Nasty 'Nati UC entry in TBT adds more high-flying Bearcats for quarterfinal in Dayton

After winning the Xavier Regional of The Basketball Tournament (TBT) last weekend, former University of Cincinnati Bearcat and Nasty 'Nati general manager Kevin Johnson hinted at some roster moves for the Monday, July 31 quarterfinal game at the University of Dayton's Arena.

Nasty 'Nati is the UC-based team of Bearcats who mainly played for Mick Cronin during his tenure. Much like current schools do with recruiting, Nasty 'Nati posted a "bat signal" on their Twitter page Friday.

Later at a scheduled media session in the UC practice gym at the Lindner Center, the 'Cat was out of the bag. Tre Scott who has some professional opportunities to weigh, decided watching Bearcats win at Xavier was too much and has joined the fray. So has Keith Williams, though he hadn't yet made it to town for Friday's practice.

Both Williams and Scott were already rostered on Nasty 'Nati prior to tournament play. Scott scrimmaged some current Bearcats last week, then decided against playing after finishing the NBA Summer League with Charlotte.

"It just looked super fun," Scott said of the games at Cintas Center. "It's an opportunity to get back out there with some of my closest friends. It was good (watching) 'cause they were winning and everyone was playing so well, but I just want to be a part of it."

Getting the band back together

After going one-and-done in last year's tournament, GM Johnson with co-coaches Cashmere Wright and Cane Broome re-assembled their squad and proceeded to win three games in a row at Xavier's Cintas Center to advance to Monday night's quarterfinal at UD Arena. One of those was an Alumni Shootout of sorts as Nasty 'Nati downed Xavier's entry, Zip'Em Up, 77-73.

Wingmen Jarron Cumberland and Jacob Evans have led the UC alums in all three contests. Cumberland has hit for 25.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game with Evans at 23 points and 5.3 rebounds. Going back to his Wilmington High days, Cumberland is 0-2 at UD Arena. He's invited many family and friends out as he hopes to rectify the situation.

"I feel like I'm playing at my highest level right now," Cumberland said. "Being able to showcase what I can do helps me show the NBA, overseas guys what I can do."

He looks forward to playing with Scott and Williams in the tough, rugged manner they were known for winning back-to-back American Athletic Conference championships.

All TBT games finish with the Elam Ending, so around the 4:00 mark, play is stopped and eight points is added to the winning team's tally to come up with the target score.

Cumberland hit the game-winner on the first night, but against Zip'Em Up with Nasty 'Nati leading 74-73, it was Evans with a three-ball to put them over the target score of 75 (when the Elam Ending went into effect, Nasty 'Nati led 67-63). In the blow-out of top seed Program for Autism July 24, Evans again had the game-winner for the regional championship to advance to Dayton.

With two new additions, he may have to work to nail a third consecutive game-winner.

Nasty 'Nati could loft some lobs

"Tre and Keith are great additions," Evans said. "I'm really excited because I only had one year with Keith (2018) and I'm excited to see the improvements he made. And, Tre was my roommate in college so me and him we have a lot of things alike. It's not like we're getting two new guys we haven't seen before. We played with these guys, practiced with these guys endless hours."

Monday night's game in Dayton begins at 7 p.m. and will be against Friday Beers who defeated Carmen's Crew, an Ohio State-based team on Saturday. They are a veteran team with a 17-8 mark career-wise in TBT. Familiar names are Gabe York who played in college at Arizona and recently with the NBA Indiana Pacers, Dee Bost a former Mississippi State point guard and Aubrey Dawkins, who played against UC on his father's UCF team.

Half-price tickets are available with the promo code NASTY on the Ticketmaster site (below). The game is also televised on ESPN2.

Bringing on Scott and Williams gives Nasty 'Nati three starters from 2019's AAC championship team. Mick Cronin's Bearcats also won in 2018 with Evans and Cumberland starting and Scott and Williams coming off the bench.

"That's what brought me back," Scott said. "Memories of what we've done together. What ever opportunity I have to by myself and help this team above the rim and that kind of stuff, I'm going to do it."

Adding the two high flyers gives Nasty 'Nati more high-flying options when you add them to what Mamoudou Diarra and Rice's Marquez Letcher-Ellis have added. The 6-foot-9 Diarra has averaged 10 points and 6.7 rebounds with Letcher-Ellis at 6.7 points and six rebounds. From the backcourt, 27-year-old Troy Caupain, the oldest of the players has averaged seven points and 5.7 rebounds.

Grand scorers chasing $1 million

Adding Williams now gives Nasty 'Nati four career 1,000-point club scorers on the floor and one (Wright, 1,317) as coach. Cumberland is UC's No. 7 all-time scorer at 1,782, Caupain and Wright are at 1,317, Evans at 1,233 and Williams at 1,156. Two-year starter Scott finished at 885.

Winning Monday in Dayton would put Nasty 'Nati just two wins away from the $1 million TBT prize. Semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 2 in Philadelphia at Drexel University with the championship slated for Thursday, Aug. 3 again at Drexel. The semifinals and final are to be televised on ESPN.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Nasty 'Nati adds more UC Bearcat notables in quest for TBT glory