TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – More often than, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats played Friday afternoon like the team that's ranked 12th in the country. There were, however, other moments when they were sloppy with the ball and a little lax on defense.
In the end, though, the Bearcats, as expected, cruised to a 107-77 victory over Savannah State before 6,610 in their season opener at BB&T Arena.
UC (1-0) placed six players in double figures, led by junior guard Jacob Evans, who scored 19. Ten different UC players logged 10 minutes or more. The stronger, taller, more physical Bearcats out-rebounded the Tigers, 65-32, with 25 offensive rebounds to just seven for Savannah State (0-1). UC outscored the Tigers, 30-2, in second-chance points and made made 13 of 39 shots from long range compared with 13 of 44 for Savannah State, a team that makes it living from long range.
"We had them a little out-manned in the paint," said UC coach Mick Cronin, "so it made for an interesting game. I don't think we'll take 30 threes the rest of the year. At least I hope we don't.
Their game plan on the defensive end was to press us, slow us down, to make us take our time bringing the ball up, and then play zone. That forced us to have to shoot too many perimeter shots. Defensively we were just average today for us. I know they only shot 29 percent from three, but they got too many off. Our hands weren't active enough today."
Senior forward Gary Clark became the 51st player in UC history to score 1,000 career points when he made a layup off a feed from point guard Cane Broome with 8:30 left in the first half. Clark then went on to post his 19th career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
"Anything that Gary Clark does I'm happy for him," Cronin said. "He's one of the greatest kids that you'll ever coach. Guys like Gary Clark, you can't help but root for them. I can only hope that the good Lord thinks I'm half as nice a human as Gary Clark is and that's probably stretching it to get to half because Gary Clark is a really good person."
The Bearcats trailed early, falling behind, 10-5, and 13-8, but it wasn't long before the offensive onslaught began. Midway through the first half, UC scored 10 straight points, part of an overall 19-2 run that gave them a 35-21 lead with 8:30 left. The Bearcats matched the Tigers 3-point shot for 3-point shot, making 10 of 22 in the first half compared with Savannah State's 8-for-23.
UC led by 20 at halftime, but the Tigers cut the lead to 12 during the first few minutes of the second half and to seven with 12:07 remaining. But it never appeared as if the Bearcats were in danger of getting knocked off.
"In college basketball every game is important," Evans said. "Nobody's safe. You know that at any point they could just throw it in every time. We've seen games like that. We just wanted to not play the score, just keep playing our basketball, not turning it over, getting offensive rebounds and playing solid defense."
Evans, UC's leading returner scorer, had managed only 13 points combined in the Bearcats' two exhibition games, but he was ready when the real games started.
"We rode him pretty hard about that," Cronin said.
The Bearcats missed their first seven 3-point shots in the second half and 13 of 17 shots overall during the first eight minutes after intermission. With 11:32 left, Clark made a layup that triggered a 17-2 UC run that gave the Bearcats an 86-64 lead. They coasted to the win after that.
The most glaring deficiency for the Bearcats were their 20 turnovers, including six from Broome and five from Evans.
"We've got to clean that up a little bit," Clark said. "It comes from everyone, guys not making themselves available for the pass and then they turn it over. As bigs, we've got to make ourselves more presentable in the high post and our guard have got to be smarter with the ball."
Not surprisingly, Cronin decried the turnovers, but he said it's too early to expect perfection and for him to go off on his players about their mistakes.
"That'll drive a coach nuts," he said, "but I told them the year's too long. I can't lose it in the fist game. I can't go to the Maalox in game one."
Aside from the turnovers, the Bearcats received excellent production from their two point guards – Broome and Justin Jenifer. Broome scored 17 points - 14 in the first half - and made five of nine from long range with four assists in his UC debut. Jenifer scored a career-high 15 points with five assists and only one turnover.
"Cane played great in the first half," Cronin said. "In the second half he went on a turnover exhibition. Justin continues to play well for us."
The crowd for the Bearcats' first game at BB&T Arena, their home in 2017-18 while Fifth Third Arena is being renovated, was impressive considering the game was played at noon on a weekday.
"We had a lot of people here today," Cronin said. "The support was great and we really appreciate it. I know it's only going to get better as we play games when everybody's not at work, but we really had no choice with this game. We couldn't move it. We had to play it early."
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.