# 2016–17 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games at Fifth Third Arena, with a capacity of 13,176. The season marked the final year prior to major renovations to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats were led by 11th-year head coach Mick Cronin and were members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 30–6, 16–2 to finish in second place in AAC play. They beat Tulsa and UConn in the AAC tournament before losing to SMU in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed in the South region. They defeated No. 11-seeded Kansas State in the first round before losing to No. 3-seeded UCLA in the second round.

## Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 22–11, 12–6 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place in conference. They lost to UConn in four overtimes in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament. The Bearcats received an at-large bid as a No. 9 seed to the NCAA tournament where they lost to Saint Joseph's in the first round.

## Preseason

At AAC Media Day, Cincinnati was picked to win the AAC regular season title and senior guard Troy Caupain was voted as AAC Preseason Co-Player of the Year. In addition, Gary Clark and Caupain were named to the Preseason All-AAC First Team.

## Offseason
### Departing players

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Octavius Ellis | 2 | F | 6'10" | 235 | Senior | Memphis, Tennessee | Graduated |
| Farad Cobb | 21 | G | 6'1" | 170 | Senior | West Palm Beach, Florida | Graduated |
| Coreontae DeBerry | 22 | C | 6'9" | 275 | Senior | Holland, Michigan | Graduated |
| Shaq Thomas | 24 | F | 6'7" | 210 | RS Senior | Paterson, New Jersey | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Cane Broome | G | 6'0" | 170 | Junior | East Hartford, CT | Transferred from Sacred Heart. Under NCAA transfer rules, Broome will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jarron Cumberland SG | Wilmington, Ohio | Wilmington High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jul 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 85 ||||||
| Nysier Brooks C | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Life Center Academy | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 260 lb (120 kg) | Jun 30, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| 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: "Cincinnati 2016 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 30, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 30, 2016. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Trevor Moore SG | Houston, Texas | South Kent Prep | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jun 29, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Eliel Nsoseme C | Kinshasa, DR Congo | The RISE Centre Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Aug 21, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Keith Williams SG | Brooklyn, New York | Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 4, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| 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 2017 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 29, 2016. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 29, 2016. |||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Kyle Washington | Nysier Brooks | Quadri Moore |
| PF | Gary Clark | Trevon Scott | Jackson Bart |
| SF | Jacob Evans | Zack Tobler | |
| SG | Kevin Johnson | Jarron Cumberland | John Koz |
| PG | Troy Caupain | Justin Jenifer | |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2016* 7:00pm, BearcatsTV | | Bellarmine | W 64–55 | | Fifth Third Arena (5,979) Cincinnati, OH |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 11, 2016* 7:00pm, ESPN3 | | Brown Hall of Fame Tip Off | W 84–55 | 1–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,504) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 14, 2016* 7:00pm, ESPNU | No. 24 | Albany Hall of Fame Tip Off | W 74–51 | 2–0 | Fifth Third Arena (5,864) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 19, 2016* 3:00pm, ESPN3 | No. 24 | vs. No. 21 Rhode Island Hall of Fame Tip Off Semifinals | L 71–76 | 2–1 | Mohegan Sun Arena (9,189) Uncasville, CT |
| November 20, 2016* 3:30pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | vs. Penn State Hall of Fame Tip Off Consolation | W 71–50 | 3–1 | Mohegan Sun Arena (9,119) Uncasville, CT |
| November 23, 2016* 7:00pm, ESPN3 | | Samford | W 70–55 | 4–1 | Fifth Third Arena (7,422) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 26, 2016* 2:30pm, FS Ohio/ESPN3 | | Lipscomb | W 91–68 | 5–1 | Fifth Third Arena (5,724) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 1, 2016* 9:00pm, ESPN | | at No. 19 Iowa State | W 55–54 $^{OT}$ | 6–1 | Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, IA |
