Preview: Cincinnati Matches up With Texas Southern at Fifth Third Arena

The Tigers have won two games in a row after dropping seven-straight to start the season.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Dec 17, 2021 9:21 AM EST

CINCINNATI — Just two games remain on the non-conference slate for UC men's basketball. Cincinnati (8-3) faces off against Texas Southern (2-7) at home on Saturday in its second-straight SWAC matchup. The Tigers may have found a winning formula after upsetting Florida 69-54 last week and beating Texas-Rio Grande Valley 70-60 on Tuesday. While Cincinnati ripped apart fellow-SWAC member Florida A&M 77-50 in its last game.

"I thought they were trying to respond, and they did some nice things, and you saw the things we were working on in practice, in film session Sunday, and we saw some improvement there," Bearcats head coach Wes Miller said after the win. "It's good to see some of the things we value be successful on the court. I think that can help us gain some confidence, and it's good to get back in the win column and get back on the right track."

Texas Southern comes into the contest ranked 187th in KenPom, and Cincinnati is ranked 69th. ESPN's matchup predictor has UC winning 79.1% of the time. These two teams are in the bottom third nationally in pace, so each possession has an added premium.

The Tigers are one of the better rebounding teams in the country, and it makes sense as their three top players are all over 6-foot-8. Texas Southern ranks 48th nationally in total rebounding (40.4 per game) and is 14th in offensive rebounding (13.7 per game).

John Walker (team-leading 12.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG), Jourdon Karl Nicholas (11 PPG, 5.4 RPG), and Brison Gresham (eight PPG, team-leading 8.8 RPG, and 1.8 BPG) lead the way for a gritty Tigers team that uses a similar minutes strategy as Cincinnati.

Texas Southern has nine players in its rotation playing at least 17 minutes per game; Cincinnati uses ten players averaging at least 14 minutes per game. Arguably none are more impactful for the Tigers than Gresham, who has been great in their two-game win streak (13 PPG, 12.5 RPG). He now ranks 45th among all players in rebounding (8.8 RPG).

Gresham is a force on the interior, using his athletic frame to muscle teams off the glass and get easy putbacks. He is shooting 54.2% this season and 70.6% in the last two games. Cincinnati is well-equipped to knock Gresham off his mark with a mixture of Ody Oguama, Hayden Koval, Abdul Ado, and Viktor Lakhin.

The bigs will decide this game, particularly on the glass. Texas Southern doesn't do many things well besides creating more opportunities through rebounding. They commit 19.4 fouls (33rd-most nationally) and 15.9 turnovers (32nd-most nationally) per game and have weak guard play.

Junior guard PJ Henry (10.6 PPG, 2.3 APG) is the only Tiger backcourt member averaging over seven points and two assists per game. The lack of a floor general hurts Texas Southern's offensive flow, leading to all of those turnovers and poor ball movement.

Don't expect head coach Johnny Jones's team to throw caution to the wind and chase three-point luck as a way to win. Texas Southern doesn't take many deep attempts (14.8 tries per game, 354th) and doesn't hit them when they are chucked up (27.1%, 341st).

That's a bad formula against one of the best pure shooting defenses in the country. Opponents hit 40.6% of their two-point shots against Cincinnati (10th) and 25.6% of their triples (ninth). UC has the upper hand, as long as the Tigers aren't getting a bunch of easy looks at the rim.

Texas Southern ranks 16th in offensive rebounding rate (36.5%), cut that down near 25%, and the Bearcats will easily go 2-0 against the SWAC in non-conference play.

Tip-off is set for noon ET on Saturday from Fifth Third Arena. The game is airing on ESPN+.

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