As Mike Saunders Jr.'s long, blond hair flowed through a sea of taller defenders Sunday afternoon, it was evident Memphis could do little to stop the 6-foot University of Cincinnati guard from getting to the rim.
Saunders hit a couple of 3-pointers to force the Tigers to respect his jump shot. As they moved in closer on him, Saunders used his speed and quickness to blow past them and penetrate the defense.
Saunders went on a personal 8-0 run to pull the Bearcats within 40-37 with 16:40 to play.
"I'm not going to lie, I was so locked in that I didn't necessarily even know that I was on an 8-0 run," he said. "I was so locked in on the game, I was just playing to what the defense gave me. There were holes when I was going to the rim. They were always worrying about me kicking out, they weren't necessarily worried about me scoring. ... I was just playing, really."
Memphis wasn't worried about Saunders scoring because he hadn't. The freshman guard, who averaged 14.4 points as a high school senior at Wasatch Academy (Utah), entered Sunday averaging just more than two points per game for the Bearcats.
"I just knew that the holes were going to be there and I was going to look to be more aggressive this game," Saunders said.
Cincinnati lost to Memphis, 80-74, but Saunders sped his way to a career-high 19 points. That led UC coach John Brannen to say the Indianapolis native, who was the first player Brannen offered a scholarship to after he was hired at Cincinnati in April 2019, was the future of the program and will eventually be included with Oscar Robertson, Nick Van Exel, Steve Logan and others on the list of elite point guards who have worn a Bearcats uniform.
"I told you guys he was really fast," Brannen said.
After averaging 1.8 points in 10.8 minutes through the first 10 games of his Cincinnati career, Saunders has started six of the past eight games entering Thursday, including Sunday's game when Brannen elected to start senior walk-on Sam Martin at point guard over Saunders for senior day.
Saunders' responsibilities have increased of late with the departure of David DeJulius. The 6-foot junior started each of the first 16 games at point guard for the Bearcats before announcing on Feb. 25 that he was opting out of the remainder of the season.
In the two games without DeJulius, Saunders played a career-high 32 minutes Feb. 26 against Tulane and had the offensive outburst two days later against Memphis.
"I just was always working during this whole corona (coronavirus pandemic) and all of that," he said. "I just was working, staying ready. I kind of knew one of these games would come."
Saunders' speed makes him a challenge for any defense, but it has been his willingness to slow down that has led to his improvement over the course of the season.
"If I just look back to when I first started playing (at UC) to now, I see the game a lot more easier," he said. "Me and Coach Brannen, we always talk about changing my pace, like not always necessarily going fast, because that's just my game. It's just fast, fast, fast. But if I change my pace to where I just go slow, come off the screen or just bring the ball up, I don't necessarily have to go fast. It definitely opened the game for me. It definitely slowed down for me. So I'm able to play my game and also play to what the team needs."
Saunders started the season 0-for-8 from 3-point range. He has since made five of his nine 3-point attempts, or nearly 56%. At that rate, he will be nearly impossible to defend, and Brannen knows it.
"How much fun is it going to be to watch a guy like Mike Saunders get better over the next few years?," Brannen said. "I'm looking forward to it, because his speed, once he starts knocking down shots consistently, he's a problem."