"They're older players that have played a lot of college basketball," Miller said of Oguama and Ezikpe. "It doesn't surprise me. I'm proud they get opportunities to step into different roles with injuries. I'm proud of that as a coach. That's what a good program does."
USF also was short-handed with 7-footer Russell Tchewa out with a hand injury.
Both teams appeared sluggish shooting the ball with neither team making a 3-point shot until Davenport broke the ice with 8:28 remaining in the first half. The Bearcats would lead for over 10 minutes of the opening frame but surrendered an 8-0 run to the Bulls in the final 1:15 to trail at the break 38-34. USF top scorer Tyler Harris had no field goals until draining a 3-pointer as the first-half buzzer sounded.
UC shot just 31% in the first half, including just 3-of-13 from the perimeter.
The Bearcats would regain the lead early in the second half as Oguama had three consecutive baskets and Davenport hit a fall-away 3-pointer for a 43-40 advantage at the 15:56 media timeout. Davenport would catch fire and launch a 30-footer from the Fifth Third logo on the floor to up the lead to 52-43 forcing a USF timeout a few minutes later with UC on an 18-5 run.
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