| December 4, 2016* 8:00pm, ESPNU | | Bowling Green | W 85–56 | 7–1 | Fifth Third Arena (7,162) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 10, 2016* 4:30pm, FS1 | No. 22 | at No. 16 Butler | L 65–75 | 7–2 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,176) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 13, 2016* 7:00pm, ESPN3 | No. 25 | Texas Southern | W 96–58 | 8–2 | Fifth Third Arena (6,612) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 17, 2016* 2:30pm, FS Ohio/ESPN3 | No. 25 | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 119–68 | 9–2 | Fifth Third Arena (7,017) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 22, 2016* 7:00pm, CBSSN | No. 24 | Marshall | W 93–91 $^{OT}$ | 10–2 | Fifth Third Arena (10,540) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 28, 2016 9:00pm, ESPNU | No. 23 | at Temple | W 56–50 | 11–2 (1–0) | Liacouras Center (5,478) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 1, 2017 7:00pm, CBSSN | No. 23 | Tulane | W 92–56 | 12–2 (2–0) | Fifth Third Arena (10,328) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 7, 2017 9:00pm, ESPNU | No. 22 | at Houston | W 67–58 | 13–2 (3–0) | Hofheinz Pavilion (4,875) Houston, TX |
| January 12, 2017 9:00pm, ESPN | No. 22 | SMU | W 66–64 | 14–2 (4–0) | Fifth Third Arena (11,344) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 15, 2017 4:00pm, CBSSN | No. 22 | at East Carolina | W 55–46 | 15–2 (5–0) | Williams Arena (4,597) Greenville, NC |
| January 18, 2017 7:00pm, CBSSN | No. 20 | Temple | W 81–74 | 16–2 (6–0) | Fifth Third Arena (10,718) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 21, 2017 4:00pm, CBSSN | No. 20 | at Tulane | W 78–61 | 17–2 (7–0) | Devlin Fieldhouse (2,001) New Orleans, LA |
| January 26, 2017* 7:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | No. 24 Xavier Crosstown Shootout | W 86–78 | 18–2 | Fifth Third Arena (13,477) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 29, 2017 4:00pm, CBSSN | No. 19 | South Florida | W 94–53 | 19–2 (8–0) | Fifth Third Arena (12,576) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 1, 2017 9:00pm, CBSSN | No. 14 | at Tulsa | W 57–55 | 20–2 (9–0) | Reynolds Center (5,002) Tulsa, OK |
| February 4, 2017 4:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 | UConn | W 82–68 | 21–2 (10–0) | Fifth Third Arena (13,428) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 8, 2017 9:00pm, ESPNU | No. 11 | UCF | W 60–50 | 22–2 (11–0) | Fifth Third Arena (9,510) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 12, 2017 4:00pm, ESPN | No. 11 | at No. 25 SMU | L 51–60 | 22–3 (11–1) | Moody Coliseum (7,518) University Park, TX |
| February 15, 2017 7:00pm, ESPNU | No. 18 | at South Florida | W 68–54 | 23–3 (12–1) | USF Sun Dome (2,679) Tampa, FL |
| February 18, 2017 12:00pm, ESPNU | No. 18 | Tulsa | W 80–60 | 24–3 (13–1) | Fifth Third Arena (13,386) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 23, 2017 7:00pm, ESPN | No. 15 | Memphis Rivalry | W 87–74 | 25–3 (14–1) | Fifth Third Arena (12,787) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 26, 2017 3:00pm, CBSSN | No. 15 | at UCF | L 49–53 | 25–4 (14–2) | CFE Arena (5,763) Orlando, FL |
| March 2, 2017 7:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | Houston | W 65–47 | 26–4 (15–2) | Fifth Third Arena (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 5, 2017 12:00pm, CBS | No. 18 | at UConn | W 67–47 | 27–4 (16–2) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,331) Storrs, CT |
| AAC Tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2017 7:00pm, ESPNU | (2) No. 15 | vs. (7) Tulsa Quarterfinals | W 80–61 | 28–4 | XL Center (7,365) Hartford, CT |
| March 11, 2017 5:35pm, ESPN2 | (2) No. 15 | vs. (6) Connecticut Semifinals | W 81–71 | 29–4 | XL Center (8,117) Hartford, CT |
| March 12, 2017 3:15pm, ESPN | (2) No. 15 | vs. (1) No. 12 SMU Championship | L 56–71 | 29–5 | XL Center (6,856) Hartford, CT |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2017* 7:27pm, truTV | (6 S) No. 18 | vs. (11 S) Kansas State First Round | W 75–61 | 30–5 | Golden 1 Center (16,514) Sacramento, CA |
| March 19, 2017* 9:40pm, TBS | (6 S) No. 18 | vs. (3 S) No. 8 UCLA Second Round | L 67–79 | 30–6 | Golden 1 Center (16,774) Sacramento, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||

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

* Sixth Man Award: Jarron Cumberland
* Sportsmanship Award: Troy Caupain

#### All-AAC Second Team

* Troy Caupain
* Kyle Washington

#### All-Rookie Team

* Jarron Cumberland

#### Player of the Week

* Week 4: Kyle Washington
* Week 7: Gary Clark
* Week 12: Jarron Cumberland

#### Rookie of the Week

* Week 6: Jarron Cumberland
* Week 8: Jarron Cumberland
* Week 17: Jarron Cumberland

## 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 |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | RV | 24 | RV | RV | 22 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 18 | Not released |
| Coaches' | 25 | 25 | RV | RV | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 22 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings