The Cincinnati Bearcats had their 2019-20 Basketball home opener against the Drake Bulldogs Monday night. The Bearcats opened their season at 18th ranked Ohio State and lost 64-56. Which was the exact same score as last year’s meeting at Fifth Third. The Bearcats bounced back from that loss last season and finished 28-7, winning the AAC conference and making the NCAA Tournament for the 9thstraight time. Drake went 25-10 last season and won their season opener 86-55 against Kennesaw State. The last time these two teams played was in 1974 and the Bearcats won 73-67. Chris McNeal, Keith Williams, Jarron Cumberland, Tre Scott, and Chris Vogt started for the Bearcats.
Drake scored the first points of the first half, but it didn’t take the Bearcats long to catch up. The Bearcat defense looked tough, playing up to the standard of their signature defense. The offense took a little bit to get going, like last game, but once they did, they were making baskets that weren’t quite falling last game. The first ten minutes of the game was very back and forth with neither team really dominating. Jaevin Cumberland checked in and missed his first two 3’s, but then turned around and made two more back to back and helped the Bearcats start to pull away. They then went on a 18-2 run over the next five minutes. The offense really started to come alive and played really well together. They were able to get 12 defensive turnovers and 15 rebounds to keep Drake from scoring and to help build their commanding lead. The Bearcats were on fire behind the arc once they got going. They started 1-of-6 on 3’s, but turned that around and finished the first half 7-of-10. Jarron Cumberland led the team in points with 11, Scott led the team in rebounds with five, and McNeal lead the team in assists with two in the first half. The team was 57% in from the field, 50% behind the arc, and 100% from the foul line. The final score of the first half was Bearcats 44, Bulldogs 25.
The second half started out a little bit slow, but once they got their rhythm from the first half back, they were cruising. Chris Vogt played really well under the rim. He was getting passes under the basket and laying them right in. Jaevin Cumberland also played really well. He was keeping pace with his cousin. Both Cumberland’s led the team behind the arc and in points. The offense did a nice job of passing the ball around and making sure that everyone was getting the ball. They did a good job of not taking a shot that wasn’t there and making that next pass to take a better shot. The scoring was overall pretty even throughout the whole team, there wasn’t one player carrying the team. Brannen continued to do what he has done in games before, sub players out continuously, keeping everyone fresh. Trevor Moore subbed into the game for the first time this season after suffering an ankle injury. He played about 10 minutes, but didn’t score. Jaevin Cumberland led the team in points with 17, Scott led the team in rebounds with 11, and McNeal led the team in assists with four. The team was 53% from the floor, 42% behind the arc, with Jaevin Cumberland leading with five 3’s. The final score was Cincinnati 81 and Drake 59. This team played till the last buzzer, unlike last week and looked much better shooting.
