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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
After two wide-open, free-wheeling offensive displays to start the season, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats' play in the first half at Bowling Green on Wednesday night was disturbingly similar to the way they played last year.
The Bearcats committed nine turnovers, played too much one-on-one, and missed six of 13 free throws. When they went to the locker room at halftime, they led by only four points, 35-31, and the outcome was very much in doubt.
The second half was a much different story. UC (3-0) came out of the gate with an 18-2 run that put the game away early. The Bearcats committed only one turnover the entire second half, outscored the Falcons, 48-19, and walked away with another blowout victory, 83-50, before 3,411 fans at Stroh Center.
"I just think we didn't make enough extra passes in the first half," said senior guard Farad Cobb (West Palm Beach, Fla./Northwest Fla. St. College). "That's probably why we struggled on offense. In the second half, we moved the ball a little more and got more assists, so the baskets came easier."
Actually, the baskets were easy to come by for Cobb even in the first half when he scored nine of his season-high 20 points to keep the Bearcats from falling behind until they could hit their stride. His early contribution was especially important because starters Troy Caupain (Midlothian, Va./Cosby High School), Octavius Ellis (Memphis, Tenn./Trinity Valley College) and Gary Clark (Clayton, N.C./Clayton High School) all had two fouls and spent much of the first half on the bench.
"He's a great shooter," UC coach Mick Cronin said of Cobb. "We've got multiple guys that can shoot the ball. If we execute and run our offense with some physicality and don't let teams take us out of what we're doing, all we've got to do is share the ball."
UC placed two other players in double figures. Shaq Thomas (Paterson, N.J./NIA Prep) and freshman Jacob Evans III (Baton Rouge, La./St. Michael the Archangel) each scored 10 points. Clark finished with seven points and 10 rebounds. The Bearcats blocked 10 shots, with six different players getting into the act. UC out-rebounded Bowling Green, 49-38, and held the Falcons to 29.3 percent shooting.
Cobb is on a roll early in the season. He's made 12 of 20 shots from long range and has averaged 15.1 points through UC's first three games.
"I've got a year of experience at this level so I know kind of how I'm going to get my shots," Cobb said. "All summer I was practicing certain shots. Last year, I was just trying to get into the flow of the game. Now I'm more comfortable and more selective."
The Bearcats led, 16-8, midway through the first half and appeared on their way to a comfortable lead when Bowling Green (1-1) outscored them 7-1 to get back into the game. With 5:03 left in the half, the score was tied at 22-22, and the Falcons were giving the Bearcats all they could handle. UC led by only one before Cobb dropped in a 3-pointer as time expired to make it 35-31 at halftime.
Before Bowling Green could figure out what happened at the start of the second half, the Bearcats had vaulted out to a 53-33 lead, holding the Falcons without a field goal until Antwon Lillard made a reverse layup with 14:02 to play. The Falcons never got closer than 19 points the rest of the game.
"We got reamed in the locker room by Coach," Caupain said. "He told us to stay with it and then once he left we all got together and we talked to each other and we just handled business in the second half."
The Bearcats weren't able to match the offensive output of their first two games when they averaged 101.5 points, but even after the sub-par first half, they still recovered to get into the 80s on the road. They're averaging 95.3 points and have won their three games by an average margin of 40.3 points.
"I think the only reason we didn't score over 90 was our first-half turnovers and our free throw shooting was abysmal," Cronin said. "You're not going to win every game by 60."
That's true, of course, but it certainly appears as if the days when the Bearcats struggled to score 60 are behind them. They're not a finished product by any means, but the first three games couldn't have gone much better for them as they've adjusted to their new offensive approach.
They abandoned that approach in the first half, but were able to quickly reclaim it at the start of the second. Had they played that way from the outset, they very well might have won by 60.
"We're still working on it as we go along," Cobb said. "We're definitely trying to put more emphasis on being a better offensive team and not just relying on our defense."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of Go.Bearcats.com in January, 2015.