No. 23 Bearcats Ride Green Wave to 92-56 Rout

Jarron Cumberland scored a career-high 19 points and added four rebounds in the Cincinnati Bearcats’ 92-56 victory over Tulane on Sunday. Cumberland played a career-high 26 minutes and even started the second half in place of Jacob Evans. The entire Bearcats bench played well offensively in the victory, shooting 14-of-25 from the floor and scoring a total of 42 points.

Kevin Johnson rebounded from a subpar game against Temple to lead the starters with 15 points. Troy Caupain filled the stat sheet with nine points, five rebounds, eight assists and two steals. his was a very guard-heavy game, so Gary Clark, Kyle Washington and Tre Scott didn’t put up quite the numbers we’re used to seeing from them. Scott did have six points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action though.

The Bearcats (12-2, 2-0 AAC) jumped out to a 24-8 lead thanks to 12 early points from the freshman Cumberland. Evans also got into the act with a steal and a slam.

Tulane eventually battled back to cut the lead to 34-27, but a 5-0 run to end the half put the Bearcats up 39-27 at halftime.

Cincinnati hit its first seven shots to start the second half as part of a 21-7 run and never looked back. The Bearcats bench would play the majority of the second half, with Justin Jenifer, Scott and Cumberland leading the way.

Tulane (3-11, 0-2) played 13 players in the game, and were led by junior Cameron Reynolds, who had 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. The Green Wave shot just 27.4% from the field and 3-of-21 (14.3%) from three-point range. The 36-point margin was their worst loss of the season and fourth loss in a row for Tulane.

Despite dominating nearly every phase of the game, the one area that Mick Cronin will surely focus on is offensive rebounding. The Bearcats were out rebounded 17-7 on the offensive glass. They also allowed Tulane to shoot 28 free throws thanks to 19 fouls. Nysier Brooks actually fouled out in just 15 minutes of action.

Cincinnati hit a season-high 13 three pointers thanks to Zack Tobler’s second three pointer of the season.

This was likely the last chance for the walk-ons to see some action until they face Tulane again on Jan. 21. The next two games on the schedule should be real tests with Cincinnati traveling to Houston to play the Cougars and then coming home to face SMU. Both of those teams have plenty of talent to compete with the Bearcats.