TicketsCincinnati Men's Basketball Postgame Notes
#2 Cincinnati (31-4) 68, #15 Georgia State (24-11) 53
NCAA First Round
March 16, 2018 • Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tenn.)
Starting Five: G Justin Jenifer • F Jacob Evans III • F Gary Clark • F Kyle Washington • G Jarron Cumberland
The Turning Point: After battling back to take its first lead of the game with a 10-0 run and under three minutes remaining in the first half, the Panthers hung around in the early going in the second half and reclaimed the lead with 9:30 remaining, but the Bearcats battled back once again with another 10-0 run as Kyle Washington connected on a pair of shots with three-point shots made by Gary Clark and Jacob Evans III bookending the run to get things rolling as UC closed out the victory.
Leaders: Jarron Cumberland had a career day as he not only recorded his first collegiate double-double, but tallied 27 points to break his previous career high to lead the Bearcats to victory as one of four players in double-digit scoring. Joining Cumberland with 10-plus points in the game for Cincinnati were Kyle Washington (13), Gary Clark (11) and Jacob Evans III (10). D'Marcus Simonds led the Panthers with 24 points while Isaiah Williams scored 10 points as well.
Next Game: With the victory, the Bearcats will play Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against the winner of today's second game between #7 Nevada and #10 Texas. The tip time will be announced later Friday.
// TEAM NOTES
• The win pushed Cincinnati to 31-4 overall on the year as the Bearcats have now won eight games in a row while Georgia State's season comes to an end with a 24-11 overall record.
• With the victory, Cincinnati now has 31 wins on the year, tying the school record for single-season victories. The Bearcats finished 31-4 in the 2001-02 campaign. UC has three 30-win seasons all-time, including in each of the last two seasons.
• IN THE SERIES: Today's game marked the first time Cincinnati and Georgia State have played one another.
• IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: With the win, the Bearcats improved to 46-30 all-time in NCAA games and won their opener in the national tournament for the second year in a row. The win also moved the Bearcats to 4-1 all-time in NCAA games played in Nashville while improving their record to 3-2 all-time when playing in the South Region.
UC has won three opening round games in the past five seasons.
• HALFTIME REPORT: Georgia State's D'Marcus Simonds scored the Panthers' first 16 points of the game and helped put the Bearcats down by as many seven points three different times in the early going, but Cincinnati responded over the final 13 minutes of the half to not only claw their way back into the contest, but eventually take the lead, using a 10-0 run to grab their first lead of the game with 2:19 remaining. UC lead, 35-30, at the break after Jarron Cumberland connected on 5-of-10 shooting for a team-high 16 points, including 3-of-7 from three-point range, to bring the Bearcats back into the game. Kyle Washington netted seven points while Jacob Evans III, Justin Jenifer and Gary Clark all scored four each. The Bearcats scored 18 second-chance points after grabbing 14 offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play.
• Jarron Cumberland recorded career highs in both points (27) and rebounds (11) to record the first double-double of his career while Gary Clark added 11 points and 13 boards to pick up his 13th double-double of the season and the 31st of his career. Combined, the Bearcats now have two players with double-doubles in the same game for the first time since December 1, 2016, when Clark (11 and 10) joined with Kyle Washington (13 and 11) to accomplish the feat at Iowa State.
• Cumberland finished the game with eight offensive rebounds which not only led the team, but also was more offensive boards than the entire Georgia State team who had six. In fact, Cumberland recorded more offensive rebounds than any Panthers player had total rebounds in the game (six by Malik Benlevi).
• Speaking of offensive glass work, the Bearcats finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds that led to 24 second-chance points. The rebound total marks the third time this year UC has recorded 20 or more offensive rebounds with the team opening the season with 25 against Savannah State and 22 at home against ECU.
• Cincinnati came into the game allowing just 57.1 points per game, second-fewest nationally, and gave up 53 to Georgia State, a season-low for points in a game by the Panthers. UC ranked 11th in the nation in 3-point FG percentage defense (.309) and Georgia State shot 8-of-27 from behind the arc for .296.
// PLAYER NOTES
• Jarron Cumberland had a monster day on the court as he recorded five season-highs and equaled three more. Cumberland's outright career-highs came in points (27), rebounds (11), minutes played (40), field goals made (8) and three-point attempts (11) while equaling a career-best in field goal attempts (17) and season bests in three-point baskets made (4) and free throws made (7). In fact, his rebound total marked the first time he recorded double-digit boards while also recording the first double-double of his career.
• MORE ON CUMBERLAND: The sophomore ended the first half of play with 16 points, leaving him four points shy of his season best and 10 off his career best through 20 minutes of play. With 16:16 remaining in the game, Cumberland hit a shot to tie his season high before draining a three at 14:39 to bring his total to 23. Then, with time winding down in the game, he drained a pair of free throws with 1:17 and 0:41 remaining to collect his final four points of the afternoon.
• With his 27 points, Cumberland took over the top spot for the most points scored by a Bearcats player in an NCAA game under Mick Cronin. Just the fourth player to go for 20 in an NCAA game, Cumberland surpassed the previous best of 26 points that Jacob Evans III scored against St. Joseph's on March 18, 2016, in Spokane, Wash.
• For the 13th time this year and the 31st time in his career, Gary Clark recorded a double-double as he tallied 11 points and 13 rebounds in the win Friday.
• Clark moved into a tie for 16th on the all-time scoring list at UC with 1,451 points (Dwight Jones, 1980-83). It also marked the 24th time this season he has led the Bearcats in rebounding in a contest.
• Evans netted 10 points in the contest, his 27th double-digit scoring output of the season.
• Washington registered 13 points in the game, his 23rd double-figure scoring contest of the year.