The Cincinnati Bearcats took on the No. 21 Houston Cougars at home in a packed Fifth Third Arena Saturday night. The Bearcats were coming off a huge win against SMU last Tuesday and currently sit third in the AAC. Houston was coming off a road win at ECU and sit atop the American. Last season when these two teams played Houston won both regular season games, but UC got their revenge beating them in the AAC Conference Tournament Finals, winning the tourney, and punching their ticket to the big dance. The Bearcats lead the all-time series 32-5. This is a crucial game in the AAC because the winner sits atop the conference.
The game got off to a fast start, both teams scoring fast and often. UC took the early lead, but Houston stormed right back and took a bit of a lead and held that lead for a while. Houston started out 3-of-3 on three pointers and Cincinnati went 1-of-5. This was the big difference to start the game, Houston was making shots and UC couldn’t stop them, and when it came time for them to make their shots, they couldn’t get them to fall. The momentum of the first half seemed to always be in favor of the Cougars, the Bearcats couldn’t quite get a run going. They also were getting beat by Houston in every category, but what hurt them the most was getting beat in rebounds. They couldn’t get any second chance points and that was reflected in the score. The Bearcats also didn’t look like they had been in a game like this before. Jarron Cumberland led the team in points with 13, Scott was the next closest with eight and he also led the team in rebounds with six, and after him the next closest was Jaevin with three. That just shows the how Jarron and Scott were the only ones who played well in the first half and why the first half score was 40-30.
The Bearcats looked like they came alive to start the second half, but them Houston continued their momentum and kept their lead. As the second half progressed, Houston just kept added to their lead. It looked like the Bearcats couldn’t stop them on defense. The Bearcats also kept shooting themselves in the foot by fouling on easy baskets, giving them a chance for a 3-point-play. The Bearcats needed a run in order for them to win this game. They were down about 10 points almost the whole game, it was like they couldn’t break that 10-point bubble, the Cougars had them down by 15 at one point. That all changed around the 8-minute mark, Scott hit a big 3, followed by a Williams steal and dunk, putting the Bearcats within 4-points. At this point Fifth Third Area came alive and everyone was on their feet. UC tied the game with a little over 2 minutes left in the game and took the lead for the first time in the second half with just under 2 minutes to play. It was a stressful last minute of the game. UC had a 5-point lead, which was then cut to a 2-point lead with 9 seconds left. They kept that lead and went on to win 64-62.
Cumberland finished with 17 points and seven assists, leading the team in both, and Scott lead the team in rebounds with 11. The Bearcats really needed this win and they got in, even if it was down to the last minute. Scott also had 16 points notching his seventh double double of the season. Chris Vogt had 10 points and Williams finished with 12 points scoring 10 points in the season half.
Cincinnati is now 14-7 overall and 7-2 in the AAC. Cincinnati will play Wichita State Thursday on the road to see if they can keep up the four game winning streak.
