CINCINNATI – With about six-and-a-half minutes left in the second half, the Cincinnati Bearcats riding a double-digit lead over the rival Xavier Musketeers, UC star guard Jarron Cumberland found himself at the top of the key with Xavier’s Ryan Welage right in front of him.
Welage is a fine college player, a long and lean grad transfer with a feathery touch from beyond the arc. Defense, though, is not exactly his strong suit. Cumberland knows that. When Welage got switched on to him on the previous possession, Cumberland drove and drew a foul, going to the line for two free throws. This time, he broke Welage down in clinical fashion, getting to the rim for an easy layup and a 52-36 lead.
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Floating back down the floor, the usually understated Cumberland flashed a knowing glance and winning smile at the roaring, capacity home crowd before turning to a teammate and declaring the obvious: “He can’t guard me.”
Welage wasn’t the only one.
The Bearcats handled the Musketeers, winning the 2018-19 Crosstown Shootout by a score of 62-47 at a sold out Fifth Third Arena. Cumberland led the way with 19 points on 7-15 shooting (3-6 from three), four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block, lifting UC to 9-1 on the season and avenging last year’s loss in the Cintas Center.
A few weeks earlier, following an unimpressive Bearcats win over Milwaukee, UC head coach Mick Cronin talked in his post-game press conference about the adjustment Cumberland has had to make this season as the team’s go-to option on offense. He stated that the team couldn’t afford for its standout junior to merely pick his spots, but instead needs him to come out for every game and every practice ready to play, ready to display that killer instinct. “I don’t know if you can make a guy want to carve people’s hearts out,” Cronin said that night. “But it’s a process. Let’s be fair to him.”
Saturday afternoon was a big step forward in that process.
“He’s got it in him,” Cronin said of Cumberland’s Shootout performance. “(And) Jarron was like this in high school – the bigger the game, you don’t have to worry about him. He’s one of those guys.”
Cumberland showed it throughout against Xavier. He had eight first-half points, including electrifying back-to-back three-pointers to cap off a 12-0 Bearcats run during a six-plus minute scoring drought for the Musketeers. He got back to work quickly after the break, too, scoring on an early putback off an offensive rebound and draining a gut punch of a triple from about 29 feet out with the shot clock running down.
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After tying Welage in knots on consecutive possessions to go up 16, Xavier first-year coach Travis Steele picked up a technical, giving the Bearcats two more points. Cumberland then found a wide-open Nysier Brooks for an easy dunk the next time down, putting the Bearcats up 56-38 with five-and-a-half minutes left. The crowd’s response was deafening, and the Crosstown Shootout was officially a rout.
“It was just open shots, and I knocked them down. And I found open teammates too, and they laid the ball up or knocked down a three,” Cumberland said afterward, back to his quiet, unassuming self. “We played really good as a team. We were all together.”
The teamwork angle wasn’t merely lip service. Cumberland’s execution was part of a theme on both ends of the floor for the Bearcats, who held a Xavier team averaging 79.3 points per game to 47 on 35-percent from the field, including a scant 5-25 on three-pointers. UC won just about every statistical battle: forced turnovers (12 to 5), points off turnovers (15 to 2), rebounds (36 to 30, including a 12 to 7 advantage on the offensive glass), second-chance points (12 to 6) and free throw attempts (13 to 9).
The supporting cast rose to the occasion as well, with Keith Williams collecting 16 points, four rebounds and two blocks, as well as a couple arena-rattling dunks. Trevon Scott was a force in the post with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Justin Jenifer notched seven points, nine assists and only one turnover. Eliel Nsoseme had seven boards off the bench, four on the offensive end.
“Whenever you play in the shootout, the best team doesn’t always win, but the tougher team does,” said Steele afterward, having been a Xavier assistant for 10 years before taking the head job. “I thought they were the tougher team today.”
Cronin echoed the same, praising his team’s effort and toughness. “When we make people play five-on-five against us, anybody, especially in this gym, it’s going to be tough to beat us. I thought our guys’ effort – some of our players make it look easy at times. But it’s not,” he said, particularly satisfied with the lack of turnovers and stifling a potent offense. “We were awesome…We made them look like they’re not a good offensive team today.”
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Cumberland shined on the defensive side as well, swiping a steal and a block and forcing a couple turnovers by darting into passing lanes. A few times the Musketeers had him matched up against their best post player in Tyrique Jones, but Cumberland held his own, forcing missed shots without fouling.
It was a complete, resonating performance, and one he clearly wanted. With 4:19 left in the second half, Cronin went to his bench during a brief stoppage in play to get Cumberland an extra breather before the under-4 minute timeout. Cumberland waved it off. It was similar to the move he pulled in the second half against Ole Miss in the Emerald Coast Classic championship game. Cumberland’s 25 points paced the Bearcats in that one as well. The adjustment Cronin has talked about is getting him to play with that mindset every time.
“Good players, all-league guys, they do it most of the time. All-Americans, they do it every day,” Cronin said. “And like I say, he’s only a junior. That’s just a big part of it.”
Doing it against your rival, at home, in the biggest game of the season is part of it, too. Growing up in Wilmington, just northeast of the city, Cumberland is well aware of what this game means, regardless of any pregame downplaying that was done by the team this week.
“It means a lot, ever since I came here. Just how we feel about them, and they feel the same way about us,” Cumberland said. “Just stepping on the court, there’s no friends out there.”
The words, while true and genuine, were also said the same way Cumberland says everything: quietly, succinctly, softly. His voice held little evidence of that killer instinct. It didn’t have to. The on-court tone spoke volumes.
(Top image: Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports)
