Cincinnati Bearcats guard David DeJulius (5) catches a pass in the lane in the first half of a men's NCAA basketball game against the South Florida Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. South Florida Bulls At Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball 067 — © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Three Man Weave: David DeJulius, Cincinnati Wax South Florida 85-69

The guard put on a show in Tampa, Florida.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Jan 19, 2023 7:39 AM EST

In this story:

Cincinnati Bearcats

South Florida Bulls

Memphis Tigers

CINCINNATI — David DeJulius busted out of his slump to help launch Cincinnati's (14-6, 5-2) offense to an 85-69 win over South Florida (8-11, 1-5).

It marked the Bearcats' 12th win this season by double-digits.

The graduate guard scorched with 21 points, and 7 assists including a perfect 16 points in the first half. That opening frame included 0 turnovers (UC's first of the game came with 13 minutes left), 11 assists from UC, and the largest lead over any Division 1 opponent this season (18 points).

Freshman Dan Skillings (11 points, 2 rebounds) helped unlock things on the other end and found his shot a bit as well. The Bulls top scorer, Tyler Harris (10 points, 1 assist), struggled to find a rhythm all night in the face of tight defense.

"Anytime you can play in Tampa, Florida, and see so many Bearcat fans, it's a beautiful thing," UC head coach Wes Miller said. "I thought we played really good basketball the first 30 minutes. It's human nature a little bit to relax, and good teams don't do that. I don't think we finished the game the way I'd like, but I'm pleased overall."

Check out the Three Man Weave on UC's 12th win over South Florida in AAC play.

DeJulius Breaks Out

The Bearcats' leader has struggled mightily shooting the ball in conference play. He hasn't played poorly overall, the shot just didn't fall for UC's top assist man.

Wednesday was different. DeJulius hit whatever he wanted in a perimeter showcase (7-of-8 FGs). It was the best shooting performance of his college career (min. 8 shots).

"Dave is such a gifted offensive player," Miller said. "You know he's not gonna go to many games where he doesn't shoot it well, it was good to see him back in a rhythm tonight."

South Florida threw all they could at him and it didn't stick as he hit off-balance shots all over the floor and even got to the line five times.

All in all, it resulted in a ridiculous 159.9 offensive rating.

DeJulius also did this with an eye for teammates once the defense sucked in around him. The 7 assists tied for his second-most all season.

Right when Cincinnati needs to finish this month undefeated, DeJulius began by stepping up in a big way. Now UC needs this same all-around offensive impact against one of the league's best attacks in Memphis.

Team, Ping

UC's ball movement against the Bulls would please any coach.

Cincinnati finished with 17 assists and plenty were true dime passes setting up easy shots.

DeJulius and Landers Nolley II (21 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) drove the train with full control of the floor. Nolley was lights out again on the glass, continuing his aim of 10 rebounds per game.

Cincinnati cranked up the pace on turnovers and is starting to show nice chemistry with the Ody-Oguama starting lineup.

That ability to begin soundly is letting Cincinnati dictate the pace, find open shots and involve the whole lineup. Against South Florida, seven different Bearcats scored at least five points, and six of them shot 50% or better.

Nights like that don't come around a lot, but then again, not much of it looked like a fluke. UC got all of their easy looks without a huge impact from Viktor Lakhin (6 points, 1 rebound, 5 fouls).

The big fella picked up a technical foul in the second half during a frustrating offensive performance. The matchup against Russell Tchewa (8 points 2 rebounds) proved difficult for both players. Lakhin found some open space here and there but continued a rough shooting stretch (45.5% FG, 1.8 TOs per game).

Skillings deserves big praise for his outing as well. The freshman created offense for himself consistently and continued to defend at a high level. His hunger for the rim is a good trait with that much size and length.

"I feel real confident when I drive to the basket," Skillings said. "My teammates give me that confidence by coaxing that confidence. Just telling me to keep going and keep that green light to be aggressive.

"Make smart plays for the team and don't force anything and things like that. So I've been really confident this year going to the basket, trying to draw fouls or just getting easy buckets for the team."

Bulls' Best, Disappear

USF's offense was decent in this game, but its top players did not do enough to keep pace with Cincinnati's balanced dominance (50%-plus shooting each half).

UC held Harris well in check during his first game after cracking the AAC Honor Roll with a 31-point outing against No. 1 Houston last week.

"David DeJulius was phenomenal," Miller said. "I thought Landers Nolley was really efficient tonight. Mika Adams-Woods did a great job defending Tyler Harris. You can kind of keep going down the line, it was a good night."

Cincinnati worked hard on their coverage plan with Harris at Tuesday's practice and that tight work translated well. He only attempted 8 shots, nearly half his season average. The ball denial was clinical.

Tchewa was absent as well, hitting just 2 shots, and showed little resistance toward Cincinnati's 38 paint points.

Miller's crew had a great Tuesday practice from my view, as they build up the system in his eyes. This team has won just about every way you can this season. Yet, they haven't won the big one.

Escalating chances at those triumphs await in the coming 10 days.

Next up is Memphis on Sunday inside Fifth Third Arena at 1 p.m. ET. The game is airing on ESPN2 and 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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