TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati Bearcats had five days off after their last game before Christmas on Dec. 22. They were able to go home, spend time with their families and get away from basketball.
You never know how players will react after a break like that, but in the Bearcats' case there was nothing to worry about. When they returned for practice on Dec. 28 they were focused and ready to go.
And when they came out to face Tulane on Wednesday night for their first game in 10 days, it was obvious that they had quickly regained their focus.
The Bearcats (12-2 overall, 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference) hit the floor running, pouncing on the Green Wave (4-9, 0-1) from the outset and posting a 93-61 victory before 10,689 fans at Fifth Third Arena in the AAC opener for both teams. UC has won nine of its last 10 conference openers.
The victory was the 1,800th in UC history, which ranks 14th among all Division I programs. Arizona is 13th with 1,805.
Perhaps no one benefited from the break more than senior guard Cane Broome, who ended the nonconference portion of the schedule in a horrible scoring slump.
Against Tulane, UC coach Mick Cronin gave Broome his first start since Nov. 16 and Broome responded with 17 points on six-of-seven shooting. He was also five-for-five from the free throw line, scoring in double figures for the first time since he scored 14 points at UNLV on Dec. 1.
Broome set the tone for the Bearcats offensively when he scored UC's first five points.
"I was trying to get his confidence going," Cronin said. "He had a great practice, too. I mean he was unstoppable yesterday. He was as good yesterday in practice as I've ever seen him. I think us playing at a faster pace helps him."
Being back in the starting lineup was nice, Broome said, but what really mattered was the time he spent at home back in East Hartford, Conn.
"I feel like a lot of the struggles with me personally are that I don't like playing bad," Broome said. "I think about the last game. Just getting home clearing my mind for a few days helped a lot."
Junior guard Jarron Cumberland led the Bearcats with 22 points and senior point guard Justin Jenifer added a career-high 18. Cumberland made six of 10 shots from the field, including three of five from three-point range. He was seven-for-eight from the free throw line, with seven rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes without committing a turnover. Jenifer also stuffed the sat sheet. He was six-for-seven from the field, four-of-five from beyond the arc, with five assists and four rebounds in 22 minutes. He, too, did not commit a turnover.
UC used scoring runs of 15-1 and 15-0 in the first half to jump out to a 50-23 lead with 1:31 left in the half. Its largest lead was 32 with 6:56 remaining in the game.
"I told our guys (Cincinnati's) effort is at the next level," said Tulane coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. "Their physicality, their ability to work on the offensive glass, the way they push you out is great technique."
The Bearcats made 10 of 21 from three-point range and knocked down 19 of 23 from the free throw line while committing only five turnovers. Statistically, it was the kind of game coaches dream of.
"If you can get 67 shots off and have 20 assists, it's tough to beat you," Cronin said. "We kept the tempo up where we wanted to keep it. Once we were able to get stops we got out on the break. That's where we got some separation."
Getting out on the break with more consistency was an emphasis for the Bearcats when they returned to practice. Cronin has pointed out several times that one of their two losses this season was on the road at Mississippi State in a game in which they failed to score a single point in transition.
With conference play beginning, Cronin is looking for more easy baskets because it's so hard to score in the half-court against teams that know you so well. Wednesday's game was a good start with 19 fast break points to just five for Tulane.
"As the season goes, you've got to get your offense in and your defense in," Cronin said. "The way I do things, you try to get sound in a certain area. To get to mid-December you're going to add something else. Sometimes it's the press. With this team, I think, running, pushing the ball and trying to push the pace, we're better at that than we are pressing defensively. Not that we won't ever press. I just think being a full-court team that way on offense has helped us more than being a full-court team on defense."
Cumberland, the leading three-point shooter in the AAC, seems to be getting better every game as he inches closer to becoming the complete player Cronin wants him to be. He's made 11 of his last 18 three-point shots over his last three games.
"I worked on it a lot staying after practice, shooting before practice, coming in before games, " Cumberland said, "just getting my shots ready, getting shots that I'm going to be taking in the game."
Cronin attributes Cumberland's recent surge to his mental approach.
"He's locked in," Cronin said. "He's trying to become a great player. It shows in his preparation. It shows in his practice habits. That's been the last frontier for him, his practice habits, to get him from good to great. He's been a guy that's always more of a game player. "
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.