The Cincinnati Bearcats, with seven new players on the roster, opened up their 2014-15 basketball season with a 52-37 win over the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash.
This is why trends during exhibition games should be taken with a grain of salt. Against Bellarmine and Fairmont State, Cincinnati’s claim to was an offense that purred like the same one on the football side along with a defense that was still coming along. Additionally, the highly lauded freshman Gary Clark couldn’t find a rhythm on either end of the floor with the seniors more than pulling their weight.
But tonight it was Cincinnati’s defense that came to play, holding St. Francis to 30% from the floor and allowing just 7 offensive rebounds. The offense, despite spurts of the magic that we saw in exhibition play, struggled in the second half. Overall the Bearcats shot just 46% from the floor and the team made only a pair of threes. Also the upperclassmen Ge’Lawn Guyn, Shaq Thomas, and Jermaine Sanders mustered just 5 points on the evening, half of what Clark put up on his own.
Overall, the key takeaway from the past few games is that we should expect the unexpected. This is a team with talented individuals that have yet to understand how to come together as a cohesive machine. Octavius Ellis is obviously one of those (13-8), as is Quadri Moore (9-2) but this year’s Bearcats are going to have to overcome growing pains to accumulate 20+ wins this season. This isn’t something that was unexpected this offseason nor particularly concerning.
As long as Cincinnati can find more consistency on a game to game basis and improve their three point shooting and ability to finish at the rim, this team will be just fine.