# 2015–16 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats, were led by tenth year head coach Mick Cronin, who returned full-time after taking a hiatus in December 2014. The Bearcats played their home games on Ed Jucker Court at Fifth Third Arena and were members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season with a record of 22–11, 12–6 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place in conference. The Bearcats lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to UConn for the second consecutive year. They received an at-large bid as a #9 seed to the NCAA tournament. They lost in the First Round of the Tournament to Saint Joseph's.

## Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 2014–15 season with a record of 23–11, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place in conference. They lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to UConn. They received an at-large bid as a #8 seed to the NCAA tournament where they defeated #9 seeded Purdue in the Second Round before losing to #1 ranked Kentucky in the Third Round.

## Offseason
### Departing players

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Deshaun Morman | 1 | G | 6'3'" | 190 | RS Freshman | Richmond, Virginia | Transferred to Towson |
| Ge’Lawn Guyn | 14 | G | 6'2'" | 185 | Senior | Lexington, Kentucky | Left team; transferred to East Tennessee State |
| Jermaine Sanders | 15 | G | 6'5'" | 210 | Senior | Far Rockaway, New York | Graduated |
| Jamaree Strickland | 32 | C | 6'10'" | 270 | RS Freshman | Oakland, California | Transferred to Arizona Western College (mid-season) |
| Rob Blissitt Jr. | 42 | G | 6'3'" | 175 | Sophomore | Markham, Illinois | Walk-on; did not return |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Kyle Washington | C | 6'9" | 170 | Junior | Champlin, MN | Transferred from NC State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Washington will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### Recruiting class of 2015

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 ||||||
| Trevon 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. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Nysier Brooks C | Burlington, New Jersey | Life Center Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jun 30, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Jarron Cumberland SG | Wilmington, Ohio | Wilmington High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jul 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 85 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR 247Sports: 62 ESPN: 40 |||||||
| 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: "ESPN". ESPN.com. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Octavius Ellis | Coreontae DeBerry | |
| PF | Gary Clark | Quadri Moore | Zack Tobler |
| SF | Shaq Thomas | Jacob Evans | |
| SG | Farad Cobb | Kevin Johnson | |
| PG | Troy Caupain | Justin Jenifer | |
Source

