# 2014–15 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 2014–15 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats played home games on Ed Jucker Court at the Fifth Third Arena. The 2014–15 season was the second season the Bearcats participated in the American Athletic Conference, and were coached by Mick Cronin in his ninth season. Mick Cronin discovered he had an arterial dissection and sat out the rest of the season, last coaching December 17 against San Diego State, which would see Assistant Head Coach Larry Davis coach the rest of the season. They finished the season 23–11, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic tournament to UConn. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Purdue in the second round before losing in the third round to Kentucky.

## Offseason
### Departing players

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Derek Cox | 0 | G | 6'3'" | 186 | RS Senior | Mason, Ohio | Walk-on; graduated |
| Jeremiah Davis III | 0 | G | 6'3" | 199 | RS Sophomore | Muncie, Indiana | Transferred to Ball State (mid-season) |
| Titus Rubles | 2 | F | 6'7'" | 220 | Senior | Dallas, Texas | Graduated |
| Justin Jackson | 5 | F | 6'8'" | 230 | Senior | Cocoa Beach, Florida | Graduated |
| Jermaine Lawrence | 11 | F | 6'3" | 199 | Freshman | Springfield Gardens, New York | Transferred to Manhattan |
| Sean Kilpatrick | 23 | G | 6'4'" | 210 | RS Senior | Yonkers, New York | Graduated |
| David Nyarsuk | 33 | C | 7'1'" | 250 | Senior | Juba, South Sudan | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Coreontae DeBerry | C | 6'10" | 270 | Junior | Holland, MI | Junior college transferred from Hutchinson CC |
| Octavius Ellis | C | 6'10" | 205 | Junior | Memphis, TN | Junior college transferred from Trinity Valley CC |
| Farad Cobb | G | 6'0" | 175 | Junior | West Palm Beach, FL | Junior college transferred from Northwest Florida SC |

### Recruiting class of 2014

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Quadri Moore C | Linden, NJ | Linden High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Sep 17, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Gary Clark PF | Clayton, NC | Clayton High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Sep 18, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 31 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Cincinnati 2014 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2015

US college sports recruiting information for 2015 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jacob Evans G | Baton Rouge, LA | St. Michael High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Oct 14, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Justin Jenifer G | Gwynn Oak, MD | Milford Mill Academy | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jun 9, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Tre Scott F | Darien, GA | McIntosh County Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 15, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: 78 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR 247Sports: 53 ESPN: NR |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Cincinnati 2015 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Roster

* Nov 21, 2014 - Ge'Lawn Guyn injured his pinky in practice. Guyn would leave the team after the fall semester and graduate in the spring. He maintained one year of eligibility and later transferred to East Tennessee State.
* Dec 13, 2014 - Jamaree Strickland elected to transfer after the fall semester. Strickland had been suspended from the team since November 26. Strickland eventually transferred to Arizona Western College.
* Feb 19, 2015 - Following the Xavier game, Deshaun Morman was indefinitely suspended. Morman would eventually transfer to Towson after the conclusion of the season.

### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Octavius Ellis | Coreontae DeBerry | |
| PF | Gary Clark | Quadri Moore | Zack Tobler |
| SF | Shaq Thomas | Jermaine Sanders | |
| SG | Kevin Johnson | Farad Cobb | Rob Blissitt Jr. |
| PG | Troy Caupain | Ge'Lawn Guyn | Deshaun Morman |
Source

