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03-17-2018, 12:33 PM
NASHVILLE â The University of Cincinnati Bearcats were well-schooled in just how good Georgia State guard D'Marcus Simonds is, so they weren't surprised when Simonds got off to a hot start. But when he scored the Panthers' first 16 points to give his team a 16-9 lead, well, that was bordering on ridiculous.
Simonds scored only eight more after that initial onslaught, though, and was eventually overshadowed by UC sophomore guard Jarron Cumberland, who had the game of his life with career highs in points (27) and rebounds (11).
"He was awesome today," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "He was the best player on the floor."
While Simonds was mostly a one-man band, Cumberland had plenty of help from his teammates. Still UC needed a late 17-2 run to shake the Panthers and pull away for a 68-53 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's South Regional on Friday at Bridgestone Arena.
No. 2 seed UC (31-4) tied the school record for victories in a season and advanced to face No. 7 seed Nevada on Sunday in the second round. The Wolf Pack (28-7) wiped out a 14-point deficit and beat Texas, 87-83, in overtime in Friday's second game here.
No. 15 seed Georgia State, from the Sun Belt Conference, finished 24-11. Simonds finished with 24 points and Isaiah Williams scored 10, but no other Panthers reached double figures.
Gary Clark had his fourth straight double-double for UC with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Kyle Washington scored 13 points and Jacob Evans III added 10, including two key 3-pointers late in the second half.
As impressive as Simonds' start was, the Bearcats weren't rattled by it. They had seen this act before and knew exactly what to do.
"Teams get hot, but a team can't be hot the whole game," Clark said. "It does happen, but it's rare, so you've just got to take the waves when they hit you and keep going. Don't stop. Just keep playing, keep rebounding, keep defending, make it harder."
UC kept its composure, took advantage of Cumberland's hot hand, and slowly got back in the game. By halftime, the Bearcats led by five. When they extended the lead to 10 with 14:41 left, it appeared that they were home free. But Georgia State wasn't finished yet.
This time it was Williams who got hot, leading the Panthers on a 13-2 run that gave them a 45-44 lead with 10:31 left, momentarily putting the Bearcats in danger of becoming the ninth No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament history to get upset by a No. 15 seed.
But as this UC team has done all season, it used defense and rebounding to stay the course and wiped out that one-point deficit in the blink of an eye, outscoring Georgia State, 17-2, to take a 61-49 lead with 3:14 left. Evans knocked down two threes during the run and Washington scored twice in the paint.
The final score made it look like UC cruised to the victory, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"Because of their ability to put the ball in Simonds' hands and put shooters around him, they were a very, very tough defensive assignment for our guys," Cronin said. "The thing about my team is that we've got guys that care about winning. It's easy to make adjustments during a game when guys know that's the key to winning basketball games."
One of those adjustments, according to Evans, who picked up two early fouls trying to guard Simonds, was to make sure the Bearcats weren't switching on the pick-and-roll and leaving a big man on the shifty guard.
"He's a good player, especially once he gets his jump shot going," Evans said. "When he makes a a few from three, it's kind of hard because you've got to press up on him and he's also a good driver."
The Bearcats missed their first seven shots of the game and their first five 3-pointers. Despite their resolve, they could have been in a much deeper hole if it weren't for Cumberland, who matched Simonds almost basket-for-basket once he got on track.
"We just started off slow," Cumberland said. "I wouldn't say I was trying to match him. He scored the ball. I scored the ball. I felt good about it. I missed my first two threes. I felt down and then I hit my next three and just felt good after that.'
UC capitalized on its size advantage by pounding Georgia State on the glass, 46-26. Cumberland's eight offensive rebounds were more than the total number of rebounds for any Georgia State player. The Bearcats held the Panthers to 39.6 percent shooting, well below their average of 46.3 percent; and to 53 points, 22 below their season average.
They also limited Georgia State to three assists, outscored the Panthers, 26-18, in the paint, and 24-7 in second-chance points. But Georgia State's defense was also effective. UC shot 39.6 percent from the field and although it made nine 3-pointers to eight for the Panthers, the Bearcats needed 30 attempts from long range to get there.
"We thought they were trying to figure out what we were doing (on defense)," said Georgia State coach Ron Hunter. "Our guys feed off that. We wanted to prove defensively that that we could hold them under 40 percent shooting. I was really proud of that."
The Bearcats got a small scare late in the game when Clark appeared to pull up lame after he had his shot blocked while trying to shoot a layup after he had come up with a steal. He went to the bench with his teammates during the TV timeout, but said he never gave any thought to coming out of the game, not with the Bearcats leading by only two points at the time.
"I hyperextended my whole leg and my hip," Clark said. "It just stopped, but it was fine. I think it scared me more than anything because I did it in high school. When I planted my left foot my whole left side just stopped and my other side kept going. Luckily I'm not that fast, so I wasn't really moving that fast for it to be that bad. Coach asked me if I wanted to come out. There was no chance."
