TicketsWESTERN MICHIGAN (3-1) at CINCINNATI (2-1)
SERIES INFO: Cincinnati leads 15-1 overall; Cincinnati leads 8-0 in Cincinnati; Cincinnati leads 6-1 in Kalamazoo
Cincinnati leads 1-0 at neutral sites
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 74-48 on Dec. 17, 1966 at the Armory Fieldhouse in Cincinnati
STREAK: Cincinnati - Won last 7
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 13th season at Cincinnati (270-141); 16th season overall (339-165)
Steve Hawkins is in his 16th season at Western Michigan (273-220); 24th season overall (410-331)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (NOV. 12): Cincinnati (--/RV); Western Michigan (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN3; Jim Barbar provides play-by-play with color analyst Mark Adams
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – After the University of Cincinnati Bearcats lost their top two scorers from last year's 31-5 team, all eyes turned to Jarron Cumberland, their No. 3 scorer, who averaged 11.5 points as a sophomore and now is being counted on to be the Bearcats' go-to player on offense.
Cumberland, a 6-foot-5 junior guard from Wilmington, Ohio, was a pre-season first-team all-American Athletic Conference selection.
Through the Bearcats' first three games, Cumberland has shown signs that he's ready to be that player. He scored 22 points in the season opener against Ohio State, added 10 against North Carolina State and 14 against Milwaukee. He's averaging 15.3 points, shooting 41.4 percent from the field, 70 percent from the free throw line, and 38.9 percent from 3-point range.
For the most part, it's been a good start for Cumberland, but UC coach Mick Cronin believes his numbers could be a lot better if he would focus on getting off to a quick start instead of waiting to decide when to assert himself.
"I've got to do a better job of coaching him," Cronin said after the Bearcats knocked off Milwaukee last Friday night. "He's got to come out with a much more focused mindset at the start of games if he's going to be our best player. He's got a bad habit of picking spots to play. He's never going to be a dominant player doing that and our team can't take on that personality."
The Bearcats (2-1) will seek their third straight victory at 7 p.m. Monday when they host Western Michigan (3-1) at Fifth Third Arena, their last tune-up before heading to Niceville, Fla., to play in the Emerald Coast Classic next Friday against George Mason.
The Broncos, from the Mid-American Conference, are led by seven-foot, 240-pound senior center Seth Dugan, who averages 17.5 points and 11.8 rebounds. He'll contend with a UC front line that saw both Trevon Scott (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Nysier Brooks (12 points, 10 rebounds) record their first career double-doubles against Milwaukee.
Western Michigan owns victories over Detroit-Mercy, Oakland and Aquinas, but lost to Mississippi, 90-64. Josh Davis, a 6-foot-5 senior swingman, averages 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds; and Kawanise Wilkins, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, averages 10.3 points.
Cronin has had high expectations for Cumberland ever since he signed him three years ago out of Wilmington High School, where he averaged 29.6 points while shooting 57.4 percent from the field as a senior. He played in 35 of the Bearcats' 36 games as a freshman, averaged 8.3 points and made the AAC All-Rookie team. Last year, he started all 36 of the Bearcats' games and scored a career-high 27 points in their first-round NCAA Tournament win over Georgia State.
Now the UC coach wants to see Cumberland take the next step from playing a supporting role to becoming the focus of the offense, which he was in high school. But he understands that it takes time.
"You can do so much as a coach to modify a guy's behavior," Cronin said, "but at the end of the day I don't know if you can make a guy carve people's hearts out. It's a process. Let's be fair to him. It's his third game without Gary (Clark), Kyle (Washington) and Jacob (Evans)."
The Bearcats' last great scorer was Sean Kilpatrick, an Associated Press first-team All-American in 2014 who led the AAC in scoring as a senior with 20.6 points per game. Kilpatrick was a driven player who loved to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line.
Cronin would like to see Cumberland display the same kind of inner drive that Kilpatrick had.
"We all sit around and talk about Sean Kilpatrick," Cronin said, "but he wasn't the guy we're talking about until his fifth year. Jarron's in his third year. But until he wakes up every day thinking that I'm going to be the best player, I'm going to be a first-team All-American…I know when I wake up every day, I know what I want from him. But that's irrelevant."
Cronin also continues to emphasize defense in the early part of the season.
"If you're going to be able to beat high-major teams that are good, solid teams, you've got to be able to play for 40 minutes," Cronin said. "Take our three games. I'll bet we're giving up over 40 percent from the field. If you don't play defense, you're an average team at best."
In fact, the Bearcats have allowed their opponents to shoot 41.3 percent from the field. Two of their opponents – Ohio State (42.6 percent) and Milwaukee (44.6 percent) - have shot over 40 percent. Last year, UC's opponents shot a combined 37.4 percent for the entire season.
