Cincinnati Basketball: 5 questions facing the Bearcats for 2018-19

How effective will Cane Broome be as a scorer?

If there is one glaring weakness for Cincinnati this year, it is a lack of offensive firepower. Three of the top four scorers from last season are no longer on the roster and that will not be easy to replace considering the Bearcats were not a great offensive team in the first place last season. Of the returning players on the roster, Jarron Cumberland (more on him in a bit) is the only proven scorer at the AAC level.

Of course, there is one other returning option with immense potential this year in senior Cane Broome. Although he was not tremendous as a scorer last season (7.9 points per game), he was a dominant offensive force at Sacred Heart prior to transferring to Cincinnati. As a sophomore with the Pioneers in 2015-16, Broome was named the NEC Player of the Year after posting 23.1 points per game. In regards to this upcoming season, Broome does not have to replicate that success but posting 12-15 points per game would be a major help for the Bearcats.

While it seems fairly likely that head coach Mick Cronin will elect to keep senior Justin Jenifer as the starting point guard this season, this does not mean that Broome’s playing time will be limited. In fact, despite coming off of the bench, Broome actually averaged more minutes per game than Jenifer last season. The expectation should be that this continues, especially considering Cincinnati’s overall lack of scoring firepower in the rotation. In addition, it is possible that Cronin starts both Jenifer and Broome, although this would make for a very small backcourt.

No matter what, Broome will be one of the most important players on the Bearcats roster this year. Without a strong scoring punch from the senior, Cincinnati could really struggle to put consistent points on the board. Excellent defense only wins games if you can score more points.