Yancy Gates had his second double-double of the season, and Cincinnati pulled away from Northwestern State 71-43 on Monday night, two days after the Bearcats' stunning home-court loss to Presbyterian College.
Cincinnati (3-1) fully used its bench and had four players in double figures, led by Gates with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Northwestern State (2-3) suffered a significant loss when senior center William Mosley went down hard after trying to block a shot midway through the second half and held his right knee in pain. Mosley barely put any weight on the leg as he was helped to the bench.
Mosley led Division I with 4.9 blocks per game last season. He's the Demons' top rebounder, as well. James Hulbin and Shamir Davis led the Demons with 13 points.
The Bearcats were coming off a 56-54 loss to Presbyterian on Saturday, when they blew a 15-point lead in the second half and fell to a team in only its fifth season at Division I.
Cincinnati's inexperienced bench failed to score against the Blue Hose, with three substitutes going a combined 0 of 3. Coach Mick Cronin decided to use more of his bench against the Demons, getting five substitutes - four of them freshmen - into the game in the first half.
The starters still had to do most of the scoring. They accounted for all the points until freshman Ge'Lawn Guyn hit a 3 with 16:04 left in the game.
The Bearcats got off to another bad start on offense. They missed 15 of their first 16 shots against Presbyterian, and made only one of their first seven against Northwestern State tonight - Dion Dixon's dunk off a steal. This time, they were playing a team that has big troubles of its own on offense.
The Demons missed 14 of their first 16 shots, going 7:38 between baskets. Dixon made seven free throws in a 12-2 run that closed the half and put the Bearcats ahead 31-16 - the same 15-point margin that was the start of their downfall two days earlier.
This big lead would hold. Guyn's 3 and his layup pushed the lead to 43-24. Northwestern State never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.
The crowd of 4,505 was Cincinnati's smallest of the season.
