Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Destroys Temples 84-54 To Set Up AAC Semifinal Clash Against Houston

The Bearcats get a third chance to take down Houston on Saturday.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Mar 10, 2023 5:52 PM EST

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CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats took care of business 84-54 against Temple in the AAC Tournament Quarterfinal on Friday. It was Cincinnati's second 30-point win of the season.

Things got off to a rocky start as the Owls made some tough early shots but Dan Skillings (career-high 20 points, 6 rebounds) heated up shortly after to burn Temple for the second game in a row.

He was the heartbeat of a 31-11 run at one point in the first half.

Viktor Lakhin (6 points, 5 rebounds, 7 blocks) answered on the other end with his second-most blocks this season to set up a third bout against Houston. The win also makes Cincinnati even more likely to host an NIT game if it doesn't win the next two.

Here's the Three Man Weave on Cincinnati's final conference battle against Temple.

Freshman Feeling It

Skillings has been a huge part of the last two wins over the Owls. The freshman posted a career-high 15 points in the 88-83 win last month, and he got rolling early on Friday to set another one.

Cincinnati moved to 8-0 this season when Skillings scores at least 8 points.

The difference maker put the "skill" in his last name offensively, highlighted by a beautiful left-handed baseline floater during the Bearcats' big run. It was one play out of a bevy of great paint finishes.

He added to Cincinnati's 40-20 paint points advantage, a huge marker for controlling the game in the second half. Skillings has the talent to be a legendary UC player.

Consistency is what's lacking. Still, he's made progress steadily throughout the season, and this is another penny in a jar that's starting to fill up.

Lakhin BBBBBBlockin

Wes Miller noted Lakhin should look much more like his old self this weekend when I asked about the Russian this week.

Box checked, to the tune of a team-best 66.5 defensive rating and his second-most blocks this season.

The Owls had no answer for his perfectly timed blocks, which led to a brutal paint point total. Oh, and Lakhin stayed out of foul trouble (0 fouls) to log his highest minute total since returning from injury a few games ago.

All in all, he finished with the fourth-highest game on the Bearcats.

Cincinnati needed a great tournament outside of its top two players, and Lakhin started with a bruising bang.

Speedy Turnaround

The Bearcats play in the first semifinal game on Saturday and get two fewer hours of rest compared to Houston. That made Friday's win even more important as a few players got to sit down the stretch and avoid the high-stress moments of a close game.

Cincinnati is 0-8 against Houston and Memphis over the past two seasons.

There's never been a better time in this stretch to break that streak. Cincinnati has come close at times but always faltered down the stretch. It needs players like Mika Adams-Woods (20 points, 5 assists) and Skillings to level up as they did on Friday.

Adams-Woods shot 5-of-7 from deep—on a lot of open shots due to the Bearcats' ball movement and balanced scoring. Cincinnati has gotten two guys rolling against the AAC's top teams, but it likely needs four to cook to pull off the biggest win of the Wes Miller era.

David DeJulius (4 points, 4 assists) was not one of those players, and one has to think he'll be ready to respond in the biggest game of his Cincinnati career.

Skillings' emergence and Adams-Woods' development have marginally increased the talent level on this team enough to give them a puncher's shot against the odds on favorite to win the national championship.

Finishing the job requires execution down the stretch, and the restful, blowout win against Temple was a great first step in shocking the conference.

Cincinnati and Houston battle in the AAC semifinal on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. ET. The game is available via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

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