The Cincinnati Bearcats finished non conference play at 7-5, highlighted by a huge win against No. 21 Tennessee. They welcomed the Connecticut Huskies into Fifth Third Arena on New Year’s Day to start American Athletic Conference play.
Cincinnati came out on a 12-2 run during the first few minutes of the game led by great team play. Besides Keith Williams landing on the bench at the 15:16 mark of the first half everything was gravy. Cincinnati had great defensive energy forcing UConn to shoot 25.9% from the field and commit 11 turnovers. Chris Vogt went 3-of-3 from the field with a team high eight points, Jarron Cumberland had seven points on 3-of-5 from the field, Tre Scott had six points, a team high seven rebounds and a team high three steals.
Cincinnati shot 50.0% from the field and outrebounded UConn 21-17 in the first half. Which led to a 35-19 Cincinnati lead.
In the second half it was more Cincinnati dominance highlighted by a Jaevin Cumberland alley oop to Mamoudou Diarra that was an and 1 opportunity the big man converted. Fifth Third Arena went crazy and it was a snap shot of the dominance displayed tonight. The play of Vogt, Scott and Jar. Cumberland led the way. UConn’s Christian Vital was saddled with foul trouble. Even with UConn having 13 blocks, Cincinnati shot 46.4% from the floor. Jar. Cumberland looked like himself finishing with 15 points, five assists and two steals. Vogt finished with 19 points on 8-of-10 from the field, five rebounds and two blocks. Scott finished with 10 points on 5-of-5 from the field and a career high 13 rebounds.
Cincinnati won 67-51 and are now 8-5 overall and 1-0 in the AAC. They will face Tulane on Saturday at 4 pm on CBS Sports Network.
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