Analysis: Clark hits major milestone as Cincinnati Bearcats blitz Temple, 75-42

Gary Clark is one of the best and most beloved players in University of Cincinnati basketball history. Neither of those is an exaggeration, as those who were chanting "Gar-y! Gar-y!" during Wednesday night's 75-42 Bearcats rout of Temple can attest.

Senior forward Clark had 17 points and had 10 rebounds for his fourth consecutive double-double, and he also became only the fifth UC player with both 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for his career.

Clark also brought the loudest UC cheers heard this season at Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena, the one-year home of Bearcats men's basketball while Fifth Third Arena is being renovated. With a crowd of 8,924 watching, Clark capped his night with a 3-pointer and then, in quick order, a booming dunk.

At that juncture, just under nine minutes remained but UC led 60-30. UC coach Mick Cronin pulled Clark from the game to a deafening ovation, with the "Gar-y!" chants echoing throughout the building.

"It was pretty cool," Clark said, smiling. "I think the last time it happened was my freshman year, when they started chanting like that. I think I had, like, 17 rebounds or something, the last time they did it."

Clark well could win a race for Mayor of Clifton, were there a Mayor of Clifton. Humble, soft-spoken, active in the community and also an academic honor roll student, the man today is the pride of UC basketball.

"He's an amazing person," said Clark's fellow UC senior forward, Kyle Washington. "I'm just happy to be by his side, happy to be his frontcourt mate. Just happy to see everything that he's worked hard for and everything he's sacrificed for this program. Like I said, he's an amazing person and an amazing player."

Almost as an aside, No. 9-ranked UC (18-2, 7-0 American Athletic Conference) won its 11th straight game and swept its two-game season series with Temple. The Bearcats pushed their homecourt winning streak to 37 games, the longest active streak in America.

Washington backed Clark with 13 points and nine rebounds Wednesday. Sophomore guard Jarron Cumberland had 13 points before limping off with 11:34 left, with an ankle injury.

Cumberland watched the rest of the game from the bench, and Cronin did not appear overly concerned afterward.

"He said he could go back in but there was no point in it," Cronin said. "We were up 22 and I said hold on, just sit here for a second. Once we pushed it to 30 I told him go ahead, put some ice on it. He's been getting beaten up a lot lately, the way he attacks the basket. It's going to be a chore to keep him healthy, because of the way he attacks the basket all the time."

Junior guard Jacob Evans III added 10 points for UC, with six rebounds and five assists.

Analysis, notes and other observations:

CLARK JOINS ELITE: Clark joined Oscar Robertson (UC 1958-60), Jack Twyman (1952-55), Paul Hogue (1960-62) and Robert Miller (1975-79) as the only Bearcats with at least 1,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds.

"I want to congratulate Gary Clark," Cronin said. "To be the fifth player in the history of the school, over 100-something years of basketball, with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds is unbelievable. Any time you did something at Cincinnati that Oscar Robertson did, you're doing something. He's just been a great player for us for a long time."

Clark needed eight rebounds Wednesday to reach 1,000. When he surpassed it, the feat was announced during a break in the action. That was the first standing ovation of the night for Clark, with more to come after his dramatic final two baskets.

Clark said he was not aware of the 1,000/1,000 milestone until Cronin wrote it on a board in the postgame locker room.

"Coach was explaining it, and Kyle is telling me how good of an accomplishment it will be," Clark said. "For me to do it tonight was pretty cool."

BRAVO: Yes, Cronin was happy this time, after being displeased with some aspects of UC's recent performances.

"Really happy with how hard we played tonight," Cronin said. "We had 45 deflections and 46 rebounds. I thought our physicality was better. Once we were able to keep them off the backboard, that's the key against them."

Temple (10-10, 2-6 AAC) led UC for much of the game when the two teams met Jan. 4 in Philadelphia, but Evans gave UC a 55-53 win that night on a jumper with 0.4 seconds left.

Temple shot just 28.6 from the field Wednesday against UC's stifling man-to-man defense. Guard Quinton Rose and center Ernest Aflakpui each scored seven points to lead Temple.

"I thought (UC assistant coach) Darren Savino had a great game plan," Cronin said. "We changed some things from the last time we played them. We were a lot more aggressive with our on-the-ball defense, with our pick-and-roll defense, which got us up in the bridle, so to speak. It took them out of their three-point shooting.

"Once we started scoring the ball, then you can get your pressure going and you start playing downhill."

Temple committed 20 turnovers and UC had 13 turnovers. UC held a 24-12 edge in points off turnovers.

“At the end of the first half we were not so good taking care of the basketball, which led to some easy baskets by UC," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "You have to take care of the ball. You have to be taking care of every little aspect of how you play against them, because they make you run your offense differently. "

DOMINANT HALF: After a relatively slow start (down 5-0 early), UC built a 35-19 lead by halftime.

Cumberland led UC with 11 first-half points, with Clark (seven points, seven rebounds) and Washington (seven points, six rebounds) also having strong halves.

The Bearcats out-rebounded Temple 46-36 and held a 30-20 advantage on points in the paint. The second half was never really close.

UP TWO: UC now leads the AAC by two games over Wichita State and Houston, both 5-2 in the league.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Cumberland (Wilmington High School) reached 500 career points Wednesday, when he scored the Bearcats' first points of the game with a 3-pointer.

FIRST ONE: UC sophomore walk-on guard John Koz, from Cleveland, scored his first career college points on a lay-up late in the game. Koz has appeared in 13 games in two seasons with UC.

BEEN A WHILE: Temple is the last team to beat UC on the Bearcats' home floor, a 77-70 decision at Fifth Third Arena on Dec. 29, 2015.

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