Cincinnati 81, Providence 66: Bearcats Survive Late Friars Run

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The first half went as planned. UC jumped out to a 41 – 25 lead and seemed like they had the game in the bag. At least that’s how I saw it. But Vincent Council and LaDontae Henton in their stubbornness decided to try to make it interesting. They forced a few UC turnovers, turned them into quick points, and overall killed the Bearcats in the transition game. But that run was short lived as Cincinnati recovered about 7 minutes later. The issue was, as mentioned in the scouting report, Providence doesn’t have very many options on offense and has zero depth. The Friars rely on Council and Henton along with Bryce Cotton and Gerard Coleman to provide 83% of their points. Tonight the duo of Council/Henton scored 53 and the duo of Cotton/Coleman was held to 11. It’s clear that since the Bearcats were able to shut down a portion of that fearsome foursome, Providence was finished. Here’s some other stats of interest:

– It wasn’t perfect, but UC won the turnover battle tonight 11 – 8. It’s a step in the right direction.

– Cincinnati absolutely dominated on the boards tonight 39 – 23. You can thank Gates/Kilpatrick’s 17 rebs for that.

– The Bearcats had 16 offensive rebounds. UC averages 13.6 per game. Those extra possessions helped Cincinnati eclipse the 80-point mark.

– I was particularly impressed with how composed Cincinnati was able to keep themselves. Kilpatrick was uncharacteristically in foul trouble late but no Bearcat had more than 2. The post players (Gates/Mbodj/Jackson) combined for just 7. That’s discipline.