The Cincinnati Bearcats traveled up I-71 North to take on the No. 18/16 Ohio State Buckeyes at Nationwide Arena for the season opener. Last season the Buckeyes came down to to help reopen the newly renovated Fifth Third Arena winning 64-56.
This game wasn’t a shootout which was to be expected when two top tier teams face each other early in the season, but the Bearcats came out imposing their will against the home team taking a 26-19 into the half despite not having a sharp first half.
In the second half with the referees help and cold shooting the Buckeyes were able to take control despite Kaleb Wesson only scoring eight points, Wesson did grab 14 rebounds. The Buckeyes Kyle Young led all scorers with 14 points, he also snagged 13 rebounds. Keith Williams and Jarron Cumberland led the team in scoring with 13 points a piece. Cumberland went 5-of-9 from the line missing three key ones late that could’ve kept the road team within striking distance. Trevon Scott led the team with 12 rebounds, but only scored three points going 0-of-7 from the field. Chris McNeal had a solid game scoring 10 points in his debut. Jaevin Cumberland only scored three points in his Bearcats debut which didn’t help the cause on a cold Wednesday night. The bright side is the play of Chris Vogt and Jay Sorolla, Vogt fouled out in 13 minutes, but made his presence felt, Sorolla logged a solid 24 minutes.
The Bearcats loss 64-56 again to the Buckeyes. Shooting 33.3% from the field didn’t help, but I do like how the ball movement looked from the team in its first game under John Brannen. Starting 0-1 they will get a chance to even up their record on Monday as they will face Drake at home at 7 pm.
Highlights from tonight's season opener on the road at Ohio State #Bearcats pic.twitter.com/FRmQsOcCrW
— Cincinnati Men’s Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) November 7, 2019
Post game via BearcatsTV on the next page!
