Tickets Box Score | Quotes | Notes | USATSI Gallery 
| USATSI Gallery
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI -- In a lopsided victory like the one the University of Cincinnati Bearcats delivered Tuesday night at Fifth Third Arena, there's no shortage of statistics to explain the Bearcats' dominance.
There was the almost unheard of 26 assists to three turnovers that the 25th-ranked Bearcats enjoyed, the 51-24 advantage in points in the paint and the 30.4 percent shooting percentage that Texas Southern was held to in UC's 96-68 victory before 6,612 fans.
But perhaps the most encouraging statistic for the long haul was UC's 51-30 advantage in bench scoring, especially coming on the heels of Saturday's loss at Butler when the Bearcats' bench was outscored 33-4.
"We got together a couple days after the game," reserve forward Tre Scott said of the UC bench players, "saying that we need to be more productive coming off the bench to have some firepower when (the starters) come out, so we just came out ready to help and do whatever we needed to do to make up for what we did in the Butler game."
The result was five UC players scoring in double figures. Scott scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while freshman guard Jarron Cumberland led the way with a career-high 18 points and six rebounds. And on this night, junior forward Kyle Washington's output of eight points and nine rebounds counted as part of the bench scoring because Washington did not start for the first time this season.
Washington was coming off a seven-point, no-rebound performance at Butler but UC coach Mick Cronin said that had nothing to do with his decision to start Quadri Moore in his place.
"I base who starts off of things that happen in practice," Cronin said. "I thought one guy practiced better than the other guy. And there may be other ones. One thing I worry about with this team is complacency. At times I think we don't have the toughness level all the time that I think we need to have to get where we need to go.
"We have a tendency to be skilled, nice people. That's not gonna win a conference because you get nine road games. And it's not gonna get you where you want to go in March because you're gonna have to beat some really good people and display a lot of toughness. When teams take things away from you, you can't just let it happen."
UC improved to 8-2. Texas Southern, coached by former Indiana head coach Mike Davis, fell to 4-6 and lost its fifth straight game as its 16-game road odyssey to start the season continued. Former UC point guard and assistant coach Keith LeGree is an assistant coach for the Tigers, who were picked to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The Bearcats, who led by as many as 41 in their most lopsided win of the season, used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to break open a close game. They led, 37-23, at halftime and gradually pulled away in the second half when they shot 69.7 percent, making 23 of their 33 shots from the field on the way to their highest-scoring game of the season.
A big reason for that gaudy second-half shooting percentage was Cumberland, the Wilmington High School product who made seven of eight shots in the second half and was four-for-four from long range.
Cumberland, who was known for his shooting when he averaged 29.6 points last year at Wilmington, entered the game shooting just 37.5 percent overall, 17.6 percent from 3-point range.
Senior guard Kevin Johnson, who scored 10 points against the Tigers, said he's been expecting such a game from Cumberland.
"I just try to tell him keep doing what you're doing," Johnson said. "I see you every day, so it's not like I'm looking at it from a fan perspective. I'm your brother so I know what you're capable of. I knew it was gonna come for him sooner or later. We expect that from him to be honest."
But Cronin was quick to point out that Cumberland's standout game doesn't necessarily mean he's arrived.
"It's just one game," Cronin said. "I've been coming in here for 11 years. Every time a young guy has a game they say, is he comfortable now? He was tonight. Jarron's had some really good practices. I've been on him to be aggressive. I was more happy with his defense and his rebounding. He had three at half."
UC out-rebounded the Tigers, 44-37, and held 6-foot-7 forward Derrick Griffin, the seventh-leading rebounder in the country with 11.4 per game, to eight total rebounds, three on the offensive glass. Griffin began the game averaging 6.2 offensive rebounds, tops in the nation.
Scott took particular pride in that stat after Griffin pulled down 26 rebounds - 15 on the offensive end - at Louisville last Saturday.
"I took it as a challenge," Scott said. "All week Coach Cronin kept saying I've never seen anyone like him or he can jump higher than you, which I obviously don't believe. I just used that as motivation to go out there and show him that me and my teammates, we won't let nothing like that happen. I guess it was just his night at Louisville."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.