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01-25-2018, 10:26 AM
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. â University of Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin did the best job of putting in perspective late Wednesday night what Gary Clark has accomplished during his three-plus years with the Bearcats.
"Anytime you do something at Cincinnati that Oscar Robertson did, you're doing something," Cronin said. "When you accomplish something that Kenyon Martin wasn't able to accomplish or Jason Maxiell, that's impressive."
No. 9 UC had just romped past Temple, 75-42, at BB&T Arena for its 37th straight home victory, the longest streak in the country, and its 11th straight win this season, easily beating the same team the Bearcats struggled to defeat by two points on Jan. 4 in Philadelphia.
The Bearcats (18-2 overall, 7-0 in the American Athletic Conference) did it with a stifling defense that held the Owls (10-10, 2-6) to 28.6 percent shooting and didn't allow a single Temple player to score in double figures.
But the night belonged to Clark, the senior forward from Clayton, N.C., who produced his fourth straight double-double and the 26th of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds on six-of-seven shooting in just 26 minutes to become the fifth player in UC history to score 1,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds in his career.
"I didn't realize at first until Coach wrote it on the board and was explaining it," Clark said. "Kyle (Washington) was telling me how good of an accomplishment that'll be. For me to do it tonight, it was pretty cool."
Cronin took Clark out of the game for good with 8½ minutes left after Clark had made a 3-pointer followed by a dunk. The crowd of 8,942 rewarded him with a loud standing ovation while chanting "Ga-ry!, Ga-ry!" as he made his way to the bench, receiving congratulations from his teammates.
"The last time I had one was my freshman year when they started chanting like that," Clark said. "I think I had about 17 rebounds or something."
Actually he pulled down 16 rebounds that night at Fifth Third Arena, which remains his career high. But even with all the promise Clark showed as a freshman there was no way to predict that he would join such UC luminaries at Robertson, Jack Twyman, Paul Hogue and Robert Miller in the 1,000-1,000 club.
Clark's 1,000th rebound came with 18:29 left in the second half after Temple's Pierre-Louis missed a free throw.
"He's an amazing person, man," said Washington, who scored 13 points with nine rebounds. "I'm just happy to be by his side, happy to be his front-court mate and just happy to see everything that he's worked hard for and everything that he's sacrificed for this program, before I was here and after I was here. I'm just really happy for him."
Sophomore guard Jarron Cumberland also scored 13 points for the Bearcats before he left the game after hurting his ankle with 11:35 left in the second half. The injury wasn't believed to be serious.
"He said he could go back in, but there was no point in it," Cronin said.
The Bearcats avoided the first-half woes that plagued them in their previous three games. They led, 35-19, at halftime despite falling behind, 5-0, at the outset. After the Owls got off to their quick start, UC reeled off seven straight points and soon took control of the game.
UC led, 17-15, after Temple's J.P. Moorman II scored with 7:22 go in the half. The Bearcats then scored 10 straight points, holding the Owls scoreless for 4:55. At that point, Temple had missed 14 of its last 15 shots. Temple made only eight of 29 shots from the field in the first half for 27.6 percent.
The Bearcats pulled away in the second half even though they didn't shoot well during the first 10 minutes. Their biggest lead was 34 points with 6:24 to play. UC out-rebounded Temple, 46-36. The Owls were 3-for-23 from long range, 1-for-11 in the second half, and committed a season-high 20 turnovers.
"I'm happy with how hard we played," Cronin said. "We had 45 deflections and 46 rebounds. Temple plays really hard. They rebound really well. I thought our physicality was better and once we were able to keep them off the backboard, that's the key against them. We changed some things from the last time we played them. We were a lot more aggressive with our on-the-ball defense and our pick- and-roll defense, which took them out of their 3-point shooting,"
The lopsided victory made it even easier for the crowd to savor Clark's achievement. He now has 1,259 points, which moved him past Steve Collier and Jim Ard into 27th on UC's career scoring list. Next up is Martin, who scored 1,279.
But it's not just the points and rebounds that make Cronin gush about Clark, it's the fundamentally sound way he plays and all the subtle things he does to help his team win.
"I'm sure there's more talented players in the country," Cronin said, "but Gary Clark is such a winning playerâ¦it's just a great feat. He deserved (the ovation). I was really happy about it. I thought it was awesome."
http://gobearcats.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
"Anytime you do something at Cincinnati that Oscar Robertson did, you're doing something," Cronin said. "When you accomplish something that Kenyon Martin wasn't able to accomplish or Jason Maxiell, that's impressive."
No. 9 UC had just romped past Temple, 75-42, at BB&T Arena for its 37th straight home victory, the longest streak in the country, and its 11th straight win this season, easily beating the same team the Bearcats struggled to defeat by two points on Jan. 4 in Philadelphia.
The Bearcats (18-2 overall, 7-0 in the American Athletic Conference) did it with a stifling defense that held the Owls (10-10, 2-6) to 28.6 percent shooting and didn't allow a single Temple player to score in double figures.
But the night belonged to Clark, the senior forward from Clayton, N.C., who produced his fourth straight double-double and the 26th of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds on six-of-seven shooting in just 26 minutes to become the fifth player in UC history to score 1,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds in his career.
"I didn't realize at first until Coach wrote it on the board and was explaining it," Clark said. "Kyle (Washington) was telling me how good of an accomplishment that'll be. For me to do it tonight, it was pretty cool."
Cronin took Clark out of the game for good with 8½ minutes left after Clark had made a 3-pointer followed by a dunk. The crowd of 8,942 rewarded him with a loud standing ovation while chanting "Ga-ry!, Ga-ry!" as he made his way to the bench, receiving congratulations from his teammates.
"The last time I had one was my freshman year when they started chanting like that," Clark said. "I think I had about 17 rebounds or something."
Actually he pulled down 16 rebounds that night at Fifth Third Arena, which remains his career high. But even with all the promise Clark showed as a freshman there was no way to predict that he would join such UC luminaries at Robertson, Jack Twyman, Paul Hogue and Robert Miller in the 1,000-1,000 club.
Clark's 1,000th rebound came with 18:29 left in the second half after Temple's Pierre-Louis missed a free throw.
"He's an amazing person, man," said Washington, who scored 13 points with nine rebounds. "I'm just happy to be by his side, happy to be his front-court mate and just happy to see everything that he's worked hard for and everything that he's sacrificed for this program, before I was here and after I was here. I'm just really happy for him."
Sophomore guard Jarron Cumberland also scored 13 points for the Bearcats before he left the game after hurting his ankle with 11:35 left in the second half. The injury wasn't believed to be serious.
"He said he could go back in, but there was no point in it," Cronin said.
The Bearcats avoided the first-half woes that plagued them in their previous three games. They led, 35-19, at halftime despite falling behind, 5-0, at the outset. After the Owls got off to their quick start, UC reeled off seven straight points and soon took control of the game.
UC led, 17-15, after Temple's J.P. Moorman II scored with 7:22 go in the half. The Bearcats then scored 10 straight points, holding the Owls scoreless for 4:55. At that point, Temple had missed 14 of its last 15 shots. Temple made only eight of 29 shots from the field in the first half for 27.6 percent.
The Bearcats pulled away in the second half even though they didn't shoot well during the first 10 minutes. Their biggest lead was 34 points with 6:24 to play. UC out-rebounded Temple, 46-36. The Owls were 3-for-23 from long range, 1-for-11 in the second half, and committed a season-high 20 turnovers.
"I'm happy with how hard we played," Cronin said. "We had 45 deflections and 46 rebounds. Temple plays really hard. They rebound really well. I thought our physicality was better and once we were able to keep them off the backboard, that's the key against them. We changed some things from the last time we played them. We were a lot more aggressive with our on-the-ball defense and our pick- and-roll defense, which took them out of their 3-point shooting,"
The lopsided victory made it even easier for the crowd to savor Clark's achievement. He now has 1,259 points, which moved him past Steve Collier and Jim Ard into 27th on UC's career scoring list. Next up is Martin, who scored 1,279.
But it's not just the points and rebounds that make Cronin gush about Clark, it's the fundamentally sound way he plays and all the subtle things he does to help his team win.
"I'm sure there's more talented players in the country," Cronin said, "but Gary Clark is such a winning playerâ¦it's just a great feat. He deserved (the ovation). I was really happy about it. I thought it was awesome."
http://gobearcats.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
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