The Wes Miller era has officially begun.
Jeremiah Davenport scored 11 points, David DeJulius added nine points and the University of Cincinnati men's basketball team defeated Evansville 65-43 Tuesday night at Fifth Third Arena for Miller's first win as UC coach.
Up next: Cincinnati will look to ride the early-season momentum past visiting Georgia on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
Here's What we learned from Tuesday's win:
The starting 5
For the first time this season, fans got a glimpse into Miller's mind and what he's looking to do with this Cincinnati lineup.
Miller started senior guard David DeJulius at point guard, followed by junior Mika Adams-Woods at shooting guard. Senior Clemson transfer John Newman III started at forward, while preseason second-team All-AAC selection Jeremiah Davenport occupied the other forward spot.
Abdul Ado, the 6-foot-11 big man from Mississippi State, started for the Bearcats downlow.
Miller staggered the minutes of Ado and 7-foot-1 tower Hayden Koval, while going with former Wake Forest forward Ody Oguama and sophomore guards Mason Madsen and Mike Saunders Jr. to lead the second unit.
Mason Madsen can still shoot
The Bearcats started 0-for-4 from 3-point range, and then Mason Madsen went to work.
The sophomore guard checked in with 12:58 to play in the first half. and then knocked down back-to-back jumpers from deep about two minutes later. The personal 6-0 run gave Cincinnati a 16-13 lead, but more importantly picked the Bearcats out of an early shooting slump.
Davenport followed Madsen by knocking two 3-pointers of his own.
Cincinnati went on an 18-1 run, including 10 straight, and took a 31-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.
UC held a 21-5 advantage in scoring off the bench at the break.
Madsen finished with nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from long range and five rebounds.
UC is going to protect the rim
Koval showed early why he entered this season as the NCAA's active leader in career blocks (337)
The UNC Greensboro transfer added two blocks to his collection but also made it hard for Evansville to get anything going inside.
Ody Oguama is going to be a force inside
Miller elected to bring Oguama off the bench in Game 1, but the 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward made a strong case to be in the starting lineup.
Oguama finished with seven points in 16 minutes, but also moved well without the ball and showed great lateral quickness on defense.
Viktor Lakhin looked sharp in first UC minutes
After missing all of last season with a knee injury, 6-foot-11, 245-pound Russian had seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, seven rebounds in seven minutes.
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