WICHITA, Kansas — In their last appearance at Wichita State's "Roundhouse" for the foreseeable future, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats notched a key American Athletic Conference road win over the Shockers 70-61 Thursday night. The Bearcats are 11-5 and 2-1 in the AAC.
The victory wasn't without headache as Wichita State made a late run to cut UC's lead to down to eight when they had led by as many as 22 shortly after halftime. The foul disparity was notable in the second half. The Shockers shot 17 free throws to UC's three (all from David DeJulius) in the game. Still, from the perspective of coach Wes Miller, it was a most appreciated outcome.
"For 36 or 35 minutes I was really proud of the way we played, especially coming off the way we played in Philadelphia a couple days ago," Miller said. "We've got to get a little better at executing down the stretch in finishing games. Overall, pleased. We have a lot to learn from the end of the game."
Coming off the bench for the first time in two seasons, senior Jeremiah Davenport led all scorers with 22 points, going 6-of-9 on 3-pointers. Prior to this season, Davenport had been 0-for-10 on 3-balls at Charles Koch Arena the past two campaigns.
"It was real fun!" Davenport said of his best game of the season. "It all comes down to confidence. Confidence in myself. You keep pushing. I was in a slump and found my rhythm tonight. I'm going to keep pushing moving forward."
Landers Nolley II also racked up his first double-double of the season, with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Viktor Lakhin just missed on his sixth double-double by finishing with 14 points and nine boards. Mika Adams-Woods had 11 points. Ody Oguama didn't score in the game but had six rebounds and a team-high three blocks.
Not only was the game a response in the win column, it was a major response from being manhandled on the boards their previous loss at Temple. The Bearcats were relentless on this night, winning the rebounding battle 43-32.
"There's some things in basketball that my mom watching games can tell you," Miller said.
Mrs. Miller called Wes after the Temple game to point out the deficiency. Accordingly, it was emphasized in practice and adhered to for the most part Thursday night.
"I thought we did a much better job the first 35 (minutes)," Miller said of UC's board figures.
In the loss for the Shockers, Craig Porter Jr. led with 19 points. Wichita State drops to 7-8. They were 6-of-22 on 3-pointers compared to UC's 13-of-29.
It was a "yellow out" for the 6,876 fans at "The Roundhouse," but they likely will be happy to see the black and red of the Bearcats leave town. UC has won 10 of the 12 AAC meetings between the schools that first battled years ago in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Bearcats will bounce in the Big 12 next season, while the Shockers will be in the revamped American Athletic Conference.
Of note on this night in Kansas, UC tweaked its starting lineup for the first time this season as the 6-foot-9 senior Oguama was inserted in place of the 6-foot-7 senior Davenport. It was just Oguama's second start as a Bearcat and first of the season. At Wake Forest, he was primarily a starter.
Having two big men allowed the Bearcats to effectively control the boards and fouls. It also provided Davenport with some motivation to come off the bench and bang down some shots. He hit three of his first four treys and led all scorers at the half with 13 points.
"He handled that really well," Miller said of Davenport. "Jeremiah Davenport is all about winning and all about the Cincinnati Bearcats."
Up 39-22 at the break, it was the lowest point total allowed by the UC defense in any half. Plus, they nearly matched their rebounding effort in Philadelphia against Temple in 20 minutes, holding a 25-15 edge on the glass. David DeJulius was fouled on the perimeter as the half expired and canned all of his free throws to give the Bearcats the 17-point edge. They would be the only free throws UC would get in the contest.
"I knew the big fellow wanted to block my shot," DeJulius said. "I wanted to get the opportunity to shoot some free throws."
UC's lead would spurt to 22 early in the second half, but the Shockers made their run and woke up the late-night crowd. From 46-24, the lead was cut to 12 until Nolley II broke a scoring drought of over three and a half minutes.
"It wasn't Dave's (DeJulius) best shooting night, it wasn't Landers' best shooting night, but our team still played well because we defended well, we rebounded well," Miller said.
Despite a foul disadvantage in the second half, UC fended off the efforts of the Shockers, until late when they were able to cut the lead to single digits. Wichita State ended the game on a 12-2 run, but it was too little too late. UC improves to 2-1 in the American Athletic Conference while Wichita State falls to 0-3.
"I understand the magnitude of this game," DeJulius said. "I have had some success recently (vs. Wichita State) because of that mindset."
Shocker turnover
The transfer portal has affected the rosters of many programs, including Wichita State. The Shockers have a roster of 10 new players with only Craig Porter Jr. and Kenny Pohto returning from last season's group.
Double-digit Dave
Coming into the game, UC was 10-2 when David DeJulius hit in double figures and 0-3 when he did not. On an off-shooting night, he did not reach double figures, but the Bearcats found a way to prevail. While going just 1-for-9 from the field, he did dish out six assists, two more than Wichita State had as a team.
"It doesn't matter if my shot falls or not," DeJulius said. "I lock in defensively and I lead because you're going to have an off day."
Dollar in the house
UC assistant coach Chad Dollar was on Wichita State's staff in 2010-11 when the Shockers won the NIT. Wes Miller was an assistant at UNC-Greensboro that season before becoming the head coach the following year.
Wes on the gram
After his radio show Tuesday, UC coach Wes Miller unleashed a little steam on Instagram when he joined freshman Dan Skillings Jr. and recently signed Rayvon Griffith displaying a "live" dance move for their request. In the background, you could see he was watching game tape.
Houston up next
The Bearcats now have a couple of days to prepare for the No. 2 (Associated Press) ranked Houston Cougars. Houston's only loss thus far was to No. 7 Alabama 71-65. They pounded SMU 87-53 at home Thursday night. In league play, the Cougars beat UC just once from 2002-2016. Since then the Cougars have won seven of 12 including the last four. The Bearcats last beat them 64-62 Feb. 1, 2020 at Fifth Third Arena.
"It's back to work tomorrow (Friday) with a big-time game on Sunday," Miller said.
Added an invigorated Davenport, 'We're going to play our hearts out!"
CINCINNATI 39 31 70
WICHITA ST. 22 39 61
UC - Lakhin 7 0 14 Nolley 5 0 12 Adams-Woods 4 0 11 DeJulius 1 3 6 Davenport 8 0 22 Skillings 1 0 2 Reed 10 3
W - Pohto 3 1 7 Rojas 2 2 6 Porter 7 3 19 Pierre 3 0 7 Shamman 1 1 3 Flanagan 3 3 11 Bell 1 0 3 Abidde 2 1 5
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