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 3, 2014* 7:00pm | | Bellarmine | W 86–79 | | Fifth Third Arena (4,234) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 8, 2014* 2:00pm | | Fairmont State | W 71–54 | | Fifth Third Arena (4,486) Cincinnati, OH |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 14, 2014* 8:00pm, ESPN3 | | Saint Francis (PA) | W 52–37 | 1–0 | Fifth Third Arena (7,114) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 19, 2014* 7:00pm, FSOH | | Morehead State | W 69–61 | 2–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,119) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 23, 2014* 5:00pm, FSOH | | Eastern Illinois Emerald Coast Classic First Round | W 54–49 | 3–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,823) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 25, 2014* 7:00pm, FSOH | | NC Central Emerald Coast Classic Second Round | W 59–50 | 4–0 | Fifth Third Arena (7,015) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 28, 2014* 6:00pm | | vs. Middle Tennessee Emerald Coast Classic Third Round | W 69–51 | 5–0 | The Arena at NWFSC (1,200) Niceville, FL |
| November 29, 2014* 9:00pm, CBSSN | | vs. Ole Miss Emerald Coast Classic Championship | L 54–66 | 5–1 | The Arena at NWFSC (1,550) Niceville, FL |
| December 2, 2014* 7:00pm, FSOH | | Stony Brook | W 78–52 | 6–1 | Fifth Third Arena (6,603) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 13, 2014* 9:00pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | L 55–56 $^{2OT}$ | 6–2 | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,607) Lincoln, NE |
| December 17, 2014* 9:00pm, ESPN2 | | No. 19 San Diego State | W 71–62 $^{OT}$ | 7–2 | Fifth Third Arena (9,217) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 20, 2014* 12:00pm, ESPNU | | VCU | L 47–68 | 7–3 | Fifth Third Arena (9,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 23, 2014* 7:00pm, FSOH | | Wagner | W 72–48 | 8–3 | Fifth Third Arena (6,023) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 30, 2014* 4:00pm, ESPNU | | at NC State | W 76–60 | 9–3 | PNC Arena (16,980) Raleigh, NC |
| January 3, 2015 11:00am, ESPN2 | | SMU | W 56–50 | 10–3 (1–0) | Fifth Third Arena (10,013) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 6, 2015 7:00pm, ESPNU | | East Carolina | W 69–48 | 11–3 (2–0) | Fifth Third Arena (7,516) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 10, 2015 11:00am, ESPN2 | | at UConn | L 56–62 | 11–4 (2–1) | XL Center (15,564) Hartford, CT |
| January 15, 2015 7:00pm, ESPN | | at Memphis Rivalry | L 50–63 | 11–5 (2–2) | FedEx Forum (14,916) Memphis, TN |
| January 17, 2015 7:30pm, ESPNU | | Temple | W 84–53 | 12–5 (3–2) | Fifth Third Arena (12,071) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 21, 2015 7:00pm, ESPNews | | Houston | W 67–54 | 13–5 (4–2) | Fifth Third Arena (9,815) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 25, 2015 2:00pm, CBSSN | | at UCF | W 56–46 | 14–5 (5–2) | CFE Arena (3,874) Orlando, FL |
| January 29, 2015 8:00pm, ESPN2 | | UConn | W 70–58 | 15–5 (6–2) | Fifth Third Arena (11,092) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 1, 2015 1:00pm, CBSSN | | at East Carolina | L 46–50 | 15–6 (6–3) | Williams Arena (4,574) Greenville, NC |
| February 5, 2015 9:00pm, ESPN | | at No. 23 SMU | W 62–54 | 16–6 (7–3) | Moody Coliseum (7,098) University Park, TX |
| February 7, 2015 8:00pm, CBSSN | | South Florida | W 63–58 | 17–6 (8–3) | Fifth Third Arena (11,670) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 10, 2015 7:30pm, CBSSN | | at Temple | L 59–75 | 17–7 (8–4) | Liacouras Center (11,670) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 14, 2015 2:00pm, ESPNU | | Tulane | L 49–50 | 17–8 (8–5) | Fifth Third Arena (12,041) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 18, 2015* 7:00pm, ESPN2 | | Xavier Crosstown Shootout | L 57–59 | 17–9 | Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 21, 2015 9:30pm, ESPNU | | at Houston | W 63–53 | 18–9 (9–5) | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,562) Houston, TX |
| February 25, 2015 7:30pm, CBSSN | | UCF | W 83–60 | 19–9 (10–5) | Fifth Third Arena (9,825) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 28, 2015 2:00pm, ESPNews | | at Tulane | W 63–47 | 20–9 (11–5) | Devlin Fieldhouse (2,430) New Orleans, LA |
| March 4, 2015 9:00pm, CBSSN | | at Tulsa | W 56–47 | 21–9 (12–5) | Reynolds Center (5,840) Tulsa, OK |
| March 8, 2015 12:00pm, CBS | | Memphis Rivalry | W 77–65 | 22–9 (13–5) | Fifth Third Arena (12,358) Cincinnati, OH |
| AAC Tournament ||||||
| March 13, 2015 9:00pm, ESPNU | (3) | vs. (6) UConn Quarterfinals | L 54–57 | 22–10 | XL Center (9,514) Hartford, CT |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2015* 7:10pm, CBS | (8 MW) | vs. (9 MW) Purdue Second Round | W 66–65 $^{OT}$ | 23–10 | KFC Yum! Center (21,639) Louisville, KY |
| March 21, 2015* 2:40pm, CBS | (8 MW) | vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Kentucky Third Round | L 51–64 | 23–11 | KFC Yum! Center (21,760) Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Awards and milestones
### American Athletic Conference honors
#### All-AAC Second Team

* Octavius Ellis

#### All-AAC Honorable Mention

* Troy Caupain

#### All-AAC Rookie Team

* Gary Clark

#### Player of the Week

* Week 17: Farad Cobb

#### Rookie of the Week

* Week 4: Gary Clark
Source