UC's Caupain making his presence known
Jan. 12, 2014
Caupain (10) scored 14 points off the bench against Rutgers, making five of six shots from the field and two of three from 3-point range with two assists and four turnovers in 23 minutes. / The Enquirer/ Joseph Fuqua II
Written by
Bill Koch
Seventeen games into his freshman season, University of Cincinnati guard Troy Caupain already has crossed off one of the items on his bucket list.
Caupain did a little shoulder shimmy for the television cameras after he was fouled on a fast-break layup with 13:57 left in UC’s 71-51 victory over Rutgers on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. His basket – off a feed from Sean Kilpatrick – gave the Bearcats a 50-42 lead after the Scarlet Knights had pulled even at 40-40. Caupain scored eight points during that UC run.
“Growing up, I’ve always wanted to do something like that,” Caupain said. “You watch TV and you see everybody else doing it – watching Cincinnati, watching SK, watching (Justin Jackson) making the mean face. It’s one of those, man, I want to do that. So when I got the opportunity, it was one I’ll never forget.”
Caupain scored 14 points off the bench against Rutgers, making five of six shots from the field and two of three from 3-point range with two assists and four turnovers in 23 minutes.
At 15-2 overall, 4-0 in the American Athletic Conference, UC will almost surely ascend to the Associated Press Top 25 when the new rankings come out Monday. The Bearcats were 26th last week and No. 25 Kansas State was soundly beaten by Kansas over the weekend. If it happens, it will be the first time UC has been ranked since the week of Feb. 11 last year, when it was No. 17. The Bearcats will be seeking their ninth straight victory Tuesday night against Temple at Fifth Third Arena.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Caupain, from Midlothian, Va., has averaged 7.2 points while shooting
45.1 percent from the field, 46.7 percent from 3-point range and 72.3 percent from the free-throw line. He has displayed great maturity for a freshman and a willingness to survey the landscape, listen to advice and work to improve his game.
“In high school I didn’t really shoot a lot of jump shots,” Caupain said. “Once I learned during open gym that I can’t get to the basket because everything was getting blocked, the coaches kept telling me you’ve got to learn to shoot under pressure.
“We used to go to the gym at night and during morning workouts before class in the summer. They would tell me just keep working on your shot. I finally realized what I’ve got to do and how to make myself open to shoot. Once I found that, it’s a big factor to my game now.”
Caupain has yet to start his first college game, with junior Ge’Lawn Guyn maintaining his hold on the point guard position in a starting lineup that has not changed this season. But Caupain has made his presence felt in a reserve role.
Not only has he impressed his coaches, he has made an impact on the veterans. When Kilpatrick first saw Caupain play last summer, he told UC coach Mick Cronin that Caupain was a good passer.
“Coach said, ‘Yeah, that’s why I recruited him,’” Kilpatrick said.
The UC coaches also recruited Caupain for his scoring ability. They believe he has the potential to be an outstanding point guard with his ability to push the ball down the floor in traffic and to make good decisions at the end of the break.
“He’s still got to learn to take care of the ball a little bit better,” Cronin said. “He still throws some high school passes, but he hit some big shots.”
Caupain also needs to work on his moves after making those big shots, but he figures he’ll have plenty of chances to perfect that part of his game.
“That was my first one,” he said. “We’ll see if I get more (chances) what I do.”
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