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.
SERIES INFO: Cincinnati leads 15-1 overall; Cincinnati leads 8-0 in Cincinnati; Cincinnati leads 6-1 in Kalamazoo
Cincinnati leads 1-0 at neutral sites
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 74-48 on Dec. 17, 1966 at the Armory Fieldhouse in Cincinnati
STREAK: Cincinnati - Won last 7
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 13th season at Cincinnati (270-141); 16th season overall (339-165)
Steve Hawkins is in his 16th season at Western Michigan (273-220); 24th season overall (410-331)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (NOV. 12): Cincinnati (--/RV); Western Michigan (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN3; Jim Barbar provides play-by-play with color analyst Mark Adams
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – After the University of Cincinnati Bearcats lost their top two scorers from last year's 31-5 team, all eyes turned to Jarron Cumberland, their No. 3 scorer, who averaged 11.5 points as a sophomore and now is being counted on to be the Bearcats' go-to player on offense.
Cumberland, a 6-foot-5 junior guard from Wilmington, Ohio, was a pre-season first-team all-American Athletic Conference selection.
Through the Bearcats' first three games, Cumberland has shown signs that he's ready to be that player. He scored 22 points in the season opener against Ohio State, added 10 against North Carolina State and 14 against Milwaukee. He's averaging 15.3 points, shooting 41.4 percent from the field, 70 percent from the free throw line, and 38.9 percent from 3-point range.
For the most part, it's been a good start for Cumberland, but UC coach Mick Cronin believes his numbers could be a lot better if he would focus on getting off to a quick start instead of waiting to decide when to assert himself.
"I've got to do a better job of coaching him," Cronin said after the Bearcats knocked off Milwaukee last Friday night. "He's got to come out with a much more focused mindset at the start of games if he's going to be our best player. He's got a bad habit of picking spots to play. He's never going to be a dominant player doing that and our team can't take on that personality."
The Bearcats (2-1) will seek their third straight victory at 7 p.m. Monday when they host Western Michigan (3-1) at Fifth Third Arena, their last tune-up before heading to Niceville, Fla., to play in the Emerald Coast Classic next Friday against George Mason.
The Broncos, from the Mid-American Conference, are led by seven-foot, 240-pound senior center Seth Dugan, who averages 17.5 points and 11.8 rebounds. He'll contend with a UC front line that saw both Trevon Scott (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Nysier Brooks (12 points, 10 rebounds) record their first career double-doubles against Milwaukee.
Western Michigan owns victories over Detroit-Mercy, Oakland and Aquinas, but lost to Mississippi, 90-64. Josh Davis, a 6-foot-5 senior swingman, averages 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds; and Kawanise Wilkins, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, averages 10.3 points.
Cronin has had high expectations for Cumberland ever since he signed him three years ago out of Wilmington High School, where he averaged 29.6 points while shooting 57.4 percent from the field as a senior. He played in 35 of the Bearcats' 36 games as a freshman, averaged 8.3 points and made the AAC All-Rookie team. Last year, he started all 36 of the Bearcats' games and scored a career-high 27 points in their first-round NCAA Tournament win over Georgia State.
Now the UC coach wants to see Cumberland take the next step from playing a supporting role to becoming the focus of the offense, which he was in high school. But he understands that it takes time.
"You can do so much as a coach to modify a guy's behavior," Cronin said, "but at the end of the day I don't know if you can make a guy carve people's hearts out. It's a process. Let's be fair to him. It's his third game without Gary (Clark), Kyle (Washington) and Jacob (Evans)."
The Bearcats' last great scorer was Sean Kilpatrick, an Associated Press first-team All-American in 2014 who led the AAC in scoring as a senior with 20.6 points per game. Kilpatrick was a driven player who loved to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line.
Cronin would like to see Cumberland display the same kind of inner drive that Kilpatrick had.
"We all sit around and talk about Sean Kilpatrick," Cronin said, "but he wasn't the guy we're talking about until his fifth year. Jarron's in his third year. But until he wakes up every day thinking that I'm going to be the best player, I'm going to be a first-team All-American…I know when I wake up every day, I know what I want from him. But that's irrelevant."
Cronin also continues to emphasize defense in the early part of the season.
"If you're going to be able to beat high-major teams that are good, solid teams, you've got to be able to play for 40 minutes," Cronin said. "Take our three games. I'll bet we're giving up over 40 percent from the field. If you don't play defense, you're an average team at best."
In fact, the Bearcats have allowed their opponents to shoot 41.3 percent from the field. Two of their opponents – Ohio State (42.6 percent) and Milwaukee (44.6 percent) - have shot over 40 percent. Last year, UC's opponents shot a combined 37.4 percent for the entire season.
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.