OREM, Utah – With wins over Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Continental Athletic Association champion Hofstra under their belt, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats faced Utah Valley's Wolverines Wednesday night in an NIT quarterfinal.
The Utah Community Credit Union Center was the proverbial hornet's next. With many of the seats full, Utah Valley hit the opening shot of the game and nearly led wire-to-wire beating UC 74-68.
UC's season ends at 23-13. Utah Valley's Wolverines are now 28-8 and heading to the NIT semifinals to face UAB who beat Vanderbilt earlier in the night.
The Wolverines had four player in double figures with Justin Harmon and Trey Woodbury hitting for 17 points apiece.
UC was led by redshirt senior Landers Nolley II with 23 points and grad student David DeJulius who had 19 in his final college game.
Utah Valley beat UC on the backboards 46-40 and led in points in the paint 36-28.
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Final Utah Valley 74, UC 68
Timeout 1:25 left. UC down 7
A Lakhin steal underneath cut the lead to 66-61. Utah Valley then missed a dunk and the Bearcats had several chances to whittle the lead down again but missed the shots. Wolverines made their last. Refs now checking video as Tim Fuller and one of the Bearcats were having some form of disagreement. Offsetting technicals.
Skillings coast-to-coast
Lay-up by Dan Skillings Jr. after a rebound puts UC down five, 64-59 with 3:46 to play. UC shooting on ly 33.3% this half after going 35.3% in the first. Now would be the time to sink a few.
Bearcats had it down to 2, now Utah Valley leads 58-51
7:37 left in the game and Utah Valley continues to kill the Bearcats on backdoor lobs. UC's 0-for-their-last 5 and still down on the boards 35-30.
Nolley cans a 3 and Miller pumps a fist
10:57 left and Nolley's 3-points gets UC within 53-49 after Utah Valley had led briefly by seven. Nolley has 18 and four of UC's five made triples.
Media timeout 13:34 left
Utah Valley leads 46-44 but both teams have cooled off. No scoring for UC in the last 2:30, none for Utah Valley in last 2:19. Bearcats still getting blitzed on the boards 28-21. They had cut it to 20-19 at one point. Neither team is very hot from the arc with Utah Valley 3-for-12 and UC 4-for-15. Plenty of time to play.
Bearcats come out and tie game with 17:14 left, second half
UC's on an 8-2 run to start the half. Viktor Lakhin scoreless in the first half has six of the eight. He also has six rebounds as does Oguama.
Halftime: Utah Valley 39, UC 33
The Bearcats several times cut the Wolverines lead to four only to see UVU come back. Landers Nolley II had the last bucket with :31 left. Nolley has 11 for the Bearcats with David DeJulius leading with 12. UVU is led Trey Woodbury with 12. Aziz Bandaogo and Justin Harmon have 10 each. The Wolverines lead on the glass 19-15 and in points in the paint 22-8. Viktor Lakhin with three fouls hasn't helped. Ody Oguama hasn't scored and your leading UC big man is Kalu Ezikpe off the bench with four points.
Media timeout 3:46 1st half
UC did cut the Utah Valley lead to four at 29-25 after a pair of David DeJulius free throws but the Wolverines on a 4-0 run since. They already have three in double figures with Trey Woodbury, Justin Harmon and Aziz Bandaogo all with 10 points. They're still up on the board also 17-13. Kalu Ezikpe in for Lakhin who now has three fouls at an inopportune time.
DeJulius breaks drought
UC had gone nearly seven minutes without a field goal until David DeJulius just hit a runner to cut the Utah Valley lead to 25-15. UC just 1 for-their-last-11 and shooting only 25%. Wolverines beating them on the boards 15-11. Bearcats just 2-for-10 on treys. There is 7:46 left in the half.
Timeout 11:42 1st half
Utah Valley's lead is 18-10. The Bearcats haven't scored in 2:50 and are 1-for-their-last-9. Wolverines 0-for-their-last-4. Utah Valley shooting 50%, UC just 26.5%. Utah Valley up on the boards 12-9.
Miller timeout 14:00 1st half
Utah Valley with some big home crowd advantage as the Wolverine fans are loud with their team up 17-10. They've made their last four shots. Justin Harmon eight points, Trey Woodbury with five including a big dunk on a fast break. Utah Valley 7-for-12, UC 4-of-10.
UAB
Andy Kennedy's Blazers beat Vanderbilt 67-59 so UC will face UAB in Las Vegas should they prevail here.
Utah Community Credit Union Center
The UCCU seats 7,500. They have some seats sectioned off tonight. However, a fair amount of Green here for the Wolverines who have won 27 games. As expected a fair amount of boos for the Bearcats in black as they hit the floor. Nolley, Adams-Woods, DeJulius, Lakhin, Oguama the starters.
Nolley foot issue
Landers Nolley II tweaked his left foot late in the Hofstra game. He's been limited in practice the last two days. He appeared in pre-game warmups and is expected to play.
On the road again
On the other side of the NIT bracket, the road teams advanced to the semifinals in Las Vegas next week. The No. 2 seed North Texas beat No. 1 seed Oklahoma State in Stillwater Tuesday while No. 2 seed Wisconsin defeated top seed Oregon in Eugene. Both UC and Utah Valley won road games to advance to tonight's quarterfinal.
University of Cincinnati history with Utah schools, games
The two teams have met just once when the Bearcats of then-coach Mick Cronin defeated them in 2010 on their way to the first of nine-straight NCAA appearances.
UC last played in Utah in the 2003 NCAA tournament losing to Gonzaga in the infamous game where former radio color analyst Chuck Machock was ejected. The Bearcats in 1995 beat Temple in Utah in the NCAA tournament before losing to Connecticut. In 1994 a young UC squad lost to Wisconsin in Ogden in the first round.
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