Cincinnati Opens With 107-77 Win in Track Meet Against Savannah State

That sure was a whole lot of points. In their season opener, the Cincinnati Bearcats coasted to a 107-77 win over the Savannah State Tigers at BB&T Arena.

While the 30-point margin of victory illustrates dominance from the Bearcats, there were a few times where cracks in the armor showed. The Tigers actually led 13-8 early on after Juwant Grant nailed three-straight three-pointers. Then, after taking a 60-40 lead into halftime, the Bearcats found themselves leading by only seven points with 12:07 to play. Luckily, their immense depth of talent won out, as they went on a 22-3 run over the next six minutes to put the game to bed.

Jacob Evans paced the Bearcats, notching 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including a 4-of-11 showing from beyond the arc. He also added seven rebounds and five assists, as the Bearcats moved the ball smoothly, finishing with 24 dimes as a team. Cane Broome endeared himself to the home crowd like we knew he would, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-11 from the floor (5-of-9 from three).

Gary Clark (13 points, 11 rebounds) was a double-double problem while Kyle Washington only played 16 minutes, but the reserves carried the load. Nysier Brooks, Tre Scott and Eliel Nsoseme combined for 18 rebounds off the bench.

Speaking of bench contributions, Justin Jennifer must not like being the backup point guard because he played extremely well, scoring a career-high 15 points to go with five assists in 22 minutes. Jarron Cumberland (10 points) and freshman Keith Williams (10 points) each got in on the scoring binge as well, with Cumberland playing a well-rounded game that included seven boards, five assists and not a single turnover.

It was unfortunate that the Tigers were able tom dictate the pace of play, but the Bearcats really didn’t mind. With six players in double figures, they shot 47.7 percent from the floor and launched 39 treys, making 13 of them. They also held the Tigers, who took 44 threes, to 35 percent shooting while owning a massive 65-32 advantage in rebounds.

Scoring 100 points is not something the Bearcats are going to do often the rest of the season, but the much talked about depth the team has was on full display in this season opener.