Three Man Weave: UC Destroys NJIT 86-60 For Second-Straight Blowout

Cincinnati is now 4-0 at home this season.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Dec 1, 2022 10:10 AM EST

In this story:

Cincinnati Bearcats

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati (5-3) kept the nice Maui finale feelings rolling in a 86-60 blowout over NJIT (1-6). UC got a balanced team-outing to onboard into their home non-conference schedule.

David DeJulius crossed the 1,000 career-point mark on a night where he snaked through screens with ease to scorch one of the 70-worst defenses in America. Landers Nolley II (18 points, four rebounds) answered him with a nice shooting night.

Transfer Rob Phinisee (seven points, three rebounds) played well in limited run, posting more points tonight than all season combined.

On the flip side, Jeremiah Davenport (five points, 2-of-8 FGs) continued struggling with his shot.

Check out our Three Man Weave on the big win in UC's first outing against NJIT.

Four-Digit DeJulius

Nov 30, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard David DeJulius (5) shoots the ball against N.J.I.T Highlanders guard Mekhi Gray (24) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports — © Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Bearcats have a new leading scorer this season after DeJulius destroyed the Highlander with 22 points and two rebounds on 9-of-15 FGs.

He led Cincinnati in efficiency and usage rate on a night where he looked very comfortable at home crossing 1,000 points. He used screens well to hunt high-percentage jumpers. His three-ball was on point (4-of-8 3FGs) and it opened up more opportunities for the whole offense.

"A lot of blessings, a lot of perseverance," DeJulius said about crossing the 1,000-point mark. "A lot of guys like Landers [Nolley], teammates who allow me to be me each and every day and a lot of coaches who put me in position to be successful so as much as I would love to take credit. It's a lot of factors that go into it. And I'm extremely grateful to be here for sure."

Cincinnati has gone as DeJulius has this season. He has 18-plus points in every win and a combined 19 points in their three losses. Keeping him comfortable, with a nice flow in the offense is crucial to UC's success. He still isn't getting to the free throw line much, but the jumpshots he tried against NJIT are sustainable.

"We see it as coaches," Wes Miller said about putting DeJulius in good spots for success. "We see whatever y'all see, and we see 100 times clearer. So, you want them to have the freedom to be themselves, you just want to make sure we're doing it at times we don't surprise our teammates. So, David, man in space and in isolation and a step back, that's a really tough shot for the average player, it happens to be a really good shot for David, we just want to make sure when he takes it, we got the board's covered, and we're not surprised because it is a good shot for our team."

Dejulius posted an impressive 21.2 Player Efficiency Rating heading into this contest and that will rise heading into Sunday's Bryant matchup.

Bearcat Mentality

Nov 30, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; N.J.I.T Highlanders forward Souleymane Diakite (left) fouls Cincinnati Bearcats forward Kalu Ezikpe (1) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports — © Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Wes Miller discussed how much he loved seeing Jeremiah Davenport take a big charge against Louisville earlier this week. UC channeled that mentality, playing well-connected tough basketball against a team they were 20-point favorites over.

They met the expectation and did it in UC style taking multiple charges, dominating the glass (40-22 advantage), and turning NJIT mistakes into points (21-6 advantage off turnovers).

“It's good to come back from Maui and win," Miller said. "It's good to be back in our building. We didn't say this to our guys, but the Maui tournament has been going on for so long, and it is the best preseason college event, you do want to play in those events. But there's a long history of teams coming off that event, especially teams on the East Coast and Midwest coming off that event, and really struggling the next week, because it's tough. We all had a hard time getting out of bed this week, and I never have a hard time popping out of bed during basketball season. It's a tough thing."

Cincinnati doesn't play on the road again until New Year's Day and they are pretty substantial favorites in every game until then save for Xavier. Stacking big wins like this one and the Louisville blowout are how you overcome the 28-point defeat to Ohio State and losing to NKU.

Confidence and rhythm is important for this team, keeping these vibes rolling was imperative against NJIT as they have a well-timed test against Bryant looming. The Bulldogs are ranked 155th in KenPom and just won at Syracuse.

Bryant is the second-best non-conference foe UC faces outside of Maui. Another clean, team effort will go along way towards Crosstown Shootout confidence.

No Coleman, Big Problem

Nov 30, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats forward Viktor Lakhin (30) battles for the loose ball against N.J.I.T Highlanders forward Souleymane Diakite (21) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports — © Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Highlanders leading scorer, Miles Coleman (17.8 PPG), was not on the NJIT bench tonight and they greatly missed him. He played just 18 minutes in the last game and none against UC in this defeat.

NJIT shot 42% on 51 shots as UC owned the glass and took advantage of their high-turnover rate (15 TOs).

Adam Hess (13 points) and Kevin Osawe (13 points) were the only Highlanders to score in double-figures as Cincinnati played suffocating defense near the rim (20 paint points). NJIT scored a flurry of points in the opening minutes on 4-for-7 from deep, but it wasn't sustainable throughout the game.

Cincinnati battles Bryant at noon ET on Sunday. The game is airing on ESPN+.

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

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