Finally, Bearcats fans rejoice there is Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball back on! The Bearcats returned to action after a long 25-day break due to Covid-19 concerns. The Bearcats came into this game 3-7 (1-4 in the AAC) and looking to get some momentum going toward the end of the crazy season. The Bearcats were in the news all week as everyone was wondering who were they going to have and how would they be used. There were reports that they were even having trouble running 5 on 5s with how many players were available. The Bearcats lineup was definitely different than what they normally run out as they ran a starting lineup of Mike Saunders,Jr., David DeJulius, Chris Vogt, Jeremiah Davenport, and Rob Banks. The freshman Saunders, Jr. and walk-on Banks getting both their first career starts. It would be an interesting game, but a challenge that hopefully the Bearcats would live up to. Would they be able to get a win in their first game back in 25 days?
The Bearcats got off to a very slow start as the only production they had in the first 10 minutes was from DeJulius as he had a quick eight while making 2-of-3 from the three point line. Finally, after a long drought they went on a 10-0 run sparked by Davenport and Keith Williams. It was a question when the lineup was made on if Williams was available to play, but he came in and made a huge difference for the Bearcats in the first half. The Bearcats were a menace on the defensive side as they forced 11 turnovers and had multiple defensive possessions down to the final 5 seconds. In the first half respect was earned from everyone coming out of the gate after a long break and doing what they did on the defensive side. This team looked like a whole new different team as they had no foul trouble played great defense and made sure that they took advantage of turnovers. The question for the second half would be if the Bearcats could hold on and get some serious momentum going into the end of the season?
The Bearcats got off to a rough start to the second half as they only had a couple of baskets and allowed the Owls to go on a 10-0 run and tie the game with 10 minutes to go. The game went back and forth from then on as no team seemed to be able to pull away after that stretch for a while.
But after the long period, the Bearcats went back to their game plan as the they fed DeJulius who had a career game in the one as he hit a huge three with 5 minutes to go to give the road team the lead. The lead would grow a little for the Bearcats as the three who were helping the scoring all game in Davenport, DeJulius and Williams fought back and forth with Temple and kept the Bearcats up three in the final minute. The Bearcats defense stepped up in the final minutes as they forced 16 turnovers the whole game and would force a turnover and would send Mika Adams-Woods to the line. Adams-Woods would only miss his second free throw of the year though as the Bearcats had a four point lead with 20 seconds remaining. A huge foul by Williams which would also be his 5th foul would send Temple guard Damian Dunn to the free-throw line for three shots. He would make two of them and cut the lead to two. It was up to Jeremiah Davenport after a rebound to end this game and end this game. He would miss the first and bury the second to make it a 63-60 lead for the Bearcats. One final possession for the Temple Owls and it would be up to the Bearcats defense. The Owls would turn the ball over and even after two more misses from the line for the Bearcats the Owls would miss the final shot and the Bearcats would prevail 63-60.
DeJulius was the Player of the game for Bearcats as he sets a career-high for points as he drops 26 points. This is exactly the player the Bearcats expected. The Bearcats had three main scorers including DeJulius as Williams dropped 15 points (6-of-11 from the field) and Davenport dropped 14 points on top of a couple of steals and seven rebounds. The Bearcats shot 39% from the floor and struggled from the line as they shot 10-of-21 from the free-throw line. The Bearcats will need to clean this up, but actually being able to practice should help them a lot!
The key to this Bearcats win was the defense though as they forced 19 turnovers and that led to a lot more opportunities on offense. This team absolutely needed this win and proved everyone wrong and showed what they can do even against all odds. Standing at 4-7 on the year and earning their second conference win on the year.
The Bearcats will be back on the floor on Sunday as they travel to Tulane to try and get a winning streak going! That game will be on at moon on ESPN+. The Bearcats need a lot to go their way, but a winning streak would certainly help them get back into the respect rankings and try to make a push at the end for the NCAA tournament.
Note: Mamoudou Diarra and Zach Harvey weren’t available to play.
