TicketsNo. 14/13 CINCINNATI (14-2, 3-0) at USF (7-10, 0-4)
SERIES INFO: 40th meeting; Cincinnati leads 31-8 overall; Cincinnati leads 11-6 in Tampa;
Cincinnati leads 17-1 at home; Cincinnati leads 2-1 at neutral sites
LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: Cincinnati won 94-53 on Jan. 29, 2017 at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati;
Cincinnati won 68-54 on Feb. 15, 2017 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa
STREAK: Cincinnati - 8
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (251-137); 15th season overall (320-161)
Brian Gregory is in his first season at USF (7-10); 14th season overall (255-190)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (JAN. 8): Cincinnati (14/13); USF (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPNews; Jay Alter provides play-by-play with color analyst Mark Adams
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – In the ancient days of basketball, before the 3-point shot was such a prominent weapon, if a team had two low-post big men who could score consistently, they were called Twin Towers, like 7-footers Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson from the 1980s NBA Houston Rockets.
The game has evolved since then to the point where few teams have even one such towering offensive threat inside, much less two.
But the concept still flourishes at the University of Cincinnati, where seniors Gary Clark and Kyle Washington have combined to average 22.7 points to lead the 14th-ranked Bearcats to a 14-2 record and a seven-game winning streak. No one calls them Twin Towers, perhaps because neither is a 7-footer and both can also move outside to shoot the three, but they don't need a clever nickname to pose problems for opposing defenses.
Both will be on display again Saturday at 7 p.m. when UC (14-2 overall, 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference) plays South Florida (7-10, 0-4) at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa. The Bearcats have won their last eight games against the Bulls, who are in their first season under head coach Brian Gregory, the former head coach at Georgia Tech and Dayton. UC leads the overall series, 31-8.
Jacob Evans III, UC's junior swingman, needs 14 points to become the 52nd player in UC history to score 1,000 points and the fourth member of this year's team to reach that milestone. The others are Clark, who has 1,201; Kyle Washington, who has 1,039 between North Carolina State and UC; and Cane Broome, who has 1,266 between Sacred Heart and UC.
According to UC head coach Mick Cronin, the presence of two productive players in the low post often provides the Bearcats an advantage before they even take the floor.
"It's something people have to deal with that they don't usually have to deal with," Cronin said. "There was a time before people shot 25 threes a game where the first thing you did in a scouting report was, how are you going to guard Kenyon Martin in the low post? And before that it was how are you going to guard Danny Fortson in the low post?
"Now the first thing is, how well do they shoot the three? How many guys shoot the three? Do their big guys shoot the three? It's something that they don't see game in and game out are two guys that can score inside."
Every team tries to figure a way to defend them that best suits its personnel. Some double-team the 6-foot-8 Clark, others double the 6-foot-9 Washington. But it's rare that one of them doesn't get doubled. As Washington put it, "It's pick your poison."
"If he has his jump shot going and I have my jump shot going at the same time, we could be all over the place," Washington said. "Or if we're just dominating in the post, then they have to pick their poison in terms of doubling. We do a good job of reading it. Like you saw the other day (against SMU), Gary got going in the second half and we were just dumping the ball down to him."
More often than not, at least lately, the defenses have chosen to double-team Clark.
"Usually when I have it I get assists either to (Washington) or Jacob," Clark said. "Some teams double, some people dig hard (with help from a guard) where they don't come trap. They just give me a little to think about. Our coaching staff will give us an idea of what they're probably going to do and what they've done to other teams and their bigs, but we really won't know until we catch it for the first time and we wait and observe what happens."
Clark has done a better job of passing out of the double-team than Washington, Cronin said, because Washington tries too often to make a pass that will lead directly to a basket, usually looking for Clark instead of just getting rid of the ball. As a result, he's more susceptible to a turnover.
To make UC's offense even more effective, Clark and Washington both can step outside to shoot. Washington, who averages 12.2 points, is 7-for-16 from beyond the arc this season. Clark, who averages 12.7, has made nine of 24 from long range.
"It's great because he can shoot and I can shoot," Clark said, "so we're not always block to block trying to pass it to each other. I'll kick it out to him and they can't come trap because he's way out at the 3-point line. I remember playing with (Octavius) Ellis and we're both low-block guys so it's easier for teams to send a guy real fast to trap. His guy was always right beside my guy. Now with Kyle on the 3-point line and me on the 3-point line, we can kind of work in there a little better."
Perhaps if either Clark or Washington manned the low post by himself, he would score more points because he wouldn't have to share the ball as much. But both players are smart enough to know they don't want to find out if that would be the case. Things are working fine the way they are.
"I don't like to think about if I didn't have Gary," Washington said.
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.