UC Bearcats basketball starts Bahamas run with 47-point Victoria win

In their opening contest in the Baha Mar Summer League, the Cincinnati Bearcats put away Victoria (Canada) by 47 points, winning 110-63 in Nassau.

It was the first public appearance by the Jerrod Calhoun-version Bearcats and he saw seven of his players wind up in double figures. A pair of Utah State transfers led the way as MJ Collins had 15 points and added four assists. Adlan Elamin made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points in addition to being UC’s top rebounder with eight.

“It was a good test to see where I was at and it was a lot of fun,” Elamin said afterward. “Our roster has a lot of depth. Everybody can do a bunch of things. I feel as long as everybody plays like this, there should be a lot of good outcomes.”

Also hitting double figures were Myles Colvin with 12, Trevian Carson and Elijah Perryman with 11 and Riley Allenspach and Eric Mahaffey with 10 points.

“We want to be a high assist team, but we want to be an efficient team,” Calhoun said after the game. “I thought we only took four or five bad shots. You get up by that many, you have a tendency to take a bad shot. That’s the biggest thing I talk with the guy about is you’ve got to be an efficient basketball player.”

There was no question, UC was efficient in taking over the game early to the delight of the Bearcats fans who made the trip.

UC led for 38:26 of the 40 minutes and was 10-for-35 from 3-point range. They shot 52% from the field, but just 63% from the free-throw line at 12-for-19. Many of the new players came to UC shooting 80% or better from the foul line, but there’s plenty of time to improve those numbers.

Every available Bearcat had played by the end of the first half, with UC in command by 33 points. In addition, every Bearcat scored.

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UC caused Victoria to have 32 turnovers and converted those into 49 points. Colvin, Jayden Hastings and Mahaffey each had four steals. UC’s emphasis on wingspan in putting together this team was evident in the number of deflections they caused.

“We did a really good job of flying around in the half court and creating chaos,” Calhoun said. “We’ve got great positional length. We can switch everything and it’s not a zone. We’re playing man-to-man. We’ve really changed up our defense the last two years and we recruit to that system.”

The Vikes were 22-4 last season and defeated UC’s other opponent in The Bahamas, Calgary, 91-78 last year. Victoria played Texas A&M in the Baha Mar Summer League on Monday, Aug. 3, and lost 112-88. UC held them to 22 first-half points Aug. 4.

“Our goal was to hold this team under 60, and we were really close,” Calhoun said. “I fully expect us to shoot the ball better tomorrow from three. I think we could have probably scored another 20 to 30 points to be honest with you.”

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Riley appeared on the FloCollege stream in the first half discussing his injury. He verified that he would be reevaluated in four to six weeks.

“I’m looking at the game from a different perspective,” Riley said.

The Tulsa transfer told Perryman he would be point guard No. 1, but after he leaves. Perryman had four assists in addition to his 11 points in the exhibition.

“He’s doing a good job at staying ready,” Riley said. “Going against him, me and him are very similar in ways as far as being a competitor. He’s doing a very good job at just progressing and getting better. I think he’s ready for this. This is good for him.”

Leading UC in assists vs. Victoria was Akai Fleming with eight. Collins, Tyler Tejada and Carson joined Perryman with four apiece.

“You’re going to have guys that get hurt throughout the season,” Calhoun said. “It’s kind of next man up.”

UC’s travel experience involved several planes, a weather delay to Chicago, then a diversion to Houston, but not without a stop in Tulsa. Once in Houston, they were on the runway and had to deplane due to storms. In the end it was a five-hour flight from Houston to the Bahamas with the Bearcats arriving late Sunday afternoon. That is why their initial exhibition was moved.

“We should have gotten here a day earlier, but we still get to play our games after all,” Elmain said. “We still get to enjoy this Bahamas trip, so we’re thankful.”

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UC will face Calgary on Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 2:30 p.m. The game can be streamed on FloCollege Basketball.

Calgary has already played two exhibitions in British Columbia, losing July 28, 79-48 vs. Purdue and again the next day to Marquette 102-49. The Dinos were 17-17 last season when they also played in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League, losing exhibitions to Nevada and Murray State. Calgary lost to Arkansas 105-48 before UC and Victoria played.

The next public look at Cincinnati Bearcats basketball will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 7, in the CareSource Invitational on a special court at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason. The Bearcats are slated to play Ohio State at 3 p.m. that day, followed by Xavier vs. Dayton at 5:30. The backup arena plan in the event of inclement weather is UD Arena.

Tickets cover both games and are available via Ticketmaster.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC Bearcats basketball starts Bahamas run with 47-point Victoria win