By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – When the University of Cincinnati Bearcats lost their season opener to Ohio State while shooting 27.4 percent, UC coach Mick Cronin claimed it was poor defense that cost his team the victory more than poor shooting.
Such a pronouncement might have sounded ludicrous at the time, but it might not have been so far-fetched after all.
The Bearcats dominated Xavier 62-45 Saturday before a sellout crowd of 12,513 fans at Fifth Third Arena in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout and while UC shot a far more respectable 40.7 percent, it was the defense that Cronin talked about back on Nov. 7 that made the difference.
"We were able to do what we wanted to do with our defensive game plan," Cronin said. "That was the key to the game for us."
The Bearcats held the Musketeers 32 points below their season average of 79.3 and limited them to 35.3 percent shooting from the field. Unable to get the ball inside with any consistency, Xavier attempted 25 three-point shots, but made only five on the way to their lowest point total since they suffered a 51-47 loss to Tennessee on Dec. 28, 2012.
"They defended really, really, really well," said Travis Steele after his first Shootout as the Musketeers' head coach. "That's what Mick Cronin's teams do. They guard you. They out-rebounded us as well. Whenever you play in the Shootout, I always say the best team doesn't always win, the toughest team does. I thought they were the tougher team today."
UC (9-1) has won nine in a row since dropping that opening game to the Buckeyes. The Bearcats led the Xavier series 51-35. The Musketeers (6-4) saw a four-game winning streak come to an end.
Junior guard Jarron Cumberland led UC with 19 points. Sophomore guard Keith Williams added 16 and junior forward Trevon Scott contributed a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Senior point guard Justin Jenifer scored seven points with nine assists and committed only one turnover in 29 minutes. UC out-rebounded Xavier 36-30 and committed only five turnovers to Xavier's 12.
"You play a game like this and you only have five turnovers, you've got a big chance to win," Cronin said.
Naji Marshall, Xavier's leading scorer entering the game with a 13.6-point average, scored eight points on two-of-13 shooting. Tyrique Jones, who averaged 11.3 points, managed only two points and took only three shots.
"It was just a statement game today," Williams said, "a revenge type game. Last year those guys crushed us at their gym so it was payback today. We just came ready to play."
Xavier was holding its own on the glass in the early going, but before long the Bearcats asserted themselves as the more physical and more aggressive team.
The Musketeers led 18-14 after a span during which UC missed seven of eight shots. Then the Bearcats' defense took over. UC went on 12-0 run to take a 26-18 lead with 2:52 left. Xavier missed 11 of 12 shots, going nearly seven minutes without scoring before a Zach Hankins dunk ended the drought.
"We were really looking forward to this game and we really prepared for it," Cumberland said. "We played really good (defense) as a team. We were all together. Like I told the team, don't leave one of your brothers at all. Always be together."
Xavier recovered to get within six at halftime and trailed by only four during the first minute of the second half before UC slowly began to pull away. The Bearcats used a 9-2 run at the start of the second half to take a 37-26 lead on Cumberland's three-pointer with three seconds remaining on the shot clock.
Two baskets by Scott gave the Bearcats a 48-34 lead with10:02 remaining.
Cumberland's driving layup against Ryan Welage spread the lead to 52-36 with 6:28 to go. Steele was then called for a technical foul and Jenifer made two free throws. When Scott scored following a Marshall free throw, UC owned a commanding 58-38 lead with 4:40 remaining.
"They've got really good players that struggled today," said Cronin, who improved his record against Xavier to 5-8. "Some of it had to with they missed open shots. Some of it had to do with we didn't want to let guys like Naji and (Paul) Scruggs and (Quentin) Goodin get layups. They're scorers, they're not shooters. Guys like that get layups and they start to make shots. That was what we were trying to accomplish and I thought our guys did a great job. We made them look like they're not a good offensive team today."
To complicate matters for the Musketeers, this was their first true road game of the season and the first Shootout in the newly renovated arena before a ring-of-red crowd of UC fans hungry for a victory in a series that Xavier has dominated in recent years.
Ultimately, though, it was the UC defense that made the difference.
"We haven't seen anything like what they run as far as defensive schemes," said Xavier guard Kyle Castlin. "I think we prepared well, but our scout team can only prepare based off what we saw on film. Seeing it in the game is a little different."
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.