I am not a fan of noon games, but here we go. The #1 overall seed Bearcats played the SMU Mustangs at noon today down in Orlando. Unfortunately, us attorneys had to work so we could not make the trip to sunny Florida. That did not stop us from taking a long lunch and watching the game on TV. Thankfully, modern technology blessed us with a mute button. These announcers were awful – reminiscent of the game at Bowling Green State University a few years ago where a few college interns commentated the game. But I digress…..
Maybe it was tough to get amped up to beat 9-seed SMU with such high hopes in the coming weeks. Maybe it was the noon start. Maybe it was the toll the Wichita State game took on the team’s health. Or maybe it was just an off day. But the Bearcats were sluggish to say the least today.
Cumberland and Evans combined on 1-8 shooting for just 2 points. Kyle Washington led the team with 15. Gary Clark of course had a double-double and a huge block. Cane Broom had a nice game with 13 points off the bench, and the ever-improving Tre Scott tallied 7 points and 3 boards.
Defense prevailed. UC won 61-51, exactly in the point-range where UC is so statistically favored over the Cronin era. SMU with just 7 players ran out of gas midway through the 2nd half. UC’s staunch D was just too much for SMU to handle for 40 long minutes.
Saturday at 1 p.m. on CBS UC will face the winner of the Tulsa Memphis deathmatch. UC swept Memphis by 48 points this season. Tulsa is certainly favored and will present a better challenge.
By Andy Smith