The University of Cincinnati Men’s Basketball started their season with an exhibition game Halloween night against local division III school Thomas More. This game was the first time we saw new head ocach John Brannen in action. His, as well as the new players, debut have been highly anticipated and to prove it, both student and regular season tickets are sold out. Last season the Bearcats went 28-7, won the American Athletic Conference tournament and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the 9thstraight time.
The starters for the exhibition game were graduate transfer Chris McNeal, junior Keith Williams, redshirt senior Trevon Scott, junior transfer from NKU Chris Vogt, and senior Jarron Cumberland. The first half started out pretty slow, both teams took a while to get going. The Bearcats did a nice job of passing the ball around and making sure everyone was getting shots. About halfway through the first half the score was tied 13-13 and all of the Bearcats on the floor had two points, except Cumberland who lead the team with five. Cumberland was named the Preseason AAC Player of the Year and is ranked as the 13thplayer in the country. If the Bearcats are going to win some of the big games, they have this season they are going to need Cumberland to play how he played last season when he averaged almost 19 points per game. Throughout the first half Brannen switched players out, so almost everyone had a good chunk of playing time. Williams had three dunks, Jarron Cumberland was 1-of-2 on threes, but led the team with seven points, and Scott and McNeal had six points in the first half. To close out the half the Bearcats went on a 25-1 run over the last 12 minutes. At the beginning TMU was kept pace, but once the Bearcats got rolling there was no stopping them. They played strong defense forcing 14 turnovers for 20 points. At the end of the half the Bearcats finished 18-of-29 from the floor and 2-of-8 behind the arc giving them a 38-14 lead.
The second half had the same starters as the first and was a continuation of the Bearcats dominance which started with a Jarron Cumberland three-pointer. Jaevin Cumberland was draining threes just like his cousin, which was great to see because the Bearcats needed someone to replace Justin Jenifer who was a 44% three-point shooter. Speaking of new players, Chris McNeal looked really good in his debut too. He was all over the place, making baskets, getting rebounds and assists. Just like in the first half, Brannen rotated players out continuously, making sure everyone received time. Halfway through the second half the Bearcats had a 37-point lead and showed no signs of letting up. The Bearcats really showed that they are strong on both sides of the court. They looked improved on offense compare to last year. They were able to pass the ball around more and create plays when it looked like they had no open options. The scoring was also very spread out and wasn’t dominated by just one or maybe two players. If they can keep this up it will help them a ton down the road in games where Jarron gets double teamed because then they will have more offensive threats and you can’t double everyone. This is also what is going to make then stand out this season and make it harder to stop them on offense. Overall, everyone who played really got a chance to showcase their talents and demonstrate how they can play as a team.
The final stats for the night; Chris McNeal led the team in points with 15, followed by Jaevin Cumberland with 13, and Jarron Cumberland with 10. Jarron also led the team in steals with four and the team total was 15. Mamoudou Diarra led the team in rebounds with five. The team went 33-pf-55 from the field and shot 50% from behind the arc. Everyone who got in the game scored at least two points. The defense forced 21 turnovers and scored 20 points off them. The Bearcats had 21 fast break points. The final score was 79-36 Bearcats.
Cincinnati’s first regular season game will be November 6th against Ohio State on the road.
Highlights from the Bearcats' 79-36 exhibition win over Thomas More at home Thursday night #Bearcats pic.twitter.com/bUPiIvsr36
— Cincinnati Men’s Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) November 1, 2019
