NEW YORK (AP) — Yancy Gates was nearly perfect from the field, scoring a career-high 25 points and leading 25th-ranked Cincinnati to an 87-61 rout of upstart South Florida in the Big East tournament Wednesday night.
Gates was 10 of 11 from the field for the seventh-seeded Bearcats, who will play top-seeded Pitt in the quarterfinals Thursday night. His only miss came with 8:35 left in the game.
Dion Dixon added 21 points and Sean Kilpatrick had 12 for Cincinnati (25-7), which has won six of its last seven, matching the school’s biggest win total since the 2004-05 season.
That was the last time Bob Huggins was roaming the sidelines, and also the last time the Bearcats made the NCAA tournament.
Augustus Gilchrist scored 16 points and Shaun Noriega had 12 for No. 15 seed South Florida (10-23).
