Coming off their first Quadrant 2 victory of the season Saturday against Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati men's basketball squad has an opportunity for another Tuesday night in New Orleans.
It won't come easy in The Big Easy.
The Green Wave has only lost twice in their basketball bandbox; early in the season to Fordham and to No. 3 Houston. When the Bearcats beat them by 11 on Dec. 29, coach Wes Miller said they were a good team.
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The Crescent City men certainly can score, racking up 80 or more points 11 times this season with seven of those games reaching 90 or more. Just this past Saturday, they swept the season series from a tough Memphis team at the FedEx Forum by winning in overtime 90-89 in front of 11,802 fans. It was their first season sweep of the Tigers in 40 years.
On the other hand, after falling at home to highly ranked Houston, they dropped a road game at Tulsa which is in the AAC cellar. Though they scored 77 on UC in the AAC opener, four of Tulane's seven defeats have come when they have scored 66 points or less.
Coming off of a game where they caused 24 turnovers and had a season-high 16 steals, the Bearcats could use more of the same to hold off the Green Wave at home.
UC vs. Tulane preview
Tip: 7 p.m. (EST) Tuesday, Fogelman Arena at Devlin Fieldhouse (4,100)
TV/Radio: ESPN+/700WLW
Series info: Cincinnati leads 30-16.
Scouting report
Tulane 15-7 (8-3 AAC)
Coach: Ron Hunter (51-53, fourth year)
Offense: 81.4 ppg
Defense: 74.9 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Stats)
Jalen Cook (G, 6', 19.1 ppg)
Kevin Cross (F, 6'8", 14.8 ppg)
Jaylen Forbes (G, 6'5", 18.7 ppg)
Sion James (G, 6'6", 10.8 ppg)
Tylan Pope (F, 6'6", 7.0 ppg)
Cincinnati 16-8 (7-4 AAC)
Coach: Wes Miller (34-23, second year)
Offense: 76.5 ppg
Defense: 67.3 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Stats)
Landers Nolley II (G/F, 6'7", 15.8 ppg)
David DeJulius (G, 6', 14.5 ppg)
Viktor Lakhin (F, 6'11", 12.9 ppg)
Mika Adams-Woods (G, 6'3", 9.3 ppg)
Ody Oguama (F, 6'9", 3.5 ppg)
Players to watch
Jalen Cook
The 6-foot sophomore leads the Green Wave in scoring and just had a 25-point effort in their dramatic 90-89 overtime win in Memphis over the Tigers. Cook shoots nearly 43% from the field and is one not to foul as he hits over 90% from the line. One thing to watch is he turned the ball over 11 times against Memphis and fouled out of the game. Tulane relies heavily on its starters in terms of production, so any way of taking Cook out of the game would be beneficial.
Rob Phinisee
The Indiana transfer was a factor defensively for UC in the UCF victory playing over 15 minutes and recording three steals. As his teammates point out, he has quick feet and has been in big-game atmospheres before after four seasons in the Big Ten. Phinisee was out from Nov. 30 to Jan. 28 but should be able to spell DeJulius and Adams-Woods defensively in trying to stop Tulane's Cook and Forbes, their top two scorers. Playing in 13 fewer games, he's the only non-starter on the team in double figures with steals with 11.
Keys to the game
Don't let a small crowd in the game
The gym seats 4,100 and Tulane had 3,600-plus for Houston. Other than that they've been below 2,000 in attendance and only drew 973 fans for their Tulsa game in early January. But, give a few fans something to cheer about and the small become mighty. A 10-point advantage at the half like they had in Cincinnati, would be desirable for UC. Particularly when the Bearcats are 16-2 when leading at the break.
Prepare to run
The Green Wave gets it and goes as evidenced by their scoring average of over 81 per game. They've surpassed 90 seven times this season. Between Dec. 21 and Jan. 14, only UC and UCF were able to keep Tulane under 80 points, as both held them to 77. In that span, they scored 87 at Temple against the usually tough Owls defense. It's the most Temple's given up all season in a non-overtime game.
After the pick, get the ball to Vik
The DeJulius to Lakhin pick and roll has become a staple. DeJulius has canned some big shots off Lakhin screens and the lengthy Russian has had some rim-ramming moments courtesy of a DeJulius assist.
"I pass him the ball so he'll want to set me more ball screens," DeJulius joked Saturday.
Said Lakhin," It's not like, 'Let's go to V'. I'm one of the options now. If they switch, I roll. If Dave doesn't want to shoot that shot, he can pass it to me. There are more options in the offense now at the end of the game."
Ratings
NCAA NET: Cincinnati is No. 73, Tulane No. 89
KenPom.com: Cincinnati is No. 58, Tulane No. 80
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