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The Report Card: Cincinnati secures much-needed marquee win

Octavius Ellis and Coreontae DeBerry of the Cincinnati Bearcats celebrate Wednesday night. (Getty Images)
Octavius Ellis and Coreontae DeBerry of the Cincinnati Bearcats celebrate Wednesday night. (Getty Images)

DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 17

A- — Cincinnati

Cincinnati's 71-62 overtime victory over 19th-ranked San Diego State was as big for the American Athletic Conference as it was for the Bearcats. The American collectively was 0-9 against Top 25 teams and did not have a single team receiving votes in the latest polls.

Of course, the Bearcats (7-2) also needed a notable win after losses to Nebraska and Ole Miss in two of their past three games. Cincinnati won on Wednesday by forcing 18 turnovers with its aggressive 2-1-2 full-court press, by limiting cold-shooting San Diego State to 39.3 percent shooting and by getting timely offense down the stretch from guards Farad Cobb and Troy Caupain.

San Diego State pulled off a last-minute rally in regulation to force overtime behind key threes from Trey Kell and Aqeel Quinn. The Aztecs didn't have a second comeback in them for overtime.

A- — Old Dominion

In its star-studded backcourt, Sun Belt favorite Georgia State features NBA prospect R.J. Hunter, Kentucky transfer Ryan Harrow and Louisville transfer Kevin Ware. Somehow, however, the Panthers didn't have the best guard on the floor when they faced Old Dominion on Wednesday night.

That honor went to Old Dominion's Trey Freeman, who lit up Georgia State for 19 of his 21 points in the second half and overtime. The junior guard was at his best when it mattered most, scoring 10 points in the final 3:44 of regulation and overtime to lift the Monarchs to a 58-54 win.

Old Dominion's victory further solidifies the Monarchs as both a threat to make the NCAA tournament and a Conference USA contender alongside UTEP and Louisiana Tech. At 8-1 with victories against LSU, VCU and Richmond and a lone loss to Illinois State, the Monarchs are in excellent position five weeks into the year.

B — NC State

One of the downsides to the way Tennessee traps and presses defensively is that the Vols will often leave shooters free. On Wednesday night, NC State's Ralston Turner made them pay.

The senior guard finished with a career-best eight 3-pointers including one impossibly deep shot late in the second half that drained any remaining drama from NC State's 83-72 home win. Turner went 9 of 18 from the field and sank 7 of 8 free throws to post his first-ever 30-point game.

A combined 53 points from Turner and fellow guard Trevor Lacey ensured that NC State wouldn't suffer its first losing streak this season and that Tennessee wouldn't build momentum. The Wolfpack had just suffered a bad one-point home loss to Wofford. The Vols had just posted their most impressive win of the season over Butler.

D- — Houston

The return of heralded point guard L.J. Rose did not have the impact Houston expected. The former Baylor transfer went scoreless with four assists and six turnovers in his debut as the Cougars lost to hapless Arkansas Pine Bluff 61-56 in overtime.

Marcel Mosley scored 33 points to help Arkansas Pine Bluff (2-8) open a 16-point second-half lead. Houston rallied to force overtime behind Jherrod Stiggers and LeRon Barnes, but the Cougars fell behind again in overtime and didn't have a second surge in them.

It was Houston's first loss since a Nov. 25 rout at the hands of Harvard, however, it validated the notion that the Cougars' 5-1 start was more a product of their schedule than anything else. The five teams Houston has beaten so far in Kelvin Sampson's debut season are Murray State, Morgan State, Texas Pan-American, Abilene Christian and Houston Baptist.

NOTES:

• San Francisco transfer Cody Doolin looked awfully comfortable facing onetime league rival Portland on Wednesday night. The UNLV pont guard forced overtime with a deft pass to Dwayne Morgan for a game-tying layup at the buzzer. Then he won the game for the Rebels with a last-second layup of his own in overtime, turning down a dribble handoff, spinning into the paint and scoring off the glass to give UNLV a 75-73 win. Doolin finished with 15 points, 3 assists and 0 turnovers.

• Falling to Tulane, TCU and Oregon State wasn't great for Mississippi State. Extending that losing streak to four with a 67-55 defeat at the hands of Arkansas State was even worse. The Red Wolves' previous game against a power conference foe? An 87-46 shellacking at Purdue.

• Central Michigan improved to 7-1 at Northwestern's expense, beating the Wildcats 80-67 in Evanston. Braylon Rayson scored 19 points to lead the Chippewas.

An otherwise satisfying victory over Eastern Michigan turned scary for Michigan State when Branden Dawson fell hard to the floor attempting a tip dunk and braced the impact to his tailbone with his left wrist. The official diagnosis is a badly sprained left wrist, but the senior forward will undergo further tests on Thursday.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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