The Bearcats basketball team has just kicked off conference play here in the 2021-2022 season, where the sit 12-5 on the season, (2-2 AAC). One of the new faces of this Bearcats program is guard John Newman III, who transfered from Clemson and joined head coach Wes Miller in coming to Cincinnati this offseason.
Newman, has played a huge role for the Bearcats to start the season, as he is a defensive minded player, who will lock in on defense, but can also get to the rim, but Newman’s best quality has been his defense as Bearcats fans have saw that here to start off conference play. The wing averaged 28.2 minutes per game during the non-confrence portion of the season, but has saw his minutes increase as the Bearcats kicked off conference play, as he now averages 30.1 minutes per game, which is up there at the top for the Bearcats.
We have saw a lot of flashes of what Newman can do on both ends of the court, we saw his ability to lock in on defense, and for people who watched some tape on Newman before he came to Cincinnati, should know this guy is a highflyer, he loves to play defense, his ability to create turnovers and block shots has been key for the Bearcats defense so far this season as he has blocked six shots, while racking up 20 steals so far, five of those within the last three games.
Something to keep an eye on for that match up would be Newman and his ability to lock in on defense as he looks to contain Tyson Etienne. Newman has brought a spark to this Bearcats team now that he has been able to get a few games under his belt as a Bearcat, but he has been a key part to the Bearcats early success so far this season.
We have also seen Newman get comfortable finding his groove on offense as he averages 7.4 points a game, while grabbing 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists per game. He put up his season high 14 points in the Crosstown Shootout, but he has now had three straight games with 10 or more points to kick off conference play, and has been a huge key for the Bearcats to start conference play, as they look ahead to a matchup with Wichita State this Sunday as Newman and the Bearcats look to stop reigning Player of the Year in the AAC Tyson Etienne and the Shockers.
The Bearcats will be back in action this Sunday at 1 pm when they travel to Wichita, Kansas to take on the Wichita State Shockers. The Shockers are looking for their first conference win of the season, as they are currently 9-6 overall, (0-3 AAC).
