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02-23-2018, 11:37 AM
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. â The University of Cincinnati Bearcats had no problem putting their two-game skid behind them Thursday night, but that doesn't mean they solved their most pressing problems.
Playing against a Connecticut team that was without junior guard Jalen Adams, the Huskies' leading scorer who sat out with flu-like symptoms, the Bearcats cruised to a 77-52 victory before 8,217 fans at B&T Arena to maintain their one-game lead in the American Athletic Conference, holding the outmanned Huskies to 29.5 percent shooting.
But they still didn't play the kind of defense that UC coach Mick Cronin was looking for after losses to Houston and Wichita State.
"We've got to get a lot better," Cronin said. "We're not consistent. Again, I'm talking about beating the teams we just played. I think the film will show too many open shots that we got away with. They just didn't make them. I evaluate our defense off of the breakdowns, not off the scoreboard. You say, well, you held them to 52. Not really, not if guys were making shots. They held themselves to 52. Those same shots got us beat the last few games. I don't think we're anywhere near where I need to get our team defensively and that's just the truth."
Gary Clark, who has been a UConn killer his entire career, led UC with 17 points on six-of-seven shooting. He made all three of his 3-point shots. The Bearcats' bench came up big, with Cane Broome scoring 13 points, Trevor Moore adding 12 and Trevon Scott scoring a season-high nine to go with nine rebounds. Overall, the UC bench outscored UConn reserves, 40-5.
No. 11 UC (24-4 overall, 13-2 in the AAC) has won its last five games and seven of its last eight against UConn. The Huskies (13-15, 6-9) have lost six of their last eight games.
UC, which led by 13 at halftime, blew the game open early in the second half, outscoring the Huskies, 14-6, in the first seven minutes to take a 52-31 lead. The Bearcats' biggest lead was 28 with 56 seconds remaining.
The Bearcats dominated the first half, rolling out to a 15-point lead with 5:58 remaining. They did it with outstanding shooting that saw them make 11 of their first 16 shots overall and five of eight from 3-point range. UC led, 21-17, after two Kyle Washington free throws with 12:54 left in the half, then outscored the Huskies, 13-2, to take control.
"Coming off two losses, you've got to come out with hunger," Clark said. "Our season's on the line. We've got to play with fire and try to get momentum going into the tournaments."
The Bearcats outscored the wounded Huskies, 33-16, in the paint, 23-3 off turnovers, and 17-2 in fast break points. They out-rebounded UConn, 41-37, but allowed 13 offensive rebounds. Perhaps most impressive for UC were its 22 assists on 28 field goals while turning the ball over only six times, a season low.
"I told the guys that our turnover numbers haven't been this bad in a long time," Cronin said. "When we turned this program around, the biggest stat, the biggest key, seven years ago was when we stopped turning the ball over. When you (turn the ball over), you can't win and we did it the last two games. In our four losses, we had 33 assists and 55 turnovers. When you do the quick math on that, you're over 13 a game in your losses. So we will go nowhere if we don't continue to take care of the ball like we did tonight."
The Bearcats shot 45.2 percent, but got only four points from Jacob Evans III, their leading scorer for the season at 13.7 points per game; and seven from Jarron Cumberland, who was 3-for-10 from the field, 1-for-7 from long range. Cumberland, who averages 11.1 points, has made seven of his last 27 shots from beyond the arc for 25.9 percent. Evans is four for his last 17 for 23.5 percent.
"(Cumberland) and Jake both are better shooters," Cronin said. "We've got to get those guys going. We're not going anywhere in the moment of truth if Jarron and Jake can't knock down 40 percent of their open shots from behind the line."
In the end, it appeared as if the victory was everything the Bearcats could have hoped for as they tried to get back on track. And there were a lot of positive developments. But the competition wasn't up to the caliber of what they faced at Houston and at home vs. Wichita State, and definitely wasn't the kind they'll face in the postseason.
Clearly, there's more work to be done.
