Cincinnati Bearcats: 27-6, 14-4 in the American Athletic Conference
Head coach: Mick Cronin (13th season)
Players to watch: Jarron Cumberland (18.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 40.4 3PT%); Justin Jenifer (8.2 PPG, 42.9 3PT%); Tre Scott (8.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG)
Season recap: Cincinnati has relied on 6-foot-5 guard Jarron Cumberland to score, rebound and distribute for his team to earn its bid to the NCAA tournament, secured by winning the AAC tournament. Sitting near the top of the AAC with just four losses in conference, the Bearcats have clawed their way into the top 25. Cumberland and his strong supporting cast have beaten other talented teams such as Central Florida, Xavier and Temple.
Cincinnati has fallen twice to AAC top seed Houston due to a lack of offensive firepower, however, that has not deterred the Bearcats from playing with confidence throughout the rest of their season. They boast the 11th best defense in the country, only allowing their opponents 62 points per game. Thanks to 6-foot-11 Nysier Brooks' rim protection, head coach Mick Cronin has gotten his team to buy into playing team defense.
While this combination of a one-dimensional offense and a lockdown defense has not given Cincinnati the best scoring margin, just 5.9 in conference play, it has worked out for the team, as it has just one bad loss to East Carolina back in early January. The Bearcats will have to hope that Cumberland repeats his high-scoring outings such as his season-high 33-point performance against Houston on Sunday afternoon. They will need the Wilmington, Ohio native to light it up in order to survive in the tournament on the offensive side of the ball.
How they make a run: Cincinnati keeps up its energy on defense and Cumberland takes the team on his back on offense. Cumberland’s diverse offensive arsenal is too much for opponents to handle and the Bearcats’ bench chips in to help move past other teams in the tournament.
How they falter: The rest of the team fails to support Cumberland on offense, and Cincinnati’s defense just isn’t enough to keep them in games.
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