Three Man Weave: Bearcats Ride Rollercoaster to 85-76 Victory Over Wichita State

Cincinnati is now 13-3 this season when scoring 70-plus points.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Feb 18, 2022 7:20 AM EST

CINCINNATI — Basketball can be a simple game when you're making jump shots and it looked easy multiple times in the Cincinnati Bearcats' (17-9, 7-6) 85-76 win over the Wichita State Shockers (13-10, 4-7).

UC improved to 13-3 this season when scoring 70-plus points. They also set season highs in field goal percentage (55.2%) and three-point percentage (57.9%).

"I thought the ball really moved early," head coach Wes Miller said. "That’s probably the most fluent we have looked in a long time, and I think there have been sometimes this year when you look, and you have 20 assists, and I have been pleased with our offense, but you still feel like we could get high-quality shots."

The Bearcats canned 11-of-19 threes on a night where they came out hot following a few slow starts over the past few games. Cincinnati played enough defense to hamper WSU's best scorers and weathered a few rough patches along the way.

Let's dive into the Three Man Weave from UC's fourth game this season scoring 80-plus points.

You Get A Three, You Get A Three, You All Get Threes

Cincinnati is in the bottom third nationally in three-point shooting, so whenever they get hot from outside it usually means good things.

They are now 10-3 this season when they cash in seven-plus triples and they got to that mark well before the end of the first half. Everything they touched turned to fire in the opening 20 minutes.

UC shot 7-of-10 from outside in the half. The return of Abdul Ado (six points, four rebounds, four blocks, one steal) allowed the ball to ping a little smoother around the key. Cincinnati flashed stellar ball movement all game, finishing with 17 assists (t-fifth-best this season).

“He’s great. I said this on my radio show that he is not a stat sheet stuffer," Miller said. "But his value possession in and possession out is as good as anybody on our roster. He just means so much to our team. Abdul made some really good plays down the stretch to cover the rim for us and made some big-time plays.”

The encouraging part was no one player carried the burden all game with an individual hot streak. A total of four Bearcats made two-plus threes. Wichita State entered the game as one of the best three-point defenses in the country (30.7%, 58th Nationally), but there aren't many defenses who can defend the outside from a starting lineups-worth of dialed-in shooters.

“We have good offensive players," Miller said. "For us to be who we need to be as a team, everybody has to be able to contribute. I think (senior guard) Dave (DeJulius) is getting so much attention with his ability to get rid of the ball early and on time is really important to our offensive success as a team, and he did that at an incredibly elite level tonight. There were some plays [David] made in the first half that were unbelievable. I think it is important that other guys get involved and give David a lot of credit tonight for getting other guys involved.”

The more this team plays and practices together, the better they look. Miller made it clear on Tuesday this team didn't pack it in on the season, and their on-court chemistry Thursday was a big reason for the downtown dominance.

Mika Adams-Woods Answers The Bell

Mika Adams-Woods (15 points, six rebounds, three assists) shot below 40% from the field in three of the past four games. That turned around in one of his most efficient performances of the season (70% effective FG rate).

The sly guard used his handle as a weapon on Thursday night—baiting defenders into his range before attacking off the wing with dribble drives or slick passing. Adams-Woods has a good feel for when it's time to assert his presence; he led all Bearcats in usage rate (22.5%).

"Coach Miller just want us to be ourselves, just play our game," Adams-Woods said after the game. "If you do your job, the ball's going to find you. Just stay aggressive and move it, and the ball's going to come back to you."

He also led all Cincinnati guards in defensive rating (108.7). David Dejulius didn't slack in this one either. He posted a game-high 17 points and did a great job to keep WSU at bay in the second half. The Bearcats leading guard scored 11 points in the final 20 minutes on 4-of-6 shooting.

John Newman III (13 points, four rebounds, three assists) has to get a shout out here as well. He affected the contest all night long. Newman was even more efficient than Adams-Woods with a blistering 100% eFG rate and a game-high offensive rating (206.9). Unfortunately, Miller confirmed that he could be out for Sunday's game with an ankle sprain.

The veteran guard is a connector on this team just like Ado, every play he makes seems to energize the crowd. When Newman's game is flowing in the halfcourt, Cincinnati is a completely different offensive team.

Dexter Dennis Picks His Spots

Not much went right offensively for Wichita State but guard Dexter Dennis (14 points, two rebounds) turned in a nice performance for the Shockers. He was the only WSU player who could find any rhythm from deep (2-of-4).

WSU struggles to hit threes just like Cincinnati and Thursday was no different. Dennis was the only Shocker to hit multiple triples in the game. There were possessions where Isaac Brown's team fired up 2-3 shots from outside courtesy of a 16-7 offensive rebound advantage, but only Dennis could find twine more than once.

Ado's return and a high-energy game from Ody Oguama made things a bear to deal with inside. The latter looked much better athletically since dealing with the ankle injury against South Florida.

Dennis finished with WSU's second-best eFG rate (60%), but didn't do any playmaking on a night where the ball stuck in idle hands plenty of times for Wichita State.

Cincinnati is a much different team on both ends with a healthy Ado; more gelling like this and continued flow in their ball movement will make Cincinnati the last team anyone wants to face in the AAC Tournament next month.

"We gotta come out and punch first," Adams-Woods said about the upcoming clash with Temple. "Just stay aggressive like tonight we were, and just guard, because when we defend, we are one of the best defensive teams in the country. So I just say just really defend them."

The Bearcats wrap up a three-game week on Sunday against Temple. The contest tips off at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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