No. 25 Cincinnati beats Texas Southern 96-58 (Dec 13, 2016)
CINCINNATI (AP) After contributing next-to-nothing in Cincinnati's latest loss, the Bearcats' bench came through.
Freshman Jarron Cumberland scored a career-high 18 points - all in the second half - as No. 25 Cincinnati pulled away to its most lopsided victory of the season, 96-58 over Texas Southern on Tuesday night.
''I knew he was going to eventually show he could play,'' coach Mick Cronin said. ''It just takes some time.''
Cincinnati (8-2) was coming off a 75-65 loss at Butler on Saturday, with the bench contributing only four points. On Tuesday, it accounted for 51, led by Cumberland's outside shooting.
''We got together a couple of days after the game and were saying we've got to stay together and help the starters,'' said Tre Scott, who added 11 off the bench. ''We had to have more firepower to make up for what we did in the Butler game.''
The Bearcats used their pronounced height advantage to take control on defense, repeatedly misdirecting shots. The Tigers made only 30 percent from the field.
Demontrae Jefferson scored 13 points for Texas Southern (4-6), which is in a stretch of 16 straight road games to open the season.
''They played us like we were a real team, and they took us out of everything that we could do,'' coach Mike Davis said. ''We had a lot of problems with the matchup.''
Jacob Evans III had a jumper, a layup and a 3-pointer during a 13-0 run that put Cincinnati in control late in the first half. The Bearcats led by as many as 41 points.
Evans was hit in the face during a scrum going for the ball early in the second half and stayed on his back, prompting a timeout. He was woozy as he walked off toward the locker room, holding his forehead. He returned midway through the half and finished with 10 points.
BIG PICTURE
Texas Southern: The Tigers have lost their last five games by 14, 22, 4, 31 and 38 points. They were coming off a 102-71 defeat at No. 11 Louisville on Saturday.
Cincinnati: The Bearcats repeatedly missed layups and open jumpers at the outset, but their defense helped them pull away. Texas Southern opened the game only 6 of 28 from the field with six turnovers.
NOT THIS TIME
Jefferson scored 27 points against Louisville in his debut. The 5-foot-7 point guard had trouble against Cincinnati's defenders, going 4 of 20 from the field with three turnovers.
EARLY EXIT
Texas Southern's Derrick Griffin fouled out with 7:23 to go, getting only eight points and eight rebounds. He had 26 rebounds against Louisville and was a focus of Cincinnati's defense.
''All week long Coach Cronin said, `I've never seen a guy like this, he can jump higher than you,''' Scott said. ''That was motivation to show that me and my teammates were not going to let that happen. I guess it was just his night at Louisville. I feel we did a good job keeping him off the glass.''
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Cincinnati slid from No. 22 in this week's poll after the Butler loss. The Bearcats don't play another currently ranked team until they face No. 17 Xavier in their annual crosstown rivalry game on Jan. 26.
UP NEXT
Texas Southern plays at LSU on Saturday, at TCU on Sunday, and at No. 4 Baylor three days later.
Cincinnati hosts Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, followed by a home game against Marshall on Dec. 22.
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