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 3, 2015* 7:00pm | | Grand Valley State | W 93–63 | | Fifth Third Arena (4,404) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 7, 2015* 12:00pm | | Bellarmine | W 81–60 | | Fifth Third Arena (4,507) Cincinnati, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 13, 2015* 7:00pm, ESPN3 | | Western Carolina | W 97–72 | 1–0 | Fifth Third Arena (7,213) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 15, 2015* 2:00pm, FSOH/ESPN3 | | Robert Morris | W 106–44 | 2–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,292) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 18, 2015* 7:00pm, ESPN3 | | at Bowling Green | W 83–50 | 3–0 | Stroh Center (3,411) Bowling Green, OH |
| November 22, 2015* 1:00pm, FSOH/ESPN3 | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff Barclays Center Classic | W 99–50 | 4–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,083) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 24, 2015* 7:00pm, FSOH/ESPN3 | No. 24 | Southeastern Louisiana Barclays Center Classic | W 64–49 | 5–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,824) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 27, 2015* 6:30pm, ASN/ESPN3 | No. 24 | vs. Nebraska Barclays Center Classic semifinals | W 65–61 | 6–0 | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| November 28, 2015* 2:30pm, ASN/ESPN3 | No. 24 | vs. George Washington Barclays Center Classic Championship | W 61–56 | 7–0 | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| December 2, 2015* 7:00pm, CBSSN | No. 17 | Butler | L 76–78 | 7–1 | Fifth Third Arena (11,125) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 6, 2015* 5:30pm, ASN/ESPN3 | No. 17 | Morgan State | W 87–66 | 8–1 | Fifth Third Arena (6,126) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 12, 2015* 5:30pm, FOX | No. 23 | at No. 12 Xavier Crosstown Shootout | L 55–65 | 8–2 | Cintas Center (10,617) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 15, 2015* 7:00pm, ESPNU | No. 23 | Norfolk State | W 75–59 | 9–2 | Fifth Third Arena (6,215) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 19, 2015* 4:00pm, CBSSN | No. 23 | at VCU | W 69–63 | 10–2 | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| December 22, 2015* 7:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 22 | No. 11 Iowa State | L 79–81 | 10–3 | Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| AAC Regular Season ||||||
| December 29, 2015 3:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 22 | Temple | L 70–77 | 10–4 (0–1) | Fifth Third Arena (10,029) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 2, 2016 4:00pm, ESPNU | No. 22 | Tulsa | W 76–57 | 11–4 (1–1) | Fifth Third Arena (10,102) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 7, 2016 7:00pm, ESPN | | at No. 15 SMU | L 57–59 | 11–5 (1–2) | Moody Coliseum (6,971) University Park, TX |
| January 10, 2016 12:00pm, ESPNU | | at South Florida | W 54–51 | 12–5 (2–2) | USF Sun Dome (3,062) Tampa, FL |
| January 13, 2016 7:00pm, ESPNU | | Houston | W 70–59 | 13–5 (3–2) | Fifth Third Arena (9,345) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 16, 2016 12:00pm, ESPNU | | at Temple | L 65–67 $^{2OT}$ | 13–6 (3–3) | Liacouras Center (7,481) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 21, 2016 7:00pm, ESPN2 | | Memphis Rivalry | W 76–72 | 14–6 (4–3) | Fifth Third Arena (10,320) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 24, 2016 12:00pm, ESPNU | | Tulane | W 97–75 | 15–6 (5–3) | Fifth Third Arena (9,224) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 28, 2016 7:00pm, ESPNU | | at UConn | W 58–57 | 16–6 (6–3) | XL Center (13,242) Hartford, CT |
| February 4, 2016 8:00pm, CBSSN | | South Florida | W 88–57 | 17–6 (7–3) | Fifth Third Arena (9,116) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 6, 2016 12:00pm, ESPN2 | | at Memphis Rivalry | L 59–63 | 17–7 (7–4) | FedEx Forum (12,920) Memphis, TN |
| February 9, 2016 7:00pm, ESPNews | | at UCF | W 69–51 | 18–7 (8–4) | CFE Arena (4,143) Orlando, FL |
| February 13, 2016 4:00pm, ESPNU | | East Carolina | W 75–60 | 19–7 (9–4) | Fifth Third Arena (12,513) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 18, 2016 9:00pm, CBSSN | | at Tulsa | L 68–70 $^{OT}$ | 19–8 (9–5) | Reynolds Center (4,402) Tulsa, OK |
| February 20, 2016 4:00pm, ESPN2 | | UConn | W 65–60 | 20–8 (10–5) | Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 27, 2016 12:00pm, ESPNU | | at East Carolina | W 65–56 | 21–8 (11–5) | Williams Arena (4,841) Greenville, NC |
| March 3, 2016 9:00pm, CBSSN | | at Houston | L 56–69 | 21–9 (11–6) | Hofheinz Pavilion (4,171) Houston, TX |
| March 6, 2016 12:00pm, CBS | | No. 24 SMU | W 61–54 | 22–9 (12–6) | Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| AAC Tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2016 2:00pm, ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (5) UConn Quarterfinals | L 97–104 $^{4OT}$ | 22–10 | Amway Center (7,475) Orlando, FL |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2016* 9:57pm, truTV | (9 W) | vs. (8 W) Saint Joseph's First Round | L 76–78 | 22–11 | Spokane Arena (11,274) Spokane, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

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

* Defensive Player of the Year: Gary Clark

#### All-AAC First Team

* Troy Caupain

#### All-AAC Second Team

* Gary Clark

#### Player of the Week

* Week 3: Troy Caupain
* Week 17: Troy Caupain

#### Rookie of the Week

* Week 7: Jacob Evans
* Week 16: Jacob Evans
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | 24 | 17 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | Not released |
| Coaches' | RV | RV | 24 | 17 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 23 | | | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV |