Jerrod Calhoun's 1st win as Cincinnati Bearcats coach wasn't easy

Jerrod Calhoun has his first official win as head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats. There may have been a cake afterward, but it wasn't quite a cakewalk.

Up just two at halftime, UC pulled away from the American Eagles in the second half at Fifth Third Arena to give Calhoun career win No. 298 and his first at his alma mater, 79-53. Attendance for the season opener was 9,420.

Senior Tyler Tejada and fifth-year player MJ Collins Jr. led UC with 13 points each. Senior Tylen Riley had nine points and five assists; sophomore Akai Fleming had nine points and six rebounds and sophomore David Iweze had eight points and seven rebounds with four steals.

The Bearcats were 8-for-27 from 3-point range with American finishing 7-for-29. The Eagles missed all 12 of their perimeter shots in the second half. UC outrebounded the Eagles 48-32 and pilfered the basketball 15 times from them.

"They really gave us problems tonight with their ability to steal the basketball," American coach Duane Simpkins said. "We told our guys we have to expect a pretty good punch from them coming out and that's pretty much what it was."

UC has now won seven straight season openers and eight straight home openers. Calhoun played 13 guys most of the game and 14 overall. After the nervous first half, the second half turned into a late dunkfest with the student section staying for the duration.

Things almost didn't go as planned for UC, Jerrod Calhoun

The inaugural UC win might not be one of Calhoun's favorites, as the Bearcats led by 11 with 3:37 left in the first half, only to see American tie the game. MJ Collins made a pair of free throws before the break to give UC the slight, two-point edge.

"To be honest with you, I wanted to vomit in a trash can," Calhoun said. "I was deeply upset with how we played. I've been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time and we played so bad."

Calhoun tried to take his personal feelings out of it and had his team play possession-by-possession and got out on American's shooters. Specifically, Madden Collins had 14 points in the first half, but was held to six in the next stanza. Calhoun credited the defense of Eric Mahaffey, Iweze and Trevian Carson.

"There were guys that created havoc and sped them up and that was the difference," Calhoun said. "This team has the ability to do that. The strength of our team is our numbers and we've got to continue to buy into that."

. Six minutes into the second half, the Bearcats were back up double digits.

"We knew we had to create havoc on defense," MJ Collins said. "Now it matters. Every possession matters. If we drop an egg, the KenPom (rating) will go down, and we're going to hear from coach."

UC Bearcats center Jayden Hastings injured

Just 43 seconds into the game, starting center Hastings went up for an offensive rebound and was hit. Hastings would leave the floor. The 6-foot-10 senior would return later in the half for a couple of minutes, but was hit again and forced to leave.

Hastings came back to the bench in the second half, but was a spectator the rest of the evening. His shoulder popped out of its socket, then popped back in. Calhoun hopes to know more this week and hopes to have him back by Thursday.

Iweze and fifth-year player Amani Lyles helped fill the void in the paint.

"Our preparation as a team has been pretty good," Iweze said. "I feel confident going into every game. I feel ready and prepared to step in, whatever the case may be."

Iweze redshirted for Calhoun at Utah State last year and so it was a night of firsts for him as well. Iweze had the top plus/minus number of anyone in the game at 24.

Over 15 years between official wins for UC's Jerrod Calhoun at Fifth Third Arena

Yes, he coached the exhibitions with Illinois and Oakland University, and if you go back to 2014, he was here with his Fairmont State team for a preseason game against Mick Cronin's Bearcats. But his last official win with a program in Fifth Third Arena came Jan. 29, 2011, when West Virginia beat UC 66-55 and Calhoun was Director of Basketball Operations for the Mountaineers and Bob Huggins.

13,176, a sellout in the old Shoemaker Center configuration, were there. WVU was led by current Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla with 16 points. Mazzulla was guest speaker at Calhoun's first Tip-Off dinner for the Bearcats in September.

So, over 15 years ago, Calhoun was a winner just as he was Nov. 2 as the man chosen to return the Bearcats to NCAA relevance.

Quick turnaround for UC Bearcats

UC is back Nov. 5 for another 7 p.m. tip with the Green Bay Phoenix of the Horizon League. Next week it's a Nov. 9 tip at 7 p.m. with the Big Ten's Minnesota Golden Gophers. In 1989, the current arena was christened with an upset of then-No. 20 Minnesota, 66-64 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Steve Sanders. It was the first Cincinnati win for Bob Huggins.

Green Bay defeated Lawrence 94-51 in their Nov. 2 opener.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Jerrod Calhoun's 1st win as Cincinnati Bearcats coach wasn't easy