Tickets2018-19 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Postgame Notes
Ohio State (1-0) 64, Cincinnati (0-1) 56
November 7, 2018 • Fifth Third Arena (Cincinnati)
Starting Five: G Justin Jenifer • F Tre Scott • G Cane Broome • C Nysier Brooks • G Jarron Cumberland
The Turning Point: After trailing by nine points at the intermission and by as much as 16 points twice late in the second half, the Bearcats managed to battle back to cut the deficit to four points after Jarron Cumberland sank a three-point shot with one minute remaining in the game. But, the comeback ended there as the Buckeyes scored a layup with 29 seconds remaining and then hit two free throws in the waning seconds to push the advantage to eight points at the buzzer.
Leaders: Jarron Cumberland led all scorers with 22 points on the night in just 23 minutes of game action as he went 7-of-17 from the floor and 3-of-7 from long range. Trevon Scott and Nysier Brooks tied for the team lead with six boards each with Scott hauling in four of the team's 12 offensive boards. Ohio State had four players in double figures with Kaleb Wesson leading the way with 15 points. C.J. Jackson (13), Luther Muhammad (11) and Kyle Young (10) also scored in double digits.
// TEAM NOTES
- Cincinnati slipped to 96-22 all-time in its first game of the year and fell to 85-11 in those games at home. The loss, just the second in 27 season openers played at Fifth Third Arena, snapped a 10-game winning streak in season openers for UC and dropped the Bearcats to 99-18 all-time in their home opener.
- A sellout crowd of 12,012 fans packed the newly renovated Fifth Third.
- IN THE SERIES: Ohio State improved to 7-4 in the all-time series with its third win in a row and the first on the Cincinnati campus since the 1920 season, a 35-13 win by the Bearcats on January 3. Today also marked the first regular-season meeting between the two sides since 1921.
- HALFTIME REPORT: Both team struggled to connect on their shots in the opening 20 minutes of the season with the Bearcats shooting 13.8 percent (4-of-29) and the Buckeyes 33.3 percent (9-of-27) to see the score sit at 27-18 in favor of the visitors. Cane Broome led the Bearcats in scoring with five points in the first half while five others also collected at least one point. Kyle Young led the Buckeyes with six points as all by one of OSU's eight players found the scoring column in the first half of play. Cincinnati out-rebounded Ohio State, 22-18, in the first half, including pulling down eight offensive boards (OSU had three).
- Tonight was the first time in 19 games that UC did not score 20 or more points in the opening half of play dating back to last season. The last time the Bearcats were limited to under 20 points came at UCF (January 16, 2018) when the visitors trailed, 19-15, before coming back to win, 49-38, in Orlando.
- Tonight's loss snapped UC's 26-match Fifth Third Arena home winning streak, a streak that started on January 2, 2016, in a win over Tulsa. The last time the Bearcats fell at Fifth Third Arena was a 77-70 loss to visiting Temple on December 29.
// PLAYER NOTES
- Jarron Cumberland finished the night with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting (3-of-7 from three) to lead all scorers on the night. More interesting is that all of his points came on 7-of-14 shooting in the second after he was held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes of play on 0-for-3 shooting from the field. His point total marked the 37th time he scored 10 or more in a game for the Bearcats and his fourth career 20-plus point game for UC.
- Cumberland's 22 points are the most he has scored in a contest since the NCAA opener last year when he scored a career-high 27 points against Georgia State. Tonight's point total ranks as his third-highest output as a Bearcats player behind his 27 points last year and the 26 he tallied against USF on January 29, 2017.
- Justin Jenifer scored the first points in the newly renovated Fifth Third Arena as he connected on a three-point attempt from the top of the arc at the 18:59 mark in the opening half of play.
- Trevon Scott made his first career start for the Bearcats.
- Two newcomers saw their first action for the Bearcats as freshman Logan Johnson and junior transfer Rashawn Fredericks each logged 10 minutes or more in the debuts. Fredericks finished the night with one point when he connected on a free throw attempt at 1:11 remaining in the first half. Johnson recorded two points after hitting a pair of free throws in the second half.