© Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Escapes UCF On The Road 73-71
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (18-10, 9-6) won a nail-biter 73-71 over UCF (15-11, 6-8) on Sunday to sweep the Knights for the first time this decade.
Untimely turnovers were a problem, but David DeJulius (16 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds) cashed a floater near the buzzer to cement the win. His chemistry and overall team shooting efficiency drove a much-needed conference win.
"I want to give a huge shout out to my trainer back home," DeJulius said about the big shot. "We actually went over some film and he said I should use my skips when the shot clock's going down and I got to that, so shoutout to my teammates, coaches, and my mentor."
Landers Nolley II (18 points, 7 turnovers) had the second-most giveaways of his career but flashed enough beautiful offense to aid the win.
Cincinnati is now 2-2 since Viktor Lakhin got injured—they hope for his return on Wednesday against Temple.
"Obviously, a couple of blown leads here in the last five, six minutes of games (lately)," UC head coach Wes Miller said. "You could feel some of those things happening in terms of breaking the press and I thought our group was really resilient in those moments tonight. I thought we made some real game winning plays, even though we did have the turnovers."
Here's the Three Man Weave on Cincinnati's third win this season shooting under 29% from deep.
Dynamic DeJulius
Cincinnati's top player extended a nation-leading streak on Sunday.
DeJulius has now posted 5-plus assists in 13 straight games as he still feeds the post without Lakhin.
His screen chemistry with Cincinnati's backup bigs kept Cincinnati on the winning side against a formidable UCF frontcourt. He was a maestro with the ball, committing just 2 turnovers and directing traffic at will to ultimately finish with the highest game score on either side (22).
DDJ found a nice feel for opposing tendencies to amass a 6-of-6 free throw line. That part of the game was huge for Cincinnati, who went 11-of-15 as a team and outscored UCF 40-28 in the paint. The graduate guard has found his top gear as he crossed 1,000 points at UC.
Cincinnati had its fourth-most turnovers this season, but the guard rolled with those punches, never got frustrated, and found a way to win with a great shot down the stretch.
Against Tulane, DeJulius went too slow in the same opportunity during an eventual loss. This time, he picked the perfect time to get downhill and find a high-percentage look.
"I'm super proud of David," Miller said. "He deserved to have that one go in the way he's worked at it and how invested he is. I know he took it really hard when he was in a similar situation at Tulane. He shouldn't, because he's been terrific for us all year, but he took it hard and the neat thing is that he keeps coming back to work. He wanted the ball again in that same situation, and he made a big-time play."
Big Men Backup
Cincinnati missed Lakhin a lot less on Sunday thanks to great combined play from Kalu Ezikpe (12 points, 6 rebounds) and Ody Oguama (15 points, 7-of-7 FGs, 4 rebounds).
The pair fit into the offense nicely all afternoon, offering post options against a daunting UCF frontcourt that just got healthy itself.
Turnovers and bad ballhandling have been a problem at times for both players this season, but they were sound toting the rock in Orlando.
"My teammates did a good job of finding me," Oguama said. "That's the only reason why I made so many plays especially Dave is a killer. killer in the ball screen, a killer in general."
Ezikpe in particular flashed all the skills that have earned him over 1,000 college points. His up-and-under spin move got a nice workout, and he was part of a few nice floaters from the Bearcats.
That shot is something this team could probably sprinkle more of as a midway point between heavy jump-shooting and pressuring the glass. Free throws have bothered all of UC's big men this season, but the combo went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
The pick-and-roll chemistry DeJulius has carved with multiple big men this season is keeping any lofty hopes alive down the stretch.
Durr Returns
The Knights' seven-footer Michael Durr (15 points, 5 rebounds), got back on the floor against Memphis this week after missing eight games and caught a nice rhythm throughout the contest on Sunday.
Durr took advantage of his size presence on offense but did get taken advantage of by Ezkipe at times. He was slick as a ballhandler and got into his favorite post spots with relative ease to complement Hendricks as a roaming forward.
The big man bounced around from South Florida to Indiana last year, and now UCF. The injury stunted his impact during a crucial time for the Knights, but he's back to the impact Johnny Dawkins envisioned when Durr joined the team.
Durr even flashed some nice pick-and-pop ability on the baselines to stretch UC's defense. It was a nice skill showcase for the big man.
"They put so much into this and they work so hard for us and when it doesn't go your way, our kids have taken it hard and to see them have that moment of joy," Miller said. It's one of the best feelings you could have as a coach to see that joy within your team in those moments."
Next up for UC is Temple on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The game is available via fuboTV—start your free trial here.
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