With one more victory, the Bearcats will advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2012, but as Cumberland said, they've set their sights much higher.
"We've got five more games," he said.
http://gobearcats.com/news/2018/3/16/men...68-53.aspx
Simonds scored only eight more after that initial onslaught, though, and was eventually overshadowed by UC sophomore guard Jarron Cumberland, who had the game of his life with career highs in points (27) and rebounds (11).
"He was awesome today," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "He was the best player on the floor."
While Simonds was mostly a one-man band, Cumberland had plenty of help from his teammates. Still UC needed a late 17-2 run to shake the Panthers and pull away for a 68-53 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's South Regional on Friday at Bridgestone Arena.
No. 2 seed UC (31-4) tied the school record for victories in a season and advanced to face No. 7 seed Nevada on Sunday in the second round. The Wolf Pack (28-7) wiped out a 14-point deficit and beat Texas, 87-83, in overtime in Friday's second game here.
No. 15 seed Georgia State, from the Sun Belt Conference, finished 24-11. Simonds finished with 24 points and Isaiah Williams scored 10, but no other Panthers reached double figures.
Gary Clark had his fourth straight double-double for UC with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Kyle Washington scored 13 points and Jacob Evans III added 10, including two key 3-pointers late in the second half.
As impressive as Simonds' start was, the Bearcats weren't rattled by it. They had seen this act before and knew exactly what to do.
"Teams get hot, but a team can't be hot the whole game," Clark said. "It does happen, but it's rare, so you've just got to take the waves when they hit you and keep going. Don't stop. Just keep playing, keep rebounding, keep defending, make it harder."
UC kept its composure, took advantage of Cumberland's hot hand, and slowly got back in the game. By halftime, the Bearcats led by five. When they extended the lead to 10 with 14:41 left, it appeared that they were home free. But Georgia State wasn't finished yet.
This time it was Williams who got hot, leading the Panthers on a 13-2 run that gave them a 45-44 lead with 10:31 left, momentarily putting the Bearcats in danger of becoming the ninth No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament history to get upset by a No. 15 seed.
But as this UC team has done all season, it used defense and rebounding to stay the course and wiped out that one-point deficit in the blink of an eye, outscoring Georgia State, 17-2, to take a 61-49 lead with 3:14 left. Evans knocked down two threes during the run and Washington scored twice in the paint.
The final score made it look like UC cruised to the victory, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"Because of their ability to put the ball in Simonds' hands and put shooters around him, they were a very, very tough defensive assignment for our guys," Cronin said. "The thing about my team is that we've got guys that care about winning. It's easy to make adjustments during a game when guys know that's the key to winning basketball games."
One of those adjustments, according to Evans, who picked up two early fouls trying to guard Simonds, was to make sure the Bearcats weren't switching on the pick-and-roll and leaving a big man on the shifty guard.
"He's a good player, especially once he gets his jump shot going," Evans said. "When he makes a a few from three, it's kind of hard because you've got to press up on him and he's also a good driver."
The Bearcats missed their first seven shots of the game and their first five 3-pointers. Despite their resolve, they could have been in a much deeper hole if it weren't for Cumberland, who matched Simonds almost basket-for-basket once he got on track.
"We just started off slow," Cumberland said. "I wouldn't say I was trying to match him. He scored the ball. I scored the ball. I felt good about it. I missed my first two threes. I felt down and then I hit my next three and just felt good after that.'
UC capitalized on its size advantage by pounding Georgia State on the glass, 46-26. Cumberland's eight offensive rebounds were more than the total number of rebounds for any Georgia State player. The Bearcats held the Panthers to 39.6 percent shooting, well below their average of 46.3 percent; and to 53 points, 22 below their season average.
They also limited Georgia State to three assists, outscored the Panthers, 26-18, in the paint, and 24-7 in second-chance points. But Georgia State's defense was also effective. UC shot 39.6 percent from the field and although it made nine 3-pointers to eight for the Panthers, the Bearcats needed 30 attempts from long range to get there.
"We thought they were trying to figure out what we were doing (on defense)," said Georgia State coach Ron Hunter. "Our guys feed off that. We wanted to prove defensively that that we could hold them under 40 percent shooting. I was really proud of that."
The Bearcats got a small scare late in the game when Clark appeared to pull up lame after he had his shot blocked while trying to shoot a layup after he had come up with a steal. He went to the bench with his teammates during the TV timeout, but said he never gave any thought to coming out of the game, not with the Bearcats leading by only two points at the time.
"I hyperextended my whole leg and my hip," Clark said. "It just stopped, but it was fine. I think it scared me more than anything because I did it in high school. When I planted my left foot my whole left side just stopped and my other side kept going. Luckily I'm not that fast, so I wasn't really moving that fast for it to be that bad. Coach asked me if I wanted to come out. There was no chance."
With one more victory, the Bearcats will advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2012, but as Cumberland said, they've set their sights much higher.
"We've got five more games," he said.
http://gobearcats.com/news/2018/3/16/men...68-53.aspx
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