Three Man Weave: Houston Hammers Cincinnati 80-58 for 12th win in a row

David Dejulius exploded for 18 points in the first half but it was just a blip on Houston's radar.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Feb 7, 2022 7:40 AM EST

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (15-7, 5-4) fought hard against the best team in the AAC, but it wasn't enough in a 80-58 loss to the Houston Cougars (20-2, 9-0).

David Dejulius (game-high 25 points, two rebounds, two assists) was a one-man offense for much of the game, and the Cougars took advantage of a Bearcats team that lagged behind him. Cincinnati faltered on the offensive glass and inside the paint.

"We got our butts kicked tonight," Wes Miller said after the game. "I'm extremely pissed off. I got the sense that our team is as well as we should be. We gotta learn from it. A lot of basketball left to be played. Tip your cap off to Houston. I thought they started the game. Just really executing thought they did some really good things offensively to put our defense in rotation, and then made plays, and then we had a couple of good possessions early, because our guys were ready to play. And they still made place over the top and I thought that stunned us a little bit."

That loss in the physical portion of the game was too much to overcome. Here's the Three Man Weave on a tough night at Fifth Third Arena.

Fabian White Displays Veteran Skills

Fabian White (22 points, nine rebounds, two assists) just crossed 1,000 career points this past week and kept the party rolling into the 513. The senior forward was a human bowling ball driving to the rim and took advantage of every possession that Cincinnati lost track of him.

The forward was a big catalyst in Houston's efficient night from outside. He showed off his smooth stroke early and often for finishing 4-for-5 from outside. White blistered with efficiency, finishing with a game-high 77% effective FG rate.

His biggest impact was arguably on the glass where his 6-foot-8, 225-pound frame punished Cincinnati.

The Bearcats have size, but not enough to match the thickness and power White brought on both ends of the floor. The scoring baton passes between White, Kyler Edwards (eight points, five rebounds), Josh Carlton (eight points, six rebounds), and Taze Moore (12 points, four assists).

Cincinnati only stopped one of those impact players on Sunday night. Carlton was a ghost of his normal self with Abdul Ado and Viktor Lakhin making life difficult shooting the ball, but even during a poor night from the field he affected shots near the rim on defense and pulled down his conference average in rebounds.

Houston has a roster that can explode from any position, and White took that mantle at Fifth Third Arena.

Houston Manhandles Cincinnati Offense

Kelvin Sampson has installed one of the strongest programs in the country built on hounding on-ball defense and rebounding. Both of those went Houston's way on Sunday night.

The Cougars out-rebounded Cincinnati 38-26 and allowed one UC player to crack a 37% effective FG rate. It was a clinical defensive performance where Cincinnati shot .

Dejulius was the only player who could get to his spots at all three levels. Cincinnati turned the ball over 10 times but couldn't get any easy looks near the rim (18-12 on layup points). Houston outscored Cincinnati 38-18 in the paint.

"I've been around college basketball now, I haven't counted the years, but it feels like for a really long time," Miller said about Houston. "And I've been around really good basketball programs. That's a really good basketball program. Like you have good teams. That's a good basketball program because there's a certain level of play every single year, year after year that Kelvin [Sampson] has his crew doing, year after year. It doesn't matter when the faces change. It's the same thing."

What's more troubling about this game is Cincinnati never brought the physicality to Houston on defense. The Cougars ran an unencumbered offense and attempted just 11 free throws. That was the category where Houston has struggled to hit shots from this season, and they didn't have to worry about it.

The team-wide athleticism was on full display by looking at the dunk disparity alone (8-0). Houston had horses that Cincinnati couldn't keep up with on either end at home.

David Dejulius: One-Man Show

Cincinnati needed multiple players to combine for great outings against Houston, and Dejulius was the only one to execute that part of the upset-equation. The senior was magnificent in his sixth 20-plus point game of the season, and second-best scoring mark of his college career.

"Just staying confident in myself and when you are under a coach like coach Wes Miller, who instills so much confidence in you. It makes you feel like you're on Cloud Nine as a player," Dejulius said about his stellar scoring night. "And I'm so appreciative to play for him and I'm so appreciative to play with each and every one of those guys in that locker room because they allow me to be me. And if I didn't have the coach that I have, or the players and teammates I have, I wouldn't be able to have nights like I had tonight. So I'd love to take the credit, but obviously I can't take the credit."

He led UC with a whopping 36% usage rate on a night where the Bearcats used as much of his talent they could get. Dejulius finished as the only Bearcat with a 10-plus efficiency score and an effective FG rate over 40%.

Dejulius was a big part of Cincinnati's 12-0 run to end the first half, but that juice ran out in the second frame (seven points on 1-of-4 shooting). Cincinnati's lead ballhandler carries the biggest load on the team, and that includes playmaking where he created an open three-point shot from Viktor Lakhin to close the half, but not many other Bearcats could find the cup.

Dejulius was the only UC player to attempt four-plus shots and shoot over 40% from the field. One other encouraging part of Dejulius's night was his aggressiveness. He didn't settle for a bunch of outside shots—instead—he got to the rack well and went 12-for-12 from the line.

He'll try to carry this momentum on the road as Cincinnati looks for a bounce-back performance against South Florida on Wednesday night. The game tips off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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