TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – A lot of the University of Cincinnati's basketball games are laced with physical play and low scores, the kind of games that coaches like to call rock fights.
And there are games like the Bearcats' 88-64 blowout of Tulsa on Thursday night before 10,484 fans at Fifth Third Arena, games where they rain down three-point field goals and light up the scoreboard, belying their reputation as a team that relies on defense and rebounding, but can't shoot.
The rebounding part was certainly there against Tulsa – the Bearcats out-boarded the Golden Hurricane 44-26, outscoring it 25-5 in second-chance points. And the defense was adequate for most of the game. But what really stood out was the long-range shooting that buried Tulsa in the second half when the Bearcats made 10 of 16 from beyond the arc on the way to a season-high 14 three-point field goals for the game.
"They took advantage of everything we did wrong," said Tulsa coach Frank Haith. "Give them credit in terms of their ability to make extra passes and obviously they shot the ball extremely well. Our communication on defense was really, really poor, the worst we've had all year. But they made some tough threes too."
UC (17-3 overall, 6-1 in the American Athletic Conference) has won 22 straight conference games at Fifth Third Arena and is 45-4 in AAC home games since the league was founded in 2013-14. The Bearcats have started a season with at least 17 wins in its first 20 games for the fourth time in the past six seasons.
Tulsa (12-8, 2-5) has lost four of its last five games and has lost eight of its last nine against the Bearcats. The Golden Hurricane, which was led by Sterling Caplin's 12 points, hasn't won in Cincinnati since Jan. 5, 1967.
Haith can be excused for not expecting UC to shoot the way it did. When these two teams met two weeks ago in Tulsa, the Bearcats made only nine of 31 from three-point range while the Golden Hurricane zeroed in from long range with 14 treys in 23 attempts. UC still managed to win 70-65 in overtime with a late comeback, but it was a struggle.
"We just tried to make sure we didn't give up 14 made threes," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "If we were the more physical team and rebounded the ball tonight and didn't give up double-digit threes I thought we'd be OK."
Junior guard Jarron Cumberland led the way for UC with 23 points, but it was senior point guard Justin Jenifer who dazzled the crowd with a career-high six three-pointers in 10 attempts to tie his career high of 18 points.
UC's Trevon Scott scored 13 points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Cane Broome added 10 points, all in the first half.
Jenifer credited the work he did during the summer to improve his shooting, which has turned a 35.8 percent career three-point shooter into the best three-point shooter in the American at 46.7 percent (35-for75) this season.
"I saw it coming last year," Cronin said. "He's put in the time. His shot preparation is as good as any guy I've coached. He's ready to shoot when he catches the ball. He catches to shoot."
Scott's 11 rebounds gave him two straight double-figure rebounding games and four in his last six.
"Coach Cronin always talks about shoplifting the tradition," Scott said. "I'm athletic. I can run and jump. Why not go out and try to get 10 rebounds every night? If I keep doing that, I feel like I'll be stamped with part of the tradition, like I kept it going.
"You've got to live up to it. You can't just be here. My biggest problem when I had bad rebounding games was when I was pursuing the ball too late. I was waiting 'til the defender came to me. My last two games, when I see the ball, whoever's coming towards me, I'm beating them. I'm going to move before you get to me."
The Bearcats held a comfortable lead throughout most of the first half and led 39-28 at halftime, but could have had a much bigger lead if it weren't for their poor free throw shooting. They made only nine of their 18 attempts.
UC jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 10-2 as Tulsa missed its first five field goal attempts. The Bearcats increased their lead to 15-6 on a three-point play by Broome and led 24-9 after Broome's three-point basket with 9:38 left in the half. They made eight of their first 14 field goal attempts.
Tulsa played the Bearcats even for the rest of the half, but never got closer than nine points. The Golden Hurricane shot 38.5 percent in the first half and committed eight turnovers that UC turned into 10 points.
Both teams came out firing at the start of the second half, with UC making six of its first seven shots, including four-of-four from three-point range. Tulsa made six of its first eight field goal attempts in the second half.
By the second TV timeout, though, the Bearcats had pulled away to take a 65-44 with 11:38 left on three-pointers by Jenifer and Cumberland. Their largest lead of the night was 25.
The Bearcats will next turn their attention to a Sunday game at Temple as they try to repeat as AAC champions. The Owls (15-4, 5-1) handed No. 17 Houston its only loss of the season, 73-69 on Jan. 19 at Temple.
"We've got to continue to try to embrace how hard it's going to be to win and try to compete for the title," Cronin said. "It's going to start Sunday at Temple."
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.