The Cincinnati Bearcats finished the season on a two game losing streak and with the American Athletic Conference Tournament on their way would the Bearcats get back to playing their brand of basketball? They faced a game SMU Mustangs on Friday night at FedEx Arena. The Mustangs faced the Bearcats for the first time with Jarrey Foster and even though he didn’t have a monster game he was a new presence on the court.
The first half AAC Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland played all twenty minutes and had nine points and seven assists, we knew early he was going to make an impact. The player of the first half was Justin Jenifer after having a rough Senior Day, the Senior came out and scored 14 points on 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from three hitting a buzzer beater to give the Bearcats a two point lead at the half, 40-38.
In the second half the game went back and forth until the Bearcats got control late with an Cumberland and one play. The junior went on to finished with 26 points, four rebounds and eight assists. Jenifer finished with 17 points on 6-of-6 from the field, 5-of-5 from three and four assists. Trevon Scott also had a big game with 17 points and 12 rebounds. SMU got great games from Jahmal McMurray with 18 points and Jimmy Whitt, Jr with 24 points, but it wasn’t enough.
With the Bearcats 82-74 win they moved on to face Wichita State Saturday evening at 5:00 in the semifinals.
The Bearcats outrebounded the Mustangs 36-28, but allowed them to shoot 51.7% from the field and 43.8% from three, but they were able to get offense rolling and that’s why ultimately got them the win. On to the next with Temple and UCF gone you have to stay on your toes teams are fighting for tournament life.
Highlights from the #Bearcats 82-74 victory over SMU in the @American_MBB quarterfinals. pic.twitter.com/81v1JRfEkd
— Cincinnati Men’s Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) March 16, 2019