"Internally, we feel like our defense wasn't that good," said Broome, who has averaged 14.5 points in his last two games. "We've got to get a little better. Me personally and a couple other guards gave up some shots that we worked on. We've got to get back to it and pay attention to detail."
http://gobearcats.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
Playing against a Connecticut team that was without junior guard Jalen Adams, the Huskies' leading scorer who sat out with flu-like symptoms, the Bearcats cruised to a 77-52 victory before 8,217 fans at B&T Arena to maintain their one-game lead in the American Athletic Conference, holding the outmanned Huskies to 29.5 percent shooting.
But they still didn't play the kind of defense that UC coach Mick Cronin was looking for after losses to Houston and Wichita State.
"We've got to get a lot better," Cronin said. "We're not consistent. Again, I'm talking about beating the teams we just played. I think the film will show too many open shots that we got away with. They just didn't make them. I evaluate our defense off of the breakdowns, not off the scoreboard. You say, well, you held them to 52. Not really, not if guys were making shots. They held themselves to 52. Those same shots got us beat the last few games. I don't think we're anywhere near where I need to get our team defensively and that's just the truth."
Gary Clark, who has been a UConn killer his entire career, led UC with 17 points on six-of-seven shooting. He made all three of his 3-point shots. The Bearcats' bench came up big, with Cane Broome scoring 13 points, Trevor Moore adding 12 and Trevon Scott scoring a season-high nine to go with nine rebounds. Overall, the UC bench outscored UConn reserves, 40-5.
No. 11 UC (24-4 overall, 13-2 in the AAC) has won its last five games and seven of its last eight against UConn. The Huskies (13-15, 6-9) have lost six of their last eight games.
UC, which led by 13 at halftime, blew the game open early in the second half, outscoring the Huskies, 14-6, in the first seven minutes to take a 52-31 lead. The Bearcats' biggest lead was 28 with 56 seconds remaining.
The Bearcats dominated the first half, rolling out to a 15-point lead with 5:58 remaining. They did it with outstanding shooting that saw them make 11 of their first 16 shots overall and five of eight from 3-point range. UC led, 21-17, after two Kyle Washington free throws with 12:54 left in the half, then outscored the Huskies, 13-2, to take control.
"Coming off two losses, you've got to come out with hunger," Clark said. "Our season's on the line. We've got to play with fire and try to get momentum going into the tournaments."
The Bearcats outscored the wounded Huskies, 33-16, in the paint, 23-3 off turnovers, and 17-2 in fast break points. They out-rebounded UConn, 41-37, but allowed 13 offensive rebounds. Perhaps most impressive for UC were its 22 assists on 28 field goals while turning the ball over only six times, a season low.
"I told the guys that our turnover numbers haven't been this bad in a long time," Cronin said. "When we turned this program around, the biggest stat, the biggest key, seven years ago was when we stopped turning the ball over. When you (turn the ball over), you can't win and we did it the last two games. In our four losses, we had 33 assists and 55 turnovers. When you do the quick math on that, you're over 13 a game in your losses. So we will go nowhere if we don't continue to take care of the ball like we did tonight."
The Bearcats shot 45.2 percent, but got only four points from Jacob Evans III, their leading scorer for the season at 13.7 points per game; and seven from Jarron Cumberland, who was 3-for-10 from the field, 1-for-7 from long range. Cumberland, who averages 11.1 points, has made seven of his last 27 shots from beyond the arc for 25.9 percent. Evans is four for his last 17 for 23.5 percent.
"(Cumberland) and Jake both are better shooters," Cronin said. "We've got to get those guys going. We're not going anywhere in the moment of truth if Jarron and Jake can't knock down 40 percent of their open shots from behind the line."
In the end, it appeared as if the victory was everything the Bearcats could have hoped for as they tried to get back on track. And there were a lot of positive developments. But the competition wasn't up to the caliber of what they faced at Houston and at home vs. Wichita State, and definitely wasn't the kind they'll face in the postseason.
Clearly, there's more work to be done.
"Internally, we feel like our defense wasn't that good," said Broome, who has averaged 14.5 points in his last two games. "We've got to get a little better. Me personally and a couple other guards gave up some shots that we worked on. We've got to get back to it and pay attention to detail."
http://gobearcats.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
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