TAMPA, Florida — On a comfortable Florida night in the Tampa Bay area, the University of South Florida's Bulls were hoping to make Cincinnati's Bearcats uncomfortable inside the Yuengling Center. Instead, UC shot nearly 53% in the first half and kept it coming in the second to win 85-69.
The Bearcats looked comfortable taking down a team that had just lost to No. 1 Houston a week ago by just six points. Nearly six minutes into the second half, they were up by 29 points.
They rebounded with one of the better AAC teams on the glass despite Viktor Lakhin being held to just one board. The carom totals were even at 33 at the game's conclusion. They also finished with nine 3-pointers and shot 50.8% for the game.
Grad student David DeJulius got out of his recent shooting slump with 21 points. Landers Nolley II overcame a slow start and also finished with 21. He just missed out on a fourth AAC double-double as he tallied nine rebounds.
UC basketballAAC road review for UC/SMU: Blocks plus boards equal W
UC improves to 14-6 and 5-2 in the American Athletic Conference. USF drops to 8-11 and 1-5 in the AAC. Selton Miguel led USF with 15 points, while top scorer Tyler Harris was held to 10 points.
Now losers of five of their last six, USF had hoped to take down the Bearcats in front of the late arriving crowd. They were able to cut the UC lead to 15 late but got no closer, losing by 17.
The Bulls led 11-10 seven minutes into the game when the Bearcats caught fire from the green and gold floor. The Bearcats had a 17-2 run midway through the half, then another 15-2 streak late in the stanza to go up by as many as 20 points. At the break, it was 47-29 and DeJulius hadn't missed a shot.
The senior guard had 16 points at halftime. He had been struggling with his shot since the Wichita State win. Prior to that, he had a streak of nine consecutive double-figure games.
Freshman Dan Skillings Jr. also had a productive half with nine points and finished with 11. The most positive halftime stat was no turnovers. UC had only four in the second half.
An odd figure was Lakhin's halftime line. After eight blocks at SMU, he was held to two points, no rebounds and two fouls.
On this night the Russian's wingspan was not needed as the Bearcats brought plenty of attitude to the court Wednesday night. Oguama and Kalu Ezikpe had stellar efforts in the paint on a night Lakhin found it challenging to stay on the floor. Oguama's eight points were his best effort since scoring nine against Xavier plus he added six rebounds.
Ezikpe made all three of his shot attempts and has been lauded recently by Miller for his attitude after his playing time dropped from earlier in the season.
It was a frustrating night for Lakhin illustrated by his technical foul with seven minutes left in the game. He stole the ball, then was tied up by 7-footer Russell Tchewa who lifted his leg causing him to fall. When his head slammed, he fired the ball at Tchewa which resulted in a technical foul.
He finished the night with just six points and one rebound. Like the Bearcats have done of late, they picked a teammate up and moved forward.
The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena Sunday afternoon for a 1 p.m. tip with Memphis. The Tigers host Wichita State Thursday night before coming to Cincinnati. The Bearcats will be in their throwback jerseys.
Dollar Night
UC Associate Head Coach Chad Dollar was back in familiar territory Wednesday night as he played for the South Florida Bulls between 1990-1993. Dollar wore the green and gold on USF teams that made the NIT in 1991 and the 1992 NCAA tournament.
Tampa Transfers
Perhaps indicating how college basketball is changing, USF's roster features nine players who have transferred from another institution post-high school. Previous teams the Bulls have played for include Kansas State, Memphis, Iowa State, Triton College, UNC-Wilmington, Maryland, East Tennessee State, Tennessee, Denver, South Carolina and Texas Tech.
The Bearcats roster includes seven transfers. Landers Nolley II and USF's Tyler Harris were teammates last season at Memphis. After the game, Harris approached Wes Miller saying, "You've got a good one coach!"
CINCINNATI 47 38 85
SOUTH FLORIDA 29 40 69
UC - Lakhin 2 2 6 Oguama 4 0 8 Nolley 8 2 21 Adams-Woods 2 0 5 DeJulius 7 5 21 Davenport 2 1 7 Skillings 4 2 11 Ezikpe 3 0 6
USF -Miguel 6 3 15 Hines 3 2 8 Bryant 4 1 10 Tchewa 2 4 8 Harris 3 2 10 Chaplin 3 2 9 Conwell 1 0 1 Walker 2 0 4 Smith 0 2 2 Patrick 0 1 1
Source link
