from Postol since they hooked up before t

CINCINNATI -- Once Cincinnati applied a little pressure, everything became easy.Jacob Evans III had nine points during a run that put Cincinnati in control midway through the second half, and the 24th-ranked Bearcats overcame cold shooting and a sloppy start to beat Albany 74-51 on Monday night.In the second half, we wanted to come out and play harder, Evans said. We came out and tried to turn up the defense. We scored off our defense.Evans 3-pointer started a 13-2 run that allowed the Bearcats (2-0) to finally shake loose. They went only 5 of 21 from beyond the arc, but Evans finished with 19 points.David Nichols scored 13 points and Joe Cremo had 12 for Albany (1-1), which self-destructed with 22 turnovers -- 11 in each half. Cremo had eight of them.They took the ball out of our hands, Albany coach Will Brown said. They got real physical with us. I think our inexperience on the perimeter as a whole with our starting group showed a little bit today.Cincinnati led only 29-27 at halftime as the Bearcats shot 33 percent from the field and got outrebounded 19-15. There was one tie and 10 lead changes, and neither team could make shots consistently. Cincinnati, however, outscored Albany 40-18 over the final 15 minutes of the game.The scouting report was that they were limited at the point guard position, said guard Troy Caupain, who had four steals. So in practice, we worked on getting after each other.NEW LEADEREvans had 23 points in the opening win, and led the offense again on Monday, asserting himself as a scoring threat in his second season.That takes the pressure off all of us, me included, Caupain said.PESKY DEFENSECincinnati guard Justin Jenifer scored only six points but had three steals and helped to lead the strong closing flourish. Bearcats coach Mick Cronin envisions Jenifer as a defensive specialist who can change the game with pressure on the ball.He has really embraced it, Cronin said. He was like Speedy Gonzalez out there. Thats what hes got to be. I thought Justin really gave us an influx of energy.POLL IMPLICATIONSCincinnati moved into the Top 25 on Monday after a season-opening 84-55 win over Brown. The Bearcats will have a chance to move up -- or get knocked out -- during their upcoming weekend tournament.BIG PICTUREAlbany: The Great Danes opened the season with their first victory over a Big Ten team, winning at Penn State 87-81 on Friday. They kept it close against Cincinnati for more than a half, before their turnovers helped Cincinnati pull away.Cincinnati: The Bearcats have struggled to hit outside shots the last few seasons, relying on their defense to generate points. They had the same issues on Monday, when they pulled away by getting 24 points off turnovers.UP NEXTAlbany: Hosts Oneonta on Wednesday in its first home game.Cincinnati: Plays No. 21 Rhode Island on Saturday in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Connecticut.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.orgCheap Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. cheap jerseys from china ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. https://www.cheapjerseys-wholesalechina.com/ . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Cheap Cleveland Browns Jerseys . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Cheap New England Patriots Jerseys . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach.Two years ago, Viktor Postol was just another unassuming fighter trying to work his way to the top. And now look at him.He is widely considered one of the top two junior welterweights in the world and is heading into the biggest fight of his career, a title unification bout against the other best fighter in the division, Terence Crawford, on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.Postols growing reputation is based almost entirely on two big knockout wins -- but wins against quality opponents in fights that were televised on HBO and both were very impressive.First he drilled Selcuk Aydin, a longtime contender, in the 11th round in May 2014. That victory made him the mandatory challenger for then-world titleholder Danny Garcia, whose team put Postol off as long as it could. And then Garcia vacated the title and moved up in weight. That left Postol, who had stayed busy with a non-televised fight against a low-level opponent on a Garcia undercard, to fight for the vacant 140-pound belt.The mandatory opponent was Lucas Matthysse, a huge puncher and one of the most feared fighters in the division, although he had lost a competitive decision to Garcia in a 2013 title bout.Matthysse was the clear favorite to topple Postol and claim the title, but trainer Freddie Roach had Postol extremely well prepared and he fought masterfully when they met in October, winning by 10th-round knockout in a major upset.I was fighting for the title against one of the strongest punchers in the division, Postol said. The importance of this fight for my career and my life was not lost on me. It was all I thought about during training camp at Wild Card [Roachs gym in Hollywood, California]. Its all I ever wanted