0: Points scored by Cincinnati’s bench. I’m not a big fan of tracking bench vs starter points, but zero is a number of note. The Cincy bench played 29 minutes and missed all three of their FG attempts.
3: Consecutive losses for Pitt. It’s been four seasons since Pitt lost 4 games in a row. In the 2007-08 season it was the trio of Marquette, Notre Dame and Louisville, who were ranked 11th, 28th and 6th respectively in the Pomeroys. This year it has been Wagner (75), Notre Dame (65) and Cincinnati (52).
6: Free throw attempts by Cincinnati. Mick Cronin’s teams have never finished better than 150th in free throw rate, and this year they rank 267th. Their 9.2% free throw rate (FTA/FGA) is less than a third of their season average (31.7%). Pitt, another team which isn’t good at getting to the line, had a rate of 26.8%.
7:22: Length of first half scoring drought for Cinicinnati. The Bearcats took a 5-2 lead on a Jaquon Parker three, and then went 13 possessions without scoring. In those 13 possessions Pitt was only able to score 11 points (and this included 6 offensive rebounds to extend possessions) and so Cincy was able to weather the early problems and stay in the game.
17: Pittsburgh turnovers, in a 63 possession game. The Panthers entered the night turning the ball over on 19.8% of their possessions, but playing without Travon Woodall (who, ironically, has one of the highest turnover rates in the Big East) Pitt turned it over on 27% of their trips. Considering they averaged 1.36 points per effective possession (ie, without a turnover) and lost the game by 3, it’s easy to point fingers at their lack of ball security.
21: Points for Cinicinnati guard Jaquon Parker. Parker, a junior, entered the season having scored in double figures in 3 of 49 games. This season he’s been in double figures in 4 of 7 games, which includes his career best against Pitt. He scored the 21 points on a very efficient 11 shots, and for the season is shooting 52% on 2s, 64% on 3s and 88% on FTs.
40.7: 3-pt FG% for Cincinnati. The Bearcats entered the game 39th in the nation, shooting an impressive 38.6%, and they needed every one of their 11 to spring their road victory.
51.5: Percentage of their own misses which Pitt rebounded. Pitt leads the nation in offensive rebounding (46.6%) and has been in the top-15 nationally in 5 of the past 9 seasons. Their rate this season is the best ever under Jamie Dixon.
