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Kilpatrick lifts Cincinnati over FSU, into Sweet 16

Mar 19, 2012 - 5:21 AM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Sean Kilpatrick made four three-pointers en route to a game-high 18 points to lead Cincinnati to a 62-56 victory over Florida State in the third round of the NCAA Tournament's East Region.

Dion Dixon chipped in 15 points and Yancy Gates added 10 for the sixth-seeded Bearcats (26-10), who return to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001.

"We get a lot of credit for playing hard," said Bearcats head coach Mick Cronin. "Hopefully tonight people saw our talent level."

Cincinnati became the fourth team from the state of Ohio to reach the Sweet 16, joining Ohio State, Xavier and Ohio University to mark the first time in NCAA history that a state sent four teams to the round of 16.

The Bearcats will face No. 2 seed and cross-state rival Ohio State in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Luke Loucks led the Seminoles attack with 14 points while Bernard James and Michael Snaer poured in 12 and 11 respectively, for Florida State (25-10), which had its six game winning streak snapped.

The game was tied at 43 when Kilpatrick connected on back-to-back three- pointers around a Loucks triple to give Cincinnati a 49-46 edge with just under three minutes left in the contest.

James responded with a dunk and Loucks added two from the free throw line after a Jaquon Parker miss to regain a one-point lead for the Seminoles.

Gates then went one-of-two from the line before Dion Dixon came up with a steal in the backcourt and finished a two-handed flush to give Cincinnati a 52-50 advantage.

Florida State came up empty on its next possession and Cashmere Wright sank a pull-up jumper from the elbow to press the edge to four with under a minute to go.

After Okaro White was off the mark on his three-point attempt, Cincinnati connected on 8-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 34 seconds to secure its place in the Sweet 16.

"Regardless of what happened in the last two or three minutes," said Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton, "had we taken care of the ball a lot better, at least we would have given ourselves a chance."

Michael Snaer sank three three-pointers in the first half for his nine points, helping Florida State take a slim 26-25 edge into the locker room.

Both teams struggled from the field in the first, as Cincinnati's 8-for-29 performance was bested slightly by a 9-of-26 performance from the Seminoles in the opening frame.

Game Notes

Both teams finished the game 19-of-50 (38 percent) from the field and each team tallied 22 points in the paint...The lead changed hands 19 times in this contest and it was tied 11 different times...The six-point differential at the final buzzer was the largest lead by either team in the game.