since I started boxing in a gym outside Kiev as a 12-year-old boy. I followed Freddies game plan from beginning to end. Even the last combination I landed -- right uppercut, left hook -- we worked on daily.Freddie Roach had me well prepared for that fight. My trainers made me a champion and helped me realize a dream I have had for a very long time. Every time I look at that green belt I will think of Freddie and everyone at Wild Card who helped me become a champion. I loved showing it off to all my friends, family members and fans in Ukraine. I am very proud to represent my country as a world champion.Following that victory, and with Garcia having left the weight class and Matthysse vanquished, Postol was clearly one of the best in the division, along with Crawford, the former lightweight champion from Omaha, Nebraska, who had moved up in weight and won a vacant 140-pound title 15 months ago.It was a very good performance, said Roach, who is going into his fourth bout as Postols trainer. We were in charge of the fight the whole time. Viktor followed the game plan perfectly. I remember before the last round I told our corner that Matthysse was very tired and ready to go out. He was coming in with his head leaning down. We told Viktor, Now is the time for a right uppercut and a left hook. Viktor took him out when he was ready to take him out. He is a good student of the game.Viktor deserved that victory. Ive never had a fighter work harder in training camp than he did. I was so happy for him when the fight was stopped. I just knew that a lot of doors would be opening for him now that he was a world champion and because of how he won that fight. This was, really, one of the greatest wins of my career. ... But I think Viktors perrformance on [Saturday] will surpass that.dddddddddddd We have a solid game plan for Crawford. We are going right at him from the opening bell. This is a real 50-50 fight. The best man will win and the loser will go back to Nebraska.But once again, Postol (28-0, 12 KOs), who will be making his first title defense, is the underdog as he and the 28-year-old Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs), the 2014 fighter of the year who will be making defense No. 3, get set to duke it out for division supremacy.But Postol, 32, is confident as is Roach, the Hall of Famer and seven-time trainer of the year. One of the reasons for Postols confidence is the presence of Roach, as respected a trainer as there is in boxing.I do not consider myself an underdog in this fight. Terence Crawfords fans might consider me as the underdog but that does not bother me, Postol said. Im 100 percent confident in myself and in my victory and the reasons are simple. I work harder in training camp than my opponents because I have to, because I want to. I have the best trainer working with me and his name his Freddie Roach. He has been named trainer of the year a record seven times and he is in the Hall of Fame.Crawford has no one like that on his team. Since I have been training with Freddie I have knocked out two of the three opponents I have faced -- Lucas Matthysse and Selcuk Aydin. Both were No. 2 world-rated contenders and both times I was considered the underdog. I have passed every test that I have taken as a professional fighter and with the best teacher in boxing working with me I intend to pass this one with flying colors. This victory will prove to everyone that I am the best fighter at 140 pounds and the king of the division.Postol also enters the fight with a big load off his mind. His wife, Olga, gave birth to their twin boys, Lukian and Timofey, on Tuesday in Ukraine. Postol said when the fight was announced that their impending arrival was big motivation for him because he wanted to bring home one title belt for each baby. Now that they are here, Postol said he has a sense of relief going into the fight.Roach has worked with a whos who of fighters during his career, most notably Manny Pacquiao. He has loved what he has seen from Postol since they hooked up before the Aydin fight and said he will take down another top opponent in Crawford.I do not feel that Viktor is an underdog going into this fight, Roach said. Why should I? In his two toughest tests -- Lucas Matthysse and Selcuk Aydin -- he didnt just knock them out, he took their will to fight away. He broke them down brick by brick. His experience against blue-chip opposition has been great preparation for his fight with Terence Crawford.Dont get me wrong. I have a lot of respect for Crawford. He has a lot of talent. But I think this is going to come down to resumes and I think Postol has fought tougher and better opponents than Crawford. Postol even spent an entire training camp with Manny Pacquiao in 2014 when Manny was preparing for Chris Algieri. Viktor more than held his own against Manny. Crawford is going to find out that defending a title against Hank Lundy and Dierry Jean is a lot different than fighting a fellow undefeated world champion like Viktor Postol. A win for Viktor will mean that the U.S. and the world has a new star in boxing. A star as bright as boxing has ever seen. ' ' '