Cincinnati Basketball: Takeaways from Bearcats opening defeat to Ohio State

Cincinnati Cannot Afford to Get in Foul Trouble

27 personal fouls for the game in a rotation that consisted of pretty much seven guys on the night is going to make things difficult. Vogt picked up two quick ones in the first half limiting his minutes as he would foul out in just 14 minutes. Sorolla did a good job of coming in and filling his role.

Jaevin Cumberland is another guy that saw a decrease in minutes due to some foul trouble, picking up his fourth foul with just under seven minutes to go in what was still a close game. Brannen had to continue to take him in and out of the game down the stretch to take him out of situations where he could pick up a fifth foul.

Add in Davenport who had four fouls, McNeal had three, Sorolla had three, Tre Scott had three. It makes life more difficult for Brannen who was not eager to give his freshman many minutes. There’s not a lot of depth down low for UC and if any of Vogt, Sorolla or Scott end up in foul trouble Cincinnati runs into trouble like they did last night.

This is something that shouldn’t happen every game but for opposing teams that watch the film, they’ll see the kind of impact having the big guys in foul trouble had for Cincinnati and look to capitalize. Cincinnati’s bigs have to make smart decisions, especially early in the game to avoid foul trouble.