It seemed like it was only a couple weeks ago when I wrote about Larry Davis’ play off the bench, a feature highlighted by his fantastic 3 point shooting. Anyone who has watched the Bearcats play recently has certainly noticed the the 3 point shooting has been abysmal. Where have things gone wrong? To find out, let’s take a game by game look and try to figure things out.
Mount St Mary’s
5-15
Sean Kilpatrick 3-6
Larry Davis 1-2
Ibrahima Thomas 1-2
Rashad Bishop 0-2
JaQuon Parker 0-1
Cashmere Wright 0-1
Justin Jackson 0-1
The season definitely did not start off with a good 3 point performance. I would be stunned if Jackson has taken more than 2 triples since. I know things went well from 3 at some point, so let’s go to game 2.
IPFW
3-17
Sean Kilpatrick 2-5 (5-11)
Rashad Bishop 1-2 (1-4)
Dion Dixon 0-4
Cash Wright 0-3 (0-4)
JaQuon Parker 0-2 (0-3)
Larry Davis 0-1 (1-3)
It certainly didn’t get better here. If I remember correctly, the poor 3 point shooting and general settling for 3s is what helped keep this game relatively close at the end. This is really not helping my theory of UC being good at 3s at one point and now being bad. Next.
Florida A&M
12-27
Dion Dixon 4-6 (4-10)
Cashmere Wright 4-8 (4-12)
Rashad Bishop 2-3 (3-7)
JaQuon Parker 1-3 (1-6)
Sean Kilpatrick 1-4 (6-15)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-1 (1-3)
Larry Davis 0-1 (1-4)
Darnell Wilks 0-1
Here we go, this was a pretty good shooting performance by the Bearcats, their first of the season. I thought I was on to something. It should be noted FAMU is one of the worst teams in the country. Let’s see if the shooting kept up.
Savannah State
4-12
Rashad Bishop 2-2 (5-9)
JaQuon Parker 1-1 (2-7)
Cash Wright 1-2 (5-14)
Dion Dixon 0-2 (4-12)
Larry Davis 0-2 (1-6)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-1 (1-4)
Darnell Wilks 0-1 (0-2)
Sean Kilpatrick 0-1 (6-16)
Another not great 3 point game. This was another relatively close game by a bad team, a 13 point margin. This was in the stretch where Bishop wasn’t missing anything. Interesting to see that Kilpatrick’s total of shots started regressing to the rest of the team, but he still had the most makes.
Dayton
8-23
Dion Dixon 3-6 (7-18)
Rashad Bishop 2-4 (7-13)
Sean Kilpatrick 2-5 (8-21)
Larry Davis 1-1 (2-7)
Darnell Wilks 0-3 (0-5)
Cash Wright 0-2 (5-16)
JaQuon Parker 0-2 (2-9)
This was a nice shooting performance, hampered only by late 3s the Bearcats took. Still, it’s only 35%. I’m starting to think that this article is totally off base, and that Cincinnati has never been a good 3 point shooting team this season.
Wright State
8-19
Sean Kilpatrick 5-5 (13-26)
Larry Davis 1-2 (3-9)
Dion Dixon 1-3 (8-21)
Rashad Bishop 1-4 (8-17)
JaQuon Parker 0-1 (2-10)
Darnell Wilks 0-1 (0-6)
Yancy Gates 0-1
Ibrahima Thomas 0-1 (1-5)
Cash Wright 0-1 (5-17)
As soon as I say something again, another plus shooting performance for UC, lead by Kilpatrick. UC has 3 guys shooting the 3 pretty well percentage wise, Kilpatrick, Dixon and Bishop.
