Cumberland’s 26 Sends No. 23 Cincinnati Past Memphis, 71-69

By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com

CINCINNATI – All night long University of Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin had been imploring his team to prevent Jeremiah Martin, the American Athletic Conference's leading scorer, from getting the ball where he wanted it.
    
Finally, freshman guard Logan Johnson got the job done when he stepped in front of Martin and stole Isaiah Maurice's pass with one second left to preserve the Bearcats' 71-69 victory over Memphis before a sellout crowd of 12,392 at Fifth Third Arena.
 
Maurice had just rebounded a missed free throw by Trevon Scott and was trying to get the ball to Martin for what could have been the game-winning shot.

But Johnson had other ideas.

"I saw Martin on my side so I assumed they were going to him," Johnson said. "I just jumped in and made a play. That was just me in the moment reading it."

Martin started slowly, with only nine points at halftime, but took control of the game in the second half to finish with 28, much the same way Jarron Cumberland did for UC.

"It's unbelievable how good Martin is and how well he's playing right now," Cronin said. "Give Logan all the credit. It's nice to have somebody that you put him in position and he makes the play. He knew I didn't want Martin beating us. He wasn't going to let it happen."

The win allowed No. 23 UC (25-4 overall, 14-2 in the American Athletic Conference) to pull into a first-place tie with Houston, which lost earlier in the day to UCF. Memphis (18-12, 10-7) lost for the sixth straight time against UC, which has now posted six 25-win seasons in the last nine.

Martin, who entered the game with a 19.2-point average, has scored 25 points or more in six straight games. Cumberland, the league's third-leading scorer, snapped out of a three-game scoring slump with 26 points to lead the Bearcats. Twenty-one of Cumberland's points came in the second half.

"Jarron took over the game like any true veteran would and the rest of the guys just followed behind," said Memphis coach Penny Hardaway. "He made up his mind to put his shoulder and head down and make shots. The shots he made weren't easy. In the first half, we loaded up better on him. In the second half, he took the challenge and won it."

Junior center Nysier Brooks had his third career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

UC saw an eight-point lead with 2:21 left trimmed to two on Martin's three-pointer with 24 seconds left. Cumberland then made one of two free throws for UC to make it 70-67 with 18.3 seconds to play.

Martin quickly drove the land for an uncontested layup to make it 70-69 with six seconds left, then fouled Scott with 4.9 seconds remaining after he caught the inbounds pass. Scott, a 66.2 percent free throw shooter, made his first free throw but missed the second, setting up Johnson's heroics.

The Bearcats out-rebounded Memphis 38-31 and out-scored the Tigers 20-8 in points off turnovers. But they struggled at the free throw line all night, right down to the final seconds, making 23 of 36 compared with seven of 10 for Memphis. 

Brooks was a beast on the glass, and after having trouble finishing inside Wednesday at SMU, was an offensive force around the basket, making four of seven field goal attempts and five of six from the line. 

"Coach has just been telling me to play my game and stop thinking so much," Brooks said. "Just slow down. You've got to have the will to keep playing through problems. Just don't make the same mistake twice."

Cumberland's scoring outburst was welcome after opponents seemed to have gotten into his head with physical defense the last three games. But he put that behind him in the second half after scoring only five points in the first.

"He's got to stop with the frustration stuff," Cronin said. "You've got to get mature enough to understand it's not going to stop. We had a heart-to-heart at halftime about attitude in general."

The Bearcats led 37-32 at halftime but could have had a much larger lead. UC missed six of eight free throws during the final 4:49 of the half and saw a 10-point lead whittled to five when Antwann Jones made a three-pointer just before the end of the half.

UC outscored Memphis 8-2 to start the second half and led 45-35 after Cumberland's dunk with 15:40 to play. The Tigers then reeled off six straight points to close within four.

Cumberland made two runners and added a three-pointer, ending a string of 11 straight three-point misses, to give the Bearcats a 56-48 lead with 8:52 remaining. 

With 7:38 to play, Cumberland was fouled by Jones as he drove the lane and the two players exchanged words, as players from both teams began to circle each other. Cumberland and Jones were both charged with technical fouls and UC's Justin Jenifer was ejected for leaving the bench.

A little over three minutes later, Cumberland was tripped by Memphis' Raynere Thornton, who was called for a foul. Thornton was then called for a technical for stepping over Cumberland as he lay on the floor. Cumberland made one of two free throws from the technical and both of his free throws from the foul to give UC a 64-56 lead with 4:24 to play.

"That just wasn't smart," Hardaway said of Thornton's technical.
    
The Bearcats have now won five in a row since they lost at Houston on Feb. 10, with four of those wins by five points or fewer. They can expect another closely   contested game on Thursday when they play at UCF, the team that ended Houston's 33-game home winning streak Saturday.

"Our guys were in there watching it," Cronin said. "They're in tune to what's going on."

The defending champion Bearcats will finish the regular season on Sunday, March 10 at Fifth Third against Houston in a game that could decide the AAC title.
    
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.