Cincinnati reaches final with second straight win over ranked team

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MARYLAND (57)

Milbourne 3-4 1-2 7, Williams 2-5 0-2 4, Hayes 2-5 0-0 5, Mosley 2-8 4-6 9, Vasquez 5-17 9-12 19, Choi 0-2 0-0 0, Bowie 0-4 0-0 0, Tucker 1-2 2-4 4, Goins 0-0 0-0 0, Padgett 4-6 1-5 9. Totals 19-53 17-31 57.

CINCINNATI (69)

Bishop 2-6 0-1 5, Stephenson 5-9 0-0 11, Gates 7-11 3-6 17, Wright 1-6 4-5 6, Vaughn 5-13 4-4 16, Dixon 4-7 0-0 8, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Wilks 1-1 0-0 2, Toyloy 1-5 0-0 2, Parker 1-3 0-1 2. Totals 27-61 11-17 69.

Halftime---Cincinnati 31-18. 3-Point Goals---Maryland 2-14 (Mosley 1-1, Hayes 1-4, Tucker 0-1, Bowie 0-3, Vasquez 0-5), Cincinnati 4-17 (Vaughn 2-7, Stephenson 1-2, Bishop 1-3, Dixon 0-1, Parker 0-2, Wright 0-2). Fouled Out---None. Rebounds---Maryland 33 (Williams 9), Cincinnati 47 (Gates 13). Assists---Maryland 10 (Vasquez 4), Cincinnati 12 (Vaughn 5). Total Fouls---Maryland 18, Cincinnati 24.

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2009 EA SPORTS MAUI INVITATIONAL

At Lahaina Civic Center

Monday

First round

Gonzaga 76, Colorado 72

Cincinnati 67, Vanderbilt 58

Maryland 79, Chaminade 51

Wisconsin 65, Arizona 61

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Tuesday

Consolation

Arizona 91, Colorado 87, OT

Vanderbilt 68, Chaminade 41

Semifinals

Cincinnati 69, Maryland 57

Gonzaga 74, Wisconsin 61

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Wednesday

Seventh place game---Chaminade vs. Colorado, 9 a.m. (ESPNU)

Third place game---Maryland vs. Wisconsin, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2)

Fifth place game---Vanderbilt vs. Arizona, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)

Championship---Cincinnati vs. Gonzaga, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

LAHAINA --- Yancy Gates saw something he liked the first time he stepped on the floor at the Lahaina Civic Center --- the banner on the wall at the east end of the gym listing the 25 previous champions of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

With one more win, Gates and his Cincinnati teammates can add their school to the list.

In a 28-hour span, the Bearcats (4-0) have dispatched both of the ranked teams in the field --- convincingly --- finishing that accomplishment with a 69-57 win over Maryland, ranked 21st by The Associated Press, on Tuesday in the first semifinal game.

Cincinnati will meet Gonzaga for the tournament title Wednesday at 5 p.m. Maryland (4-1) will face Wisconsin at 11:30 a.m. for third place.

Gates, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound sophomore, came up big for the second day in a row, with 17 points and 13 rebounds. In two tournament games, he has 33 points and 23 rebounds.

''It means a lot to be champion here --- Maui is the top tournament in the country,'' Gates said. ''For us, if we could win this tournament and be up on that banner forever it would be history for us and build our confidence as the year goes on.''

Gates averaged 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as a freshman. So far this season, he is averaging 14.0 points and 9.0 rebounds, both team highs.

''First of all I am in way better shape than last year,'' he said. ''I came in this season knowing what to expect.''

Cincinnati held Maryland to 35.8 percent shooting a day after limiting No. 24 Vanderbilt to 27.5 percent.

''One thing I am really happy about is the way we are playing defense,'' said Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin. ''The guys are locked in on defense. There is no question the guys are trying to restore the Bearcat tradition.''

And that banner is on their minds.

''We have a chance to put our names up there tomorrow,'' Cronin said. ''I caught Yancy looking up at that banner on Sunday during practice. We have been to our share of Final Fours and we have the two national titles (1961 and 1962), but it would be something to put our name up on that banner here.''

The Bearcats' defense held the Terps to just 7-for-25 shooting in the first half while taking a 31-18 lead. After James Padgett gave Maryland a 14-11 advantage on a dunk with 9 minutes, 28 seconds left, the Terps went scoreless for 6:15 --- and without a field goal for 8:19, missing 10 attempts during that span.

While Gates was excelling, Greivis Vasquez, Maryland's preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference guard, led his team with 19 points, but shot 5-for-17 from the field and 0-for-5 from the 3-point line. The next-highest scorers for the Terps --- Jordan Williams and Padgett --- each had nine points. Maryland was also 17-for-31 from the foul line.

''Obviously, it was another great defensive effort from our team,'' Cronin said. ''To hold a team like Maryland to 36 percent from the field and 14 percent from 3 (2-for-14) is something else. I'd like to shoot the ball better and it might be easier to win these ballgames.''

The Bearcats shot 27-of-61 from the field (44.3 percent).

Cronin said getting the ball to Gates was part of the game plan, to take advantage of the Terps' youth inside --- starter Jordan Williams is a 6-10 freshman, and Padgett is a 6-8 freshman and the first player off the bench.

''I would have liked to have gotten him a lot more post-ups,'' Cronin said of Gates. ''I thought it was a game where he and Steve (Toyloy, a 6-8 center) could impose their physicality on Maryland's two young post guys.''

The closest the Terps could get in the second half was 33-26 at the 17:31 mark, but the lead quickly grew back to double digits and remained there the rest of the way.

''I was pleased in the second half, they didn't fold,'' Maryland coach Gary Williams said of his team. ''Give Cincinnati credit --- they took it to our young guys inside. Padgett and Williams learned a lot. There's not many centers in the country as big and as quick as Cincinnati has in Gates.''

Deonta Vaughn finished with 16 points and five assists for the Bearcats.

''These past two games have been magnificent,'' Vaughn said. ''Every game me and (Toyloy) step on the court it is the last time we have a chance to do a certain thing as seniors. We just want to give our all every time we step on-court. To have Yancy step up and play harder than us --- we are trying to get to where we have never been before --- and Yancy has surprised us. I am not used to seeing Yancy get 12, 13 rebounds a game and it means a lot to us. That is where his money is going to be made and having a family to feed, I saw a difference right from the start.''

Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com