ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team had a chance Wednesday night to gain ground in the American Athletic Conference standings and inch closer to earning a first-round bye in next month's AAC Tournament.
Neither happened.
More:'We've just got to get back to playing Cincinnati basketball': UC vows to finish strong
David DeJulius led the team with 16 points, Jeremiah Davenport added 15, but the Bearcats suffered a 75-61 loss to Central Florida on the Knights' senior night at Addition Financial Arena.
"We've been inconsistent offensively," UC coach Wes Miller said. "Some nights you feel like we're just clicking and scoring is easy. Tonight, it felt really difficult to come by a quality shot."
The top five seeds in the AAC Tournament (March 10-13 in Fort Worth, Texas) will have a first-round bye. Cincinnati (17-11, 7-8) entered the night in seventh place in the AAC standings with four games to play. UCF (17-9, 9-7) sat one spot ahead of the Bearcats in sixth.
Instead of trading places with the Knights in the conference standings, Cincinnati suffered its second straight loss and sixth in its last nine games.
"It's my job to figure out how to get us on the other side of it," Miller said. "I can promise you it's not an issue with the kids on the floor or a lack of effort or lack of want. It ain't for a lack of want to on my end either. We are trying our asses off.
"I think these are the moments where you really have to challenge yourself. I told the guys in the locker room not to give in."
It was all John Newman III and Davenport early. The pair combined to score the Bearcats' first 11 points. But after a pull-up jumper by Davenport tied the score at 11-11, the Knights scraped together a 7-0 run and never looked back.
Cincinnati committed eight turnovers in the first 12 minutes. Those giveaways led to 13 UCF points. UC had 11 total giveaways in the first half and trailed 38-25 at halftime.
"I thought we were really careless with the ball early in the game," Miller said. "Eleven turnovers in the first half. Sixteen points off of turnovers. Some of it was just dropping the ball. We could not hold on to the ball. That results in easy baskets. That's how you give up a big lead at halftime, and you're in a situation where you're just trying to crawl back all game."
The Knights, who captured their fifth win in the last six games, scored 20 of those 38 first-half points in the paint, 14 of them coming on dunks.
The Bearcats pulled to within seven three separate times early in the second half but just couldn't get any closer.
Four different players scored in double figures for UCF. C.J. Walker led the way with 13 points.
"We just have to continue to stay together, stay connected," DeJulius said. "We always preach brotherhood and staying together. The things that we talk about in the middle of the huddle, they're for times like this. We just have to continue to trust coach, continue to stay confident with each other and stay at it."
Cincinnati returns to Fifth Third Arena on Saturday to host South Florida for its senior night. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
For the second time this season, the Bearcats will wear alternate throwback uniforms that pay homage to former UC head coach Gale Catlett's teams that earned three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids in the 1970s (1975-77).