Toledo
10-29
Dion Dixon 4-8 (12-29)
Larry Davis 2-4 (5-13)
Sean Kilpatrick 2-8 (15-34)
Darnell Wilks 1-1 (1-7)
Rashad Bishop 1-2 (9-19)
Yancy Gates 0-2 (0-3)
JaQuon Parker 0-2 (2-12)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-1 (1-6)
Anthony McBride 0-1
This was a good game number of makes wise. This was another game when UC was up big and settled for bombing 3s in the second half. Cincinnati hit 8 in the first half alone of this game. I would say it counts as a good game, mainly because all of the 3s made early made it a rout. I think it’s interesting to see that JaQuon Parker completely lost his jumper. He hit 36% of his 3s last year, one of the better players on the team. He started this season 2-12.
Utah Valley State
14-28
Cash Wright 5-9 (10-26)
Rashad Bishop 3-3 (12-22)
Dion Dixon 2-4 (14-33)
Darnell Wilks 1-1 (2-8)
Yancy Gates 1-2 (1-5)
Sean Kilpatrick 1-3 (16-37)
Larry Davis 1-3 (6-16)
JaQuon Parker 0-1 (2-13)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-2 (1-8)
This was an absolutely great shooting game. Again, it came against one of the worst teams in the nation. Bishop, Dixon, Kilpatrick and Cash were all shooting 40% or better on the season at this point, with Larry Davis also over 40%, but not with a ton of attempts. Let’s see if it kept up.
Georgia Southern
6-12
Rashad Bishop 2-2 (14-24)
Cash Wright 1-1 (11-27)
Larry Davis 1-1 (7-17)
Dion Dixon 1-2 (15-35)
Sean Kilpatrick 1-4 (17-41)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-1 (1-9)
JaQuon Parker 0-1 (2-14)
This was an understated shooting performance by the Bearcats. They could get the ball inside on GaSo at will, and they did. In this 5 game stretch, UC shot 41%, which is pretty damn good. If they were shooting 41% now, they would be 9th in the nation at 3%. That’s how good it started to go from the Dayton game to this one. Take out the Dayton game, and that’s 45%. A lot of that was buoyed by the 14-28, but that happened, so it counts. The competition starts to pick up from here, let’s see how it goes.
Oklahoma
3-17
Cash Wright 2-3 (13-30)
Sean Kilpatrick 1-3 (18-44)
Rashad Bishop 0-4 (14-28)
Dion Dixon 0-2 (15-37)
Darnell Wilks 0-2 (2-10)
JaQuon Parker 0-1 (2-15)
Larry Davis 0-1 (7-18)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-1 (1-10)
This was a brutal outside shooting performance by UC. The 3 point shooting is really anchored down by Thomas, Wilks and Parker. It seems everyone else who takes them, at least at this point, can make them at a solid rate. Let’s run though them in order of that list. Cash is 43.3%, Kilpatrick 40.9%, Bishop 50%, Dixon 40.5%, and Davis 38.8%. Combined, they are shooting 44% at this point of the season. That’s a solid 5-35 bringing down the whole team from Thomas, Wilks and Parker. Plus, you still have Gates and his 1-5 out there. With him added, that’s 6-36, 16.6%. Let’s see how things went against Miami.
Miami
4-16
Cash Wright 1-2 (14-32)
Larry Davis 1-2 (8-20)
Darnell Wilks 1-2 (3-12)
Dion Dixon 1-4 (16-41)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-1 (1-11)
Yancy Gates 0-1 (1-6)
Sean Kilpatrick 0-1 (18-45)
Rashad Bishop 0-3 (14-31)
This was a horrible shooting game against a solid defensive team. I think it’s interesting to note the rise in Cash’s 3 point shooting. He really got on track after a 5-16 start. That means he hit 9-15. Pretty good.
