Tickets2018-19 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Postgame Notes
23/22 Cincinnati (25-4, 14-2 AAC) 71, Memphis (18-12, 10-7 AAC) 69
March 2, 2019 • Fifth Third Arena (Cincinnati)
Starting Five: G Keith Williams • G Justin Jenifer • F Trevon Scott • C Nysier Brooks • G Jarron Cumberland
The Turning Point: With under five seconds remaining in the game and the Bearcats clinging to a one-point lead, Trevon Scott was fouled and went to the line to shoot two, making the first before the second missed. With the score 71-69 in favor of the hosts, Memphis's Isaiah Maurice rebounded the ball and looked to push it down court, but his outlet pass was stolen by Logan Johnson, who dribbled out the final seconds on the clock to secure the win. Despite playing just three minutes, Johnson came away with the steal to seal the game that saw UC fall behind, 3-0, before running off seven points to take the lead, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Leaders: Nysier Brooks scored 13 points and tied his career-high for rebounds with 12 to record his third career double-double while Jarron Cumberland scored 26 points as the Bearcats scrapped out a 71-69 victory. Cumberland and Brooks were joined in double figure scoring by Keith Williams, who finished with 10 while also tying Cumberland for the team lead with three assists. Memphis' Jeremiah Martin led all scorers with 28 points while Isaiah Maurice chipped in 14 for the Tigers.
// TEAM NOTES
23/22 Cincinnati (25-4, 14-2 AAC) 71, Memphis (18-12, 10-7 AAC) 69
March 2, 2019 • Fifth Third Arena (Cincinnati)
Starting Five: G Keith Williams • G Justin Jenifer • F Trevon Scott • C Nysier Brooks • G Jarron Cumberland
The Turning Point: With under five seconds remaining in the game and the Bearcats clinging to a one-point lead, Trevon Scott was fouled and went to the line to shoot two, making the first before the second missed. With the score 71-69 in favor of the hosts, Memphis's Isaiah Maurice rebounded the ball and looked to push it down court, but his outlet pass was stolen by Logan Johnson, who dribbled out the final seconds on the clock to secure the win. Despite playing just three minutes, Johnson came away with the steal to seal the game that saw UC fall behind, 3-0, before running off seven points to take the lead, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Leaders: Nysier Brooks scored 13 points and tied his career-high for rebounds with 12 to record his third career double-double while Jarron Cumberland scored 26 points as the Bearcats scrapped out a 71-69 victory. Cumberland and Brooks were joined in double figure scoring by Keith Williams, who finished with 10 while also tying Cumberland for the team lead with three assists. Memphis' Jeremiah Martin led all scorers with 28 points while Isaiah Maurice chipped in 14 for the Tigers.
// TEAM NOTES
- With the victory, Cincinnati improved to 25-4 overall on the year and 14-2 in the American Athletic Conference while Memphis fell to 18-12 overall and 10-7 in league play.
- IN THE SERIES: Cincinnati has won six in a row against Memphis and swept the season series in the 2018-19 regular season to increase the Bearcats' overall record to 46-33 in the all-time series. The Bearcats are also 25-10 against the Tigers when the series is played on UC's home court.
- The Bearcats have won 16 consecutive home games and 25 consecutive conference games at Fifth Third Arena. UC also improves to 49-2 at home since the start of the 2016-17 season. With the victory tonight, Cincinnati is tied with Texas Tech for the top spot in the nation for home wins in that span. UC, who entered the day tied with Gonzaga for the highest home winning percentage (.960) since the start of the 2016-17 season, is now 86-15 in that span, placing them third nationally behind only Gonzaga (97) and Villanova (90).
- With the win, Cincinnati holds an overall record of 49-4 in home AAC games since joining the league when it began in the 2013-14 season. In the previous five seasons, UC posted records of 8-1, 8-1, 8-1, 9-0 and 8-1 before starting this year at 8-0 with tonight's win. Cincinnati also holds a 34-2 record in home AAC games since the start of the 2015-16 season with losses coming to Temple (77-70, 12/29/15, at Fifth Third Arena) and Wichita State (76-72, 2/18/18, at BB&T Arena).
- With the win, Cincinnati has won 86 overall games since the start of 2016-17, the most victories in a three-year span in program history.
- With today's results, which included #8 Houston falling at home to UCF and UC defeating Memphis, the Bearcats and Cougars are tied atop the AAC standings heading into the final week of play. UCF is on third place, two games back.
- HALFTIME REPORT: Six different players scored for the Bearcats, including a team-high eight from Nysier Brooks, as Cincinnati took a 37-32 lead into the halftime break despite Memphis closing the half connecting on their final three attempts of the stanza. Brooks led all players with five boards as the Bearcats held a 21-13 advantage on the glass with nine of the 10 UC players seeing action recording at least one rebound as UC also held a 10-3 edge on the offensive glass as well. Memphis, who took an early 3-0 lead before UC went on a 7-0 run to grab the lead for the rest of the half, was led by Isaiah Maurice and his 10 points while Jeremiah Martin chipped in nine.
- The last time Cincinnati played Memphis (Feb. 2, 2019), the Tigers held a 35-29 lead before the Bearcats came back to outscore the hosts, 40-29, and take a 69-64 victory on the road.
- In the first half, Cincinnati forced nine Memphis turnovers and converted those to 14 points. Conversely, the Tigers were only able to score two points on the Bearcats' five miscues. In the second half, UM turned the ball over eight times leading to UC scoring six points while the Tigers tallied six points on seven UC miscues. The Bearcats won that battle, 20-8.
- Nysier Brooks finished the game with 13 points and 12 rebounds to post his third double-double of the season and of his career. Brooks, who added one block and one steal, has now recorded a career-high 12 rebounds in back-to-back games after posting 12 at SMU on Wednesday. Brooks' double-double is the seventh recorded by a UC player this year and the first since Trevon Scott posted 13 points and 11 rebounds against Tulsa (1/24/19).
- For the 14th time this year, Jarron Cumberland finished a game with 20 or more points for the Bearcats, the second-highest season total in the Mick Cronin Era behind only the 19 recorded by Sean Kilpatrick during the 2013-14 season. With 17 career 20-point games to his career credit, Cumberland recorded 20 or more points for the first time in his last four games after dropping 27 in back-to-back games at Houston and home against Wichita State.
- ON THE LIST: With 26 points tonight, Cumberland pushed his career point total to 1,245, moving him up to positions to No. 30 on the program's all-time scoring ledger. Entering the night, he was tied with LaZelle Durden (1993-95) for 32nd on the list before passing both Eric Hicks (2003-06), who scored 1,231 points, and former teammate Jacob Evans III (2016-18), who scored 1,233 points in his career. Next on the list is Steve Collier (1975-78), who closed his career with 1,252 points, just seven ahead of Cumberland's current ranking.
- GOING DEEP: Cumberland also moved up on another chart as he drained one three-point shot to bring his season total to 69. That total ties him with Jacob Evans III (2016-17) for the ninth-most three-pointers in a season during the Mick Cronin coaching era.