In its first game in 11 days, the University of Cincinnati men's basketball team fell behind 26 points to Tulane and dropped its first game of the new year and its American Athletic Conference opener, 68-60.
Following the Bearcats' loss on New Year's Day, first-year Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said he was "disappointed" in and "frustrated" by his team's effort against the Green Wave (5-6, 2-0 AAC).
More:Wes Miller, UC Bearcats lose AAC opener to hot-shooting Tulane
"We didn’t play hard. We didn’t play with energy," Miller said. "I thought we had a great week of practice and maybe one of the best weeks of practice we’ve had since games started. Sometimes, it doesn’t carry over right away."
After displaying effort Miller deemed "unacceptable," Cincinnati (10-4, 0-1) has an opportunity to regroup and grab its first conference win of the season Thursday in a nationally televised game at home against SMU (11-3, 2-0).
More:'I'm so proud of Vik': UC's Viktor Lakhin is finding success after 'difficult' first year
THE GAME
Tipoff: 9:30 p.m. on Thursday at Fifth Third Arena
TV/Radio: ESPN/WLW-AM (700)
Series info: Cincinnati is 16-5 all time against SMU, including a 14-4 mark since both teams were members of the AAC. UC owns a nine-game win streak against the Mustangs, with the last meeting ending in a 74-71 victory in the first round of last year's AAC tournament.
SCOUTING REPORT
SMU (11-3, 2-0)
Coach: Tim Jankovich, seventh season (112-58)
Offense: 78.3 ppg
Defense: 68 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
Kendric Davis (G, 6'0", 21.5 ppg)
Zach Nutall (G, 6'3", 9.4 ppg)
Emmanuel Bandoumel (G, 6'4", 10.1 ppg)
Marcus Weathers (F, 6'5", 10.4 ppg)
Isiah Jasey (F, 6'10", 1.1 bpg)
Cincinnati (10-4, 0-1)
Coach: Wes Miller, first season (10-4)
Offense: 70.8 ppg
Defense: 60.9 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
David DeJulius (G, 6’0", 12.1 ppg)
Mika Adams-Woods (G, 6’3”, 7.2 ppg)
John Newman III (G, 6’4”, 6.5 ppg)
Jeremiah Davenport (G, 6'7", 12.9 ppg)
Abdul Ado (F, 6’11”, 1.4 bpg)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kendric Davis
The 6-foot Houston native led the AAC in scoring (19 points per game), assists (7.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.2) last season en route to earning first-team All-AAC honors.
Davis is compiling another impressive campaign this season, averaging a conference-high 21.5 points.
The senior guard earned a spot on the AAC honor roll this week after averaging 23 points, 5.5 assists and six rebounds and leading the Mustangs to wins over Tulsa and UCF.
Jeremiah Davenport
Davenport was one of the lone bright spots for the Bearcats in Saturday's loss. The junior guard notched his second career double-double, racking up 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 10 rebounds.
Davenport recorded his first double-double at SMU last season, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 76-69 win.
KEY TO THE GAME
Play sound defense
Davis has the ability to completely take over a game. Cincinnati needs to make it tough for the senior guard and not allow him to get into a rhythm offensively.
The Bearcats also need to contest every shot and chase the Mustangs off the 3-point line if necessary.
Tulane shot just under 50% (10-of-21) from 3-point range against Cincinnati.
RANKINGS
KenPom.com: SMU (62); Cincinnati (91)
NET: SMU (66); Cincinnati (75)
RPI: SMU (91); Cincinnati (186)
Source link