St Francis
12-24
Larry Davis 4-7 (12-27)
Sean Kilpatrick 3-5 (21-50)
Cash Wright 1-1 (15-33)
Dion Dixon 1-1 (17-42)
Justin Jackson 1-2 (1-3)
Ibrahima Thomas 1-2 (2-13)
JaQuon Parker 1-2 (3-17)
Darnell Wilks 0-1 (3-13)
Rashad Bishop 0-3 (14-34)
This was another great shooting performance, powered by the bench guys who started, Davis and Kilpatrick. This is the third good shooting game against a terrible team, which should be noted. Cash is damn near 50% after this game, while Bishop has hit a slump. He was 14-24 after the Georgia Southern game if you remember. This is the second to last non-conference game. Now we hit Big East play. Let’s see how that goes.
DePaul
4-15
Larry Davis 4-6 (16-33)
Cash Wright 0-3 (15-36)
Sean Kilpatrick 0-2 (21-52)
Dion Dixon 0-2 (17-44)
Rashad Bishop 0-1 (14-35)
Yancy Gates 0-1 (1-7)
Big East play started off horribly for everyone who wasn’t Larry Davis. Davis was the lone Bearcat doing all he could to keep the 3 point percentage up the past couple of games. Bishop’s miss streak hits 11 with another brick in this one.
Seton Hall
6-20
Sean Kilpatrick 2-3 (23-55)
Rashad Bishop 2-5 (16-40)
Darnell Wilks 1-1 (4-14)
Larry Davis 1-2 (17-35)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-2 (2-15)
Cash Wright 0-3 (15-39)
Dion Dixon 0-4 (17-48)
Another brutal game from behind the arc. UC started off Big East play 10-35 from 3. That’s not a good thing. Let’s take a look at those shooting percentages again for the 5 mentioned after the OU game. The old percent is in parenthesis. Kilpatrick 41.8% (40.9), Bishop 40 (50), Davis 48.5 (43.7), Cash 38.4 (43.3) and Dixon 35.4 (40.5).
Xavier
5-16
Rashad Bishop 2-3 (18-43)
Larry Davis 2-4 (19-39)
Dion Dixon 1-4 (18-52)
Cash Wright 0-1 (15-40)
Darnell Wilks 0-1 (4-15)
Sean Kilpatrick 0-1 (23-56)
Ibrahima Thomas 0-2 (2-17)
This game marks 5 of 6 clunkers in a row from deep, pun intended. Bishop started to show signs of getting his stroke back. Davis is very consistent. The rest, well, what can be said? Let’s get to the last one.
Villanova
2-20
Larry Davis 1-2 (20-41)
Rashad Bishop 1-7 (19-50)
Cash Wright 0-1 (15-41)
Darnell Wilks 0-1 (4-16)
Sean Kilpatrick 0-4 (23-60)
Dion Dixon 0-5 (18-57)
And that brings us to the worst shooting game of the season for the Bearcats. They forced a ton of shots against Nova from deep, highlighted by Bishop’s performance.
What’s simply glaring by this break down is the fact that, as the competition picked up, the guards have not made shots. Cash has a legit reason, he’s injured. Almost like he knew I was going to write something about UC’s 3 point shooting, the man Paul Dehner wrote about Cash’s injuries yesterday. Dixon is in a terrible slump. Actually, if you want to go deeper, if you take away the two 4 3 games for Dixon, he’s 10-43, which is 23%. And those games were against Florida A&M and Toledo, who are two of the worst teams in the country. Take it a step farther and add in the other 2 horrible teams they played, and that goes to 8-40. That’s 20%. That’s also incredibly awful. He’s actually hurting the Bearcats every time he takes a three. He is much, much, much, much more effective when he goes to the rim. Larry Davis is the only Bearcat who I would like to see bomb 3s every trip. Kilpatrick is more of a streak shooter. Bishop is ok in moderation. Thomas and Wilks should be sent to the bench every time they take one. Unless Mick Cronin likes that 6-33 from guys who play the power forward spot.
The Bearcats are not a great shooting team. We pretty much thought this coming into the season, and despite some deceptive stats against bad competition, the Bearcats are showing their true bad shooting colors. We’ve seen what happens when they don’t adjust when the shots are falling. let’s hope they can regroup and get things going.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
