LAS VEGAS — No. 22 Cincinnati was tested in a big way when its offense sputtered in the second half Saturday night. The Bearcats found their shooting stroke in time to continue their perfect start.
Cashmere Wright made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead Cincinnati to a 77-66 win over Oregon in the championship game of the Global Sports Classic.
The Bearcats (6-0) led by nine at the break, but Oregon opened the second half with a 21-10 surge to move in front. Cincinnati then closed the game with a 25-12 stretch to secure the win.
“The key for us is we settled down and once we settled down we knocked down a few shots and got our confidence back," coach Mick Cronin said. “We scored 27 points from the time they took a two-point lead (because) we started executing offensively and had some guys make some big shots for us."
The Bearcats had four players score in double figures. Sean Kilpatrick and JaQuon Parker had 16 points apiece, and Titus Rubles scored 13.
One night after holding Iowa State to 37.3 percent shooting, the Bearcats held Oregon to 35.8 percent (19 of 53). Cincinnati wasn’t much better, shooting 36.9 percent (24 of 65) from the floor, but made 11 of 24 3-point tries.
Carlos Emery led Oregon (5-1) with 15 points and nine rebounds. E.J. Singler added 11 points.
The Ducks held Cincinnati scoreless for 3½ minutes early in the second half, just long enough to cut into the Bearcats’ lead and get back into the game. An 8-0 run got Oregon within two, and Johnathan Lloyd’s 3-pointer at the 13:27 mark trimmed Cincinnati’s advantage to 47-46.
The Bearcats responded with five straight points to go back up by six, but then had to endure another 3½-minute scoreless drought. Oregon took its first lead of the game when Dominic Artis stole the ball from Wright and fed Damyean Dotson for a fast-break layup that made it 54-52 with 7:40 left.
“Give Oregon credit for coming back," Cronin said. “We showed a lot of character. We keep it interesting, that’s for sure. We’ve got veteran guys who can defend, and we got a lot of open shots off (our defensive) effort."
Cincinnati bounced back with an 11-0 run to grab control.
Also on Saturday:
No. 5 Duke 76
No. 2 Louisville 71
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Quinn Cook scored 11 of his 15 points in the final 7:46, including Duke’s last eight of the game, and the Blue Devils (6-0) beat Louisville (5-1) in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
No. 13 Missouri 68
VCU 65
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Laurence Bowers had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Phil Pressey had 11 points and eight assists, leading Missouri (5-1) in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
No. 14 Creighton 87
Arizona State 73
LAS VEGAS — Doug McDermott scored 27 points with nine rebounds to lead Creighton (6-0) in the final of the Las Vegas Invitational. Freshman Jahii Carson led Arizona State (4-1) with 30 points.
No. 18 UNLV 82
Iowa State 70
LAS VEGAS — Freshman Anthony Bennett scored 22 points and the Runnin’ Rebels (3-1) won the consolation game of the Global Sports Classic.
No. 19 Memphis 52
Northern Iowa 47
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Chris Crawford had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Memphis (3-2) avoided losing all three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
College of Charleston 63
No. 24 Baylor 59
WACO, Texas — Willis Hall scored six consecutive points for the College of Charleston to break the final tie. Pierre Jackson’s 21 points led Baylor (4-2), which had won 29 consecutive home games against nonconference teams.
Utah 66
Wright State 54
SALT LAKE CITY — Jordan Loveridge scored 22 points and keyed a game-clinching run to power Utah (4-1).
Washington State 66
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 38
PULLMAN, Wash. — Royce Woolridge and Brock Motum combined for 28 points to help Washington State (3-3) win.
Minnesota 66
Stanford 63
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Andre Hollins made three free throws with 0.4 seconds to play to lift Minnesota in the fifth-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Dwight Powell had 22 points for Stanford (4-3).
Colorado State 73
Washington 55
SEATTLE — Greg Smith scored 15 points as Colorado State outrebounded Washington by 24. C.J. Wilcox led the Huskies (2-3) with 28 points.
