CINCINNATI, OH –  Behind another stellar defensive effort and 18 points from Marcus McClary, Monmouth University Men's Basketball (5-1) knocked off its seventh high-major opponent under King Rice, topping the University of Cincinnati (5-2) at Fifth Third Arena Saturday afternoon, 61-59.
 
After UC took a 12-point lead early in the second half, MU answered with seven in a row to trim it to five. Cincinnati briefly got it back to eight before a George Papas three preceded a McClary finish at the rim to make it a one-point game. A scramble play saw Nikkei Rutty hit the floor to win a loose ball and Samuel Chaput outlet to McClary, who drove and tied the game at 52 with 9:18 to go. McClary then hit consecutive triples late in the shot clock to give MU a five-point lead, as the Hawks gave up just three field goals in the final 10:43. Shavar Reynolds answered a UC score with one of his own to give MU a four-point lead, but Cincinnati cut it back to two into the final minute. Cincinnati's Hayden Koval was awarded free throws with 4.1 seconds left in a two-point game, but he missed both. After two inbounds plays, MU turned it over with a second to go but Rutty batted the final heave at the basket away to secure the statement victory.
 
Monmouth and Cincinnati traded baskets for much of the opening half, with neither team leading by more than a possession for the majority of the period. With the Bearcats leading by four, Reynolds drilled two consecutive straight-on triples to give the Hawks the lead. MU added to that when Myles Foster netted two buckets in a row inside, capping a 10-1 MU run to put the Hawks up five. UC took the lead back with a 10-1 run of their own, halted by Tahron Allen's first career three, but Cincinnati made three long balls in the final 1:54 to lead by eight at the break.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"Nobody thought we could do this today. Wes Miller is my brother, we've been connected since he was a junior in Chapel Hill and he's one of my best friends. I could not be more proud of our kids, my staff and all the Monmouth people believing in what we do. This one's for everybody at Monmouth, we talk about playing Monmouth Basketball and not taking a back seat to anybody and today we proved we can play with anybody in the country." – Head Coach King Rice
 
"That's a big-time win for our team and our program. What a team. I'm so happy I'm here and I'm so blessed to be a part of Monmouth. These guys are fighters and we don't care where we are, we just want to play. We're a bunch of guys that love playing basketball and we just fight." – Center Walker Miller

"We just talked about being more together and we ended up doing that and getting a win. My team called upon me to be a leader and if they need me to play defense, to score, to play any position, I'm your guy. We needed everybody, this is a whole team win." – Guard Marcus McClary
 
-This marks Monmouth's seventh win over a high-major program under King Rice, and the first since topping Memphis in 2016.
-MU is 5-1 for the first time since 1990-91.
-This ties MU's longest win streak since January at five games.
-Monmouth's five-game non-league win streak is the longest since six in 2016.
-Monmouth and King Rice are now 2-1 against AAC opponents, topping Memphis in 2016.
-MU has won three straight games on the road.
-Rice topped a fellow UNC graduate for the first time in four tries as a head coach.
-MU is the second MAAC team to reach five victories this season.
-Walker Miller remains the only Hawk to reach double figures in every game.
-Nikkei Rutty grabbed a career-best three steals.
-Tahron Allen netted his first career three in the first half.
-Walker Miller competed against his brother, UC head coach Wes Miller, in the only college basketball matchup this season pitting brothers against each other where one is a head coach.
-The meeting was the first ever between Monmouth and Cincinnati.
-This marked the first ever regular season game MU has played in the state of Ohio, and the first time since beating Hampton in the 2006 NCAA Tournament play-in game in Dayton, OH.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outshot Cincinnati 45.3% to 37.7%.
-The Hawks allowed just 23 second-half points and 35.7% shooting.
-MU limited Cincinnati to just four threes (14.3%) and 9.1% in the second half.
-MU outrebounded UC 38-36.
-15 assists is a season-high for Monmouth.
-The crowd of 8,262 is the largest MU has played in front of this season.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth will open MAAC play with a pair of early season league games in Western New York. MU opens at Niagara on Friday night, with tip set for 7:00 p.m.