University of Cincinnati men's basketball coach Wes Miller said after Thursday night's loss – the Bearcats' fifth straight – that he would "show some patience" and not comment on the officiating before watching the film.
David DeJulius scored 21 points, Jeremiah Davenport added 17 points and seven rebounds, but Cincinnati ended its regular season with a 76-71 loss at Southern Methodist.
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The Bearcats (17-14, 7-11 American Athletic Conference) were whistled for 27 fouls against only 13 for the Mustangs (21-7, 12-4). SMU shot 33-for-40 from the free-throw line. UC finished 14-of-17 on foul shots.
"We did hit a lot of our defensive metrics tonight, but 33-for-40 from the free-throw line is the elephant in the room," Miller said. "Some of that is defensive discipline. It reminds me a lot of our game at Temple. We just couldn't keep our discipline around the basket. And again, some of those plays may be tough, bang-bang calls. But there were a lot of moments where we lost discipline trying to finish a play or get a box-out and that put them on the line."
The loss snapped the Bearcats' 10-game winning streak against the Mustangs. Cincinnati, which fell to 2-8 in its last 10 games and 3-9 in its last 12, now waits to see who it will face in the first round of the AAC Tournament on Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas.
"We have some guys that are banged up," DeJulius said. "Nothing serious, but a couple days will do wonders for us. But then also allow us to get our wind back up under us, and as coach says, sharpen our blade."
With John Newman III (averaging 11 points and 7.5 rebounds over the last two games) out of the game and in the locker room early after suffering an ankle injury, DeJulius took on much of the offensive load in the first half for the Bearcats.
Taking advantage of some high ball screens, DeJulius scored 13 of the team's first 17 points.
"I just wanted to make sure I was not only staying aggressive but making sure I was sharing the ball as well," DeJulius said.
With Cincinnati behind 24-21 with less than four minutes to play in the opening frame, Davenport knocked down back-to-back shots and Mike Saunders Jr. hit a pair of 3-pointers to give Cincinnati a 34-26 lead.
It looked like UC would carry that lead into the locker room, but Mason Madsen was whistled for a foul as SMU guard Emmanuel Bandoumel attempted a shot at the buzzer.
Bandoumel knocked down both free throws to make it a 34-28 game at the break.
The questionable foul call capped a first half that saw 14 lead changes and ended with the Bearcats on a 13-4 run.
Jarrett Hensley, getting the start in the second half in place of the injured Newman, dunked on Mustangs forward Franklin Agunanne at the 18:00 mark. The posterizing jam put UC ahead 38-28.
Instead of energizing the Bearcats, the dunk seemed to wake up SMU. The Mustangs scored six straight points to make it a four-point game.
Cincinnati big man Abdul Ado fouled out with UC up 56-49 with 8:08 to play. Ado's absence created a void inside and the Mustangs took advantage.
"The one thing we've had all year with him (Ado) is significant rim presence, maybe the best rim presence in this league," Miller said.
Without that, SMU surged ahead and took a 63-62 lead on a breakaway dunk by Michael Weathers with 4:22 remaining. It was the Mustangs' first lead since 24-23 inside the 3:00 mark in the first half.
After the two teams exchanged leads, Bandoumel knocked down a 3-pointer to put SMU up for good 68-67 with 2:45 to play.
Mustangs senior guard Kendric Davis, who entered the night averaging a league-high 19.3 points, finished with a game-high 25. Michael Weathers added 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Bandoumel had 10 points and 10 rebounds for SMU, which avenged its 77-60 loss Jan. 6 at Fifth Third Arena.
Despite another loss, DeJulius said playing the top two teams in the AAC tough over the past three days (the Bearcats lost to AAC regular-season champion Houston on Tuesday) gives the team confidence heading into the conference tournament.
Miller said he hopes Newman will be available come tournament time.
"(UC Senior Associate Athletic Director of Sports Medicine) Bob Mangine is about as good as I've ever seen," Miller said. "We've put his ability to the test this year. We've got a week. We'll try to get him (Newman) back healthy and try to get him ready for the conference tournament."
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