TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
ORLANDO – Sometime next week the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will be paired in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against a team they'll be heavily favored to beat based on what probably will be their No. 2 seed.
When that happens, UC head coach Mick Cronin hopes his players will remember what happened Saturday afternoon when they had to rally from a 13-point halftime deficit to get past No. 5 seed Memphis, 70-60, in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament at Amway Center.
No. 1 seed UC had already beaten Memphis twice this season, once by 34 points, but this time it was facing a team that knew its only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to knock off the Bearcats and then win the tournament championship Sunday. In other words, the Tigers were in desperation mode and it clearly showed in the first half.
"They gave us a great fight today," Cronin said. "They made us a better team because of how hard they played and how physical they played. Hopefully we learned a lesson that the other team, no matter what their record or what the situation may be, you have to realize that team is coming to win. They're not going to care what your seed is. You have to understand that that's the type of intensity that we're going to face."
Fortunately for the Bearcats, they were able to summon the resolve to overcome a first half in which they allowed Memphis to shot 51.9 percent and make seven of 12 from 3-point range. Four of those 3-pointers were by guard Jamal Johnson, who started the game with two treys and scored 17 points in the first half.
"Coming into the game we knew they had one guy who could get hot and we didn't follow the scouting report," said senior forward Gary Clark. "When you let a guy like that get comfortable, the rim gets bigger and he lit it up. The second half we tried to adjust and not let him get comfortable looks, don't back away from him at all, make it a harder shot."
The Bearcats wasted no time getting back into the game in the second half, outscoring the Tigers, 21-2, in the first 10:27 to take a 50-44 lead. Johnson did not score in the second half, attempting only two more 3-point shots.
Eighth-ranked UC (29-4) will face No. 3 seed Houston (26-6) at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Houston advanced with a 77-74 victory over No. 2 seed Wichita State. UC and Houston split their two regular-season games, with the Bearcats winning, 80-70, at BB&T Arena on Jan. 31 and the Cougars winning, 67-62, in Houston on Feb. 15.
Memphis (21-13) had won seven of its last eight games. The Tigers, already playing without point guard Jeremiah Martin, who broke his foot on Feb. 22 against Houston, lost forward Jamario Rivers less than two minutes into the game. Rivers hurt his head and lower back on a fall to the floor after he missed a layup. He did not return.
"We played really great in the first half," said Memphis coach Tubby Smith. "Because of Cincinnati's intensity in the second half, we just didn't seem to match it when they started the second half."
Jarron Cumberland, deemed by Cronin as the player of the game in UC's win over SMU on Friday despite scoring no points, scored 18 against Memphis with five assists and only one turnover in 32 minutes. Clark had his 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds plus three assists and three steals. He passed Paul Hogue to take over third place on UC's career rebounding list with 1,097, trailing only Oscar Robertson and Jack Twyman. Kyle Washington added 11 points.
The Bearcats fell behind 6-0 and 9-2 before they knew what hit them. They came back to get within two, but every time it appeared as if they were going to make a move, Memphis would pull away. The Tigers out-rebounded UC, 18-13, in the first half.
"It's hard to beat a team three times (in the same season)," Cronin said. "They made some really hard shots in the first half. They played great basketball in the first half. It's not like we didn't try to rebound. They kept us off the backboard."
Cronin's message to his players at halftime was simple and direct, beginning with the obvious.
"I said, we might not want to let Jamal Johnson keep teeing it up thinking he's going to miss," Cronin said. "When a guy's on fire like that you can make the adjustment and not let him shoot or you can let him shoot you out of the tournament and you go home tonight."
The Bearcats chose the first option. They also ratcheted up their intensity overall, needing only 6:24 to wipe out the halftime deficit and take their first lead of the game. Once they had it, they never relinquished it.
UC outscored Memphis, 42-18, in the second half and held the Tigers to 18.5 percent shooting (five for 27). They were 0-for-8 from long range after intermission.
"We came out on fire," Clark said. "Coach said eye of the tiger so we came out with intensity and everybody was locked in, knowing where the shooters were and rebounding the ball and keeping them from getting second-chance opportunities."
It was a sight to behold for UC fans, but one the Bearcats don't want to repeat. They were properly chastened after the game about their poor start and vowed not to let it happen again.
"We've been in that situation before," Washington said, "but we can't put ourselves in that situation. We have to come out of the gate with a sense of urgency, like we're down 10, starting right from the beginning, not waiting to get into a deficit, not waiting to dig ourselves a hole, coming out reminding each other that this is what we're playing for and being on a mission. We have to do what we have to do from the start."
Jacob Evans III, who averages 13.1 points, had a second straight sub-par game offensively, scoring seven points and going 3-for-13 from the field. He was 1-for-8 from long range. Evans has scored only nine points in two games here.
But he's not the only one struggling. As a team the Bearcats have made seven of 29 from 3-point range in this tournament for 22 percent. Still, they'll have a chance Sunday to win the school's first conference tournament title in 14 years.
"Gary Clark and Kyle Washington have never cut down nets after a game in their high school career or their college career," Cronin said. "We won the regular season on the road. We didn't come home and do it because I want them to be hungry to do it here. I know that Wichita State and Houston are far from afraid of us. Houston beat us the last time and Wichita State probably can't wait to play us."
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.