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By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
ORLANDO - Kevin Johnson suffered through a miserable game Saturday in the University of Cincinnati Bearcats' loss at Memphis. He failed to score in 13 minutes, missed all three of his shots, committed four fouls, and turned the ball over twice.
Like his teammates, Johnson bounced back in a big way Tuesday night, leading the Bearcats to a 69-51 thrashing of Central Florida at CFE Arena before 4,143 fans, one of whom was former UC coach Tony Yates, the point guard on the Bearcats' two national championship teams in 1961 and 1962.
On a night when senior forward Shaq Thomas was limited to three minutes due to lingering injuries, and when his replacement, Jacob Evans, got into early trouble, Johnson led the Bearcats with 13 points. He made five of 11 shots from the field, including three of four from long range. He also pulled down three rebounds, recorded two assists and came up with three steals.
"I turned the ball over early at Memphis," said the junior guard from Cincinnati's Summit Country Day. "I couldn't really find my stroke, so just coming out today with confidence, shooting the ball in to help us get some offensive and defensive momentum was definitely a big thing for us.
"Coach has always told me to slow down a little bit and when I slow down and take my time, my shots start to go in. I just listened to him, stayed confident, and stepped into it. I had some good passes by Troy (Caupain) and a couple other of my teammates and sunk them in tonight."
Senior forward Octavius Ellis also had a big night with a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds, which matched his career high. It was his fourth double-double of the season and the seventh of his UC career.
"That's the guy that was first-team all-league in the preseason," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "That's who he's got to be. He's got to embrace being a rebounder, a leader, being an intimidator and a shot blocker. It just makes us a better basketball team."
Sophomore forward Gary Clark just missed his third straight double-double. He scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds with five assists and five steals.
The victory improved the Bearcats to 18-7 overall, 8-4 in the American Athletic Conference and was UC's fifth win in its last six games. UCF (11-11, 5-6) was led by guard Matt Williams, who scored a career-high 24 points. Williams kept the Golden Knights in the game by scoring 18 of his points in the first half.
But it was a different story in the second. The Bearcats, who led 31-30 at halftime, played shut-down defense after the break, limiting Williams to only six more points and holding the Knights to 21. UCF committed 13 turnovers in the second half, 18 for the game.
"Thirteen turnovers in a half is big," Cronin said. "We were able to get our game plan implemented in the second half. That's probably because we were finishing around the basket so we were able to set our defense. We missed so many layups in the first half, I think we were getting frustrated on defense. And we lost Matt Williams. Once we found him and we got active, we had 20 deflections in the second half. Our help defense was quick to the ball. That changed the game. We smothered them."
UC scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 38-30 lead. UCF came back to get within five. With UC leading, 47-40, the Bearcats scored 13 straight points to take a 60-40 lead with 6:50 to play. UC has never lost to UCF in seven meetings.
On Sunday, the day after UC's disappointing 63-59 loss at Memphis, Cronin had a long talk with his players after practice.
"It was more about life," Johnson said, "taking advantage of our opportunities, being prepared for what life brings us, whether it's basketball, or whether it's when we leave here, always being prepared because certain opportunities are going to come around all the time. Just like any game day, at Memphis or today, we have to come out and be prepared to play as a unit. We have high expectations for ourselves and we don't want to come up short. So every game, every practice, every day is important."
There's no way to know if Cronin's words were the reason, but the UC coach said he has noticed a positive change in the leadership being provided by his seniors during the past few days.
"It's got to continue for us down the stretch," Cronin said. "Your veteran guys have got to do the job for you. The teams with the players that do that are going to win. They're going to get in the (NCAA) Tournament and they're going to march on. I keep talking to my veteran guys. They're the key for us."
On the down side of an otherwise upbeat night, Thomas continues to be hampered by a bone bruise on his right foot and a moderate sprain to his right ankle that he incurred at Connecticut on Jan. 28. Evans started in his place against UCF, but Thomas made a brief appearance, scoring two points on a layup in the first half.
"He was fine until we threw him that layup under the basket," Cronin said. 'He caught (the ball), turned and laid it in and as soon as he laid it in he came down funny. I could see as soon as he started jogging back. I knew. His problem is he's got the double whammy. He's got the foot and the ankle. But he was fine today. I told him last night, 'You're not playing. I need to get you healthy.' He comes out today and he's begging me, 'I'm OK, I'm fine. I want to go.' We're going to have to figure it out."
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. He has written a new book, a memoir titled, "I Can't Believe I Got Paid For This." The book is available on-line only at CreateSpace and Amazon.com