Cincinnati holds off Cyclones

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin tried to prepare his team for its first real test of the season. Still, the matchup against Iowa State was ugly early.

Sean Kilpatrick made all 16 of his free throws and scored 32 points, leading the No. 22 Bearcats to a 78-70 victory on Friday in the semifinals of the Global Sports Classic at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Cincinnati (5-0) will play Oregon (5-0) at 7:30 p.m. today in the final.

"I knew it was going to be a tight game in the first half," Cronin said. "Two teams playing a major opponent for the first time this season. Things were bound to get sloppy."

After winning their first four games by an average of 34.5 points, the Bearcats had their hands full with a talented Iowa State team that pulled within four points with 46 seconds left.

Cashmere Wright added 14 points for the Bearcats. Kilpatrick, who entered just 5-for-13 from the free-throw line, was perfect Friday. The Bearcats shot 92 percent (23-for-25) from the line.

"I've been shooting free throws since I was 5 or 6 years old," Kilpatrick said. "I just got out there and didn't think about it. That's when things go wrong, when you think about it too much. So I just shot them like I know how I can."

Cincinnati's 15-5 run early in the second half gave it enough breathing room to secure the win. The Bearcats were 25-for-60 from the floor and made only 25 percent (5 of 20) of their 3-pointers.

Cronin stressed before the start his concern for his team's lackluster efforts in the first half of games, and it was evident why after his Bearcats struggled after taking a 10-4 lead with 15:53 left in the opening half.

Playing at a frenetic pace and not being able to find a rhythm, Cincinnati let the Cyclones (4-1) dictate much of the tempo to get back into the game. Using an 11-3 run to take a 15-13 lead at the 13-minute mark, the Cyclones stole the momentum. Neither team took a lead bigger than four points after Cincinnati's early six-point edge, while there were eight lead changes over the first 20 minutes. The teams were tied at 35 at halftime.

"We just got sloppy on offense," Cronin said. "We have to learn how to play better with a lead. Teams can hurt us because we spread the floor and they get physical with our bigs. We're actually used to that in the Big East; we just hadn't seen it yet."

Iowa State, which was looking to start 5-0 for the third time in four years, was also facing its first true test after winning its first four games by an average of 32.5 points. The Cyclones came in shooting nearly 49.6 percent from the floor but struggled against the Bearcats at 37.3 percent (25 of 67).

"We cut our turnovers in half, from 12 to six, and that's what allowed us to make that (second-half) comeback," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said.

Tyrus McGee led the Cyclones with 22 points, Korie Lucious added 12 and Melvin Ejim had seven points and 10 rebounds.