 7 of 9 shots for the Bearcats. Thiam made 6 of 7 shots and Abaev buried 7 of 12 with two 3-pointers. Jordi Rodriguez added 10 points off the bench.

Cord Stansberry had 23 points with four 3-pointers to pace the Catamounts. Julien Soumaoro added 13 points and Marcus Kell totaled 12 points and nine rebounds.

Abaev had nine points and nine different Bearcats scored in building a 49-28 lead at halftime.

Cincinnati shot 53% from the floor with five 3-pointers before the break but made only 10 of 18 at the free-throw line. Western Carolina shot 42% with four 3-pointers, making 2 of 6 foul shots.

The Bearcats shot 54.2% overall with 10 3-pointers and made 10 of 12 foul shots in the second half.

Western Carolina shot 35.9% with nine 3-pointers and finished 8 of 14 at the foul line. The Catamounts grabbed one more rebound than the Bearcats but lost the turnover battle 22-15.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball