UC pulls away from UCF for 69-51 win
ORLANDO – Every basketball game is vital to the Cincinnati Bearcats these days, even when played before only 4,143 fans against Central Florida on a Tuesday night here at CFE Arena.
UC, battling to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes cooking, rode a strong second-half defensive performance to a 69-51 victory over UCF. The arena was less than half full, albeit a challenging atmosphere for UC thanks to the UCF pep band and a loud student section.
Junior guard Kevin Johnson scored 13 points to lead UC (18-7, 8-4 American Athletic Conference), which won for the fifth time in six games. UC was coming off a 63-59 loss at Memphis this past Saturday, and cannot afford many more defeats if it wants to reach the program’s sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament.
“We needed it,” Summit Country Day graduate Johnson said. “Any time you lose, that next game is definitely important to get back on track. Definitely, the way the standings are and our goal of making the tournament, we needed this win.”
UC led just 31-30 at halftime but held UCF to 21 points in the second half. UC forced UCF into 18 turnovers, 13 after halftime. UC had only 10 turnovers and also out-rebounded UCF 43-30.
Senior guard Farad Cobb scored 12 points for UC, and sophomore forward Gary Clark had 11 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Octavius Ellis scored 10 points and tied his career high with 14 rebounds.
UC - entering Tuesday - stood No. 68 in the NCAA RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), and a loss to No. 190 UCF would have damaged the Bearcats’ resume.
Projections entering Tuesday include:
- The loss at Memphis this past Saturday dropped UC out of the projected NCAA Tournament field of ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi.
- Jerry Palm of CBS Sports lists UC as one of the “Last four in,” as a potential No. 11 seed.
- Shelby Mast of USA Today also lists UC among the last four in, as a potential No. 12 seed.
UC coach Mick Cronin spoke at length to his team in the days since the Memphis loss, emphasizing that time is growing short for the Bearcats to make their tournament drive.
“I thought our senior leadership, the last few days, was much better,” a pleased Cronin said. “Corey (DeBerry) is much more engaged, Farad and Octavius … it’s got to continue for us down the stretch.”
The fourth UC senior, forward Shaq Thomas, again played sparingly because of his foot and ankle injuries.
Thomas was replaced by freshman wing Jacob Evans III in the starting lineup, only the second time all season that Thomas has not started.
UC: 'Everything is going to be fine'
Thomas scored two points Tuesday, but he re-injured himself slightly on his made basket early in the first half. Thomas came up limping, and wound up playing only three minutes.
“He was fine until we threw him that lay-up under the basket,” Cronin said. “He ran up and down, I watched him, he was fine in shoot-around. As soon as he laid it in and he came down funny, I could see as soon as he started jogging back, I knew.”
Cronin said he will monitor Thomas’ status going forward. Thomas has not been practicing much but has played in all three games since first hurting himself, Jan. 28 at UConn.
Evans scored six points for UC, in his second start of the season.
UC won despite a 1-for-11 shooting night from season scoring leader Troy Caupain, who finished with seven points. Caupain did have five assists and five steals, with three turnovers.
UCF (11-11, 5-6 AAC) was led by junior guard Matt Williams with a career-high 24 points. UCF has been playing without last season’s top two scorers, sophomore guards B.J. Taylor and Adonys Henriquez. Both are out with injuries.
Williams, who averages 7.4 points, had 18 points in the first half alone. How did UC adjust, both on Williams and otherwise?
“No. 12 (Williams) was definitely shooting the ball,” Johnson said. “We made sure we kept our eyes on him, made sure he didn’t get the three off.”
UC at first found the going tough inside and elected to shoot mostly from long range over the UCF zone, which occasionally included 7-foot-6 Knights freshman Tacko Fall patrolling the inside.
Fall blocked three shots in the first half and had UC thinking about it, as the Bearcats passed up several inside shots. Ellis did muscle up for a couple of lay-ups over Fall.
Fall, who averages 6.9 points, did not play much after halftime and scored two points overall, with eight rebounds. He did not block a shot after halftime.
UC caused 11 turnovers in the first 12 minutes after halftime, helping put some distance between itself and the Knights. The Bearcats in that span built their lead to 56-40.
“We wanted to keep our intensity high, try to create some havoc and some turnovers,” Johnson said. “And then push the ball and continue to get some easy baskets.”
Cronin said UC got things going in the second half, finishing better under the basket and finding Williams defensively. UC’s help defense also was quicker to the ball in the early minutes after halftime, Cronin said.
“That changed the game,” Cronin said. “We smothered them. That’s what you’ve got to do when you’re out on the road, you’ve got to have different guys contribute.”