Fort Worth, Texas- Today Wes Miller and the Bearcats (17-14) (7-11 AAC) traveled to Fort Worth, Texas where they would take on East Carolina University (15-14) (6-11 AAC) in game one of the AAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed Bearcats look to advance to the quarterfinals where the winner will take on number one Houston on Friday. The Bearcats will have a clean slate here in Fort Worth after dropping their final five games to end the regular season.
The Bearcats would be without sophomore guard A.J. McGinnis for this contest as he did not go through warmups with the team. The Bearcats got some good news as John Newman III was available and in the starting lineup after reinjuring his ankle late in the season. The key for the Bearcats here today would be containing East Carolina Forward Vance Jackson who has scored 35 and 25 points respectfully in the teams two battles this season averaging 30 points a game, 9.5 rebounds in those two games.
Starters for the Bearcats– John Newman III, David DeJulius, Jeremiah Davenport, Abdul Ado, Mika Adams-Woods.
Starters for the Pirates- Tristen Newton, JJ Miles, Tremont Robinson-White, Vance Jackson, Ludgy Debaut.
How it Happened- The Bearcats got off to a quick 5-2 lead behind a thunderous slam from Ado on a great pick and roll action find from DeJulius. DeJulius followed back up with consecutive triples as the Bearcats and the Pirates were tied at 8 at the first media break of the game. The Bearcats had a strong 12-8 lead before a deep three from Tristen Newton made this one a one-point game at 13:21. The Pirates found a way to get Vance Jackson involved early as he had a quick seven points in the first 10 minutes. DeJulius led the Bearcats with eight points, before taking a hard fall on a driving layup where he appeared to have landed on his left hand or wrist area, but would remain in the game for the Bearcats
The Bearcats would trail 20-19 before Jeremiah Davenport would knock down a triple for his first points of the game cutting the Pirate lead to 1. The Bearcats would find themselves trailing 30-25 with 6 minutes left in the first half, before sparking a 5 point run to tie the game after a three from John Newman. The Bearcats would take a 33-32 lead over the Pirates with 3:33 remaining in the first half after a Davenport triple gave the Bearcats some energy late in the first half.
The Bearcats were looking to find a way to stop Pirates guard Tristen Newton heading into the second half as he had a game high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting during the first 20 minutes, while Vance Jackson contributed 12 points as the Pirates took a 41-40 lead to the break. The Bearcats saw 10 different players score during the first half, led by David DeJulius who had a team high 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. This one was a physical battle from the start as both teams were looking to establish the ball inside and control the paint. Heading into the second half the Bearcats were looking to find a way to contain Pirates guard Tristen Newton who took over the first 20 minutes of this one here at Dickies Arena.
The Pirates would come out of the break on a 4 point run to take a 45-40 lead with 18 minutes remaining before the Bearcats got a jumper from David DeJulius to make it 45-42. The Bearcats would respond with a huge 5 point run as they beat the Pirates full court press on back to back possessions resulting in a dunk from Kovel, and a wide open triple from Mike Saunders to tie this one at 47 with 14:02 remaining forcing the Pirates to take a timeout as they looked to stop the Bearcats momentum. The Pirates would take a 52-48 lead with 12 minutes remaining before a DeJulius floater cut the Pirates lead to 2. The Bearcats would tie this one up at 52 after Jarrett Hensley would knock down two free throws after a ECU Foul put the Bearcats into the bonus with 12 minutes remaining in the second half as they have held the Pirates without a field goal for nearly 7 minutes as the Bearcats tied this one at 56 with 7:02 remaining.
The Bearcats would get a huge triple from Mike Saunders to give the Bearcats a 59-58 lead with 4:39 remaining. The Pirates wouldn’t shy away though as they had an answer for anything the Bearcats threw at them as the Bearcats held a 64-63 lead with 3:25 remaining after a 5 point run from Jeremiah Davenport sparked some momentum down the stretch as this one was a back and forth battle here at Dickies Arena. The Bearcats would get two huge blocks inside from Abdul Ado on Vance Jackson to give the Bearcats some opportunities to extend their lead. DeJulius was able to knock down yet another step back jumper to give the Bearcats a 66-63 lead before knocking down two big free throws to give the Bearcats a 68-63 lead with 1:12 remaining. The Bearcats would continue to knock down the free throws down the stretch as they would open this one up down the stretch as the held a 72-63 lead with 36 seconds left.
The Bearcats would hold on to defeat the Pirates 74-63 behind a 22 point prefomance from David DeJulius. The Bearcats also got 11 points from Jeremiah Davenport who shot just 4-of-12 from the field. Mike Saunders also contributed 10 points in the Bearcats 74-63 win over ECU.
Hear what coach Miller and players had to say after the Bearcats 74-63 win.
“Shoot, we all love it when he shoots, we do a lot of things for him to shoot the ball. We have the upmost confidence in him. I thought he made really big one in front of our bench when they went zone, that just shows he was having a tough shooting night, but a big play in a big moment in the second half of a conference tournament game,” Wes Miller on the message to Davenport, who had a slow shooting start.
John Newman really stuffed the stat sheet today as he finished with seven points, eight rebounds, five assists. Newman changed the game for the Bearcats in multiple ways and was the overall spark the Bearcats needed coming off a 5 game losing streak.
“Now John Newman, I thought defensively that is one for my memory bank there as a coach, in terms of his effort defensively, that one will go down, he was phenomenal in the first half, we put him on Tristen Newton in the second half, and I know Newton still had 11 in the second half, but they were a different kind of 11, he really had to earn them and I thought that disrupted their offensive rhythm,” said Bearcats Head Coach Wes Miller.
East Carolina guard Tristen Newton, who finished with a game high 26 points for the Pirates, who started 6-of-8 from the field, with 15 points in the first half, talks about the adjustments the Bearcats made in the second half as they limited him to 11 second half points.
“I was doing a great job reading my teammates ball screens. I was getting to my spots in the first half. In the second half I think I was forcing too much and I felt like I could have came off the ball a little bit more,” said Newtown after the game.
The Bearcats will be back here at Dickies Arena tomorrow afternoon where they will take on the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars tomorrow at 1 pm eastern time/12pm Central time as they look to advance in the AAC Tournament, as they are now 18-14 on the season and look to keep the momentum going tomorrow for a quick turnaround.
