Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Drops Regular-Season Finale 76-71 to SMU

UC is on its first five-game losing streak to close a season since 2007.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Mar 4, 2022 8:09 AM EST

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (17-14, 7-11) found a first-half formula that fizzled against the SMU Mustangs (21-7, 12-4) in a 76-71 loss.

The Weathers Brothers hammered UC on the boards and created second-chance opportunities all night that paired with a 23 FT attempt advantage for SMU in a physical showing. SMU kept swinging the hammer in a comeback win and Cincinnati's damn eventually broke following a 34-28 halftime lead.

"We put ourselves in a position to win against the second-place team in the league, and an NCAA Tournament team in a hostile environment, and that should be recognized," Bearcats head coach Wes Miller said. "Fight and perseverance are the standard when you put the Cincinnati jersey on. It's expected, but that doesn't mean every young person understands that. These guys have done a nice job continuing to fight, and in a difficult stretch."

Here's the Three Man Weave on the defeat that sealed Cincinnati's first five-plus game losing streak to close a regular season since 2007-08.

Kendric Davis Leads a Free Throw Flurry

SMU's top offensive player all season has been Kendric Davis (game-high 25 points, five assists), who owns the third-highest offensive rating in the conference (118.1). It was the guard's seventh 25-plus point game this season.

Davis has a knack for finding the whistle against Cincinnati. He led all players in FT attempts, going 13-of-14 from the charity stripe to overcome a tough 5-of-15 night shooting the ball. It tied for the most made FTs of his career with last year's 13-of-17 performance against UC in the conference tournament.

Some of the calls were questionable here and there, but credit to Davis for putting Cincinnati in a blender throughout the night. Miller was reticent to blame the refs and was more frustrated with the defensive communication. SMU shot 30 FTs in the second half of the game.

"You guys know I'm willing to face the fire all the time," Miller said about the free throws. "All the time time. I don't dodge them, but I'm not going to get into the officiating. I just, I haven't watched the tape. You know I was frustrated. I got a technical in the last game, and I will tell you I was more frustrated watching the tape than I was during the Houston game. I'm going to show some patience here and just wait to watch the tape."

It was the most single-game free throw attempts by a UC opponent since 2010.

Michael Weathers Hunts The Rim

When a Weathers Brother shows up for a big game, it usually means good things for the SMU offense, and Thursday was no different. Michael Weathers (19 points, 11 rebounds) was a rebounding machine and a big reason why SMU had a 22-8 second-chance points advantage over Cincinnati.

The 6-foot-3 guard posted his second collegiate double-double against Cincinnati and a career-high 15 rebounds. Both he and Marcus (15 points, eight rebounds) utilize an effective outside-in rebounding strategy to keep both levels of UC's defense off balance.

That split-second hesitation gives them strong angles to the rim, and it's the biggest reason why they are the best rebounding duo in the AAC. SMU outworked Cincinnati on the glass 47-35.

"Yeah, most definitely you could tell the intensity was different," Dejulius said about SMU's second-half focus on the glass. "I felt like we was the hammer, and they were the nail in the first half. You could tell they put an emphasis on that at halftime. They came out and had an incredible game."

Michael was the most efficient player in Thursday's game posting a game-high 77% true shooting percentage. He hunted trips to the free-throw line all night long and sniffed blood in the paint early on. The brothers only went 1-of-4 from outside combined but flipped the team's identity to counter Cincinnati's great perimeter defense.

The senior duo wasn't ready to let the grip on the NCAA Tournament bubble go easily.

Bearcats Backcourt Stirs The Drink

David Dejulius (21 points, four assists) sniffed out a weakness in SMU's ball-screen defense early on in the game and went to work—but couldn't sustain it for 40 minutes. The senior guard went 6-of-12 in the first half

Dejulius navigated crisp top-of-key screens from Cincinnati's bigs and kept the ball on a string to create space. Half-court offense has been a slog all season for UC, but as Ody Oguama becomes a more versatile piece in the frontcourt rotation—this heavy screen approach could be a path to easier points in that scenario next week.

The Bearcats' senior leader lived up to that title in the first half, and Jeremiah Davenport (17 points, seven rebounds) took over the lead-scoring duties in the second half. The junior canned a pair of triples on Thursday and brought the energy all night long on the glass.

One player Cincinnati could've used on the perimeter is John Newman III (two rebounds), who reaggravated his left ankle sprain by stepping on Hayden Koval in the first half.

"Sprained his ankle," Miller said about the injury. "Same one he's been dealing with all year. I know he couldn't come back in the game. Said he got it really good...We got a week, so we'll try to get him back healthy."

Cincinnati is essentially locked into the eight seed in the AAC Tournament and will start their tournament run next Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.

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