Three Man Weave: UCF Steals Game Away From Cincinnati in 75-61 Victory

The Bearcats committed 11 turnovers in the first half.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Feb 24, 2022 9:21 AM EST

CINCINNATI — The hits keep coming down the final stretch of the AAC campaign. Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats (17-11, 7-8) started sloppily and never recovered in a 75-61 loss to the UCF Golden Knights (17-9, 9-7).

Cincinnati averages less than 11 turnovers per game but coughed the rock up that many times in the first half to dig a hole it couldn't escape. UCF's frontcourt ate up on the other end to leave no doubt who the better team was in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday night.

Here's the Three Man Weave on UC's fifth loss in its past seven games.

Bearcats Open A First-Half Bakery

Cincinnati ranks top-30 nationally in turnovers, but were a shell of that team on Wednesday. The Bearcats gave up the ball 11 times in the first 20 minutes. That marked a season-high for one half and left them with a 13-point deficit.

It wasn't like UCF was making crazy athletic lunges for the ball or completely outhustling Cincinnati. The Bearcats on most of the gaffes just dropped the ball or miscommunicated.

"I thought we were careless early in the game, committing 11 turnovers in the first half to give them 16 points," head coach Wes Miller said after the game. "Some of it was just dropping the ball, and those result in easy baskets. You're then in a position to crawl back...We're frustrated."

Anytime you have two more turnovers than made shots in a half—it's going to be very difficult to win that basketball game. UCF gladly lapped up all of the free buckets. They scored 16 points off turnovers in the first half—with seven dunks to drive the dagger deeper.

"We want to perform better, and we know we're capable of it," Miller said. "Sports is about life. There are difficult times, and you have to push through to get to the other side."

To Miller and the rest of the team's credit, Cincinnati didn't commit a turnover in the second half, but the defense still allowed UCF to shoot 50% in the final 20 minutes. Plug one hole lately, and another one starts leaking for Cincinnati basketball.

Big Fellas Bring The Pain

UCF was missing third-leading scorer Brandon Mahan in this game, and it was hard to tell with how much slack the frontcourt picked up. That started with C.J. Walker (team-high 13 points, six rebounds) and Cheikh Mbacke Diong (11 points, six rebounds).

The duo combined to go 10-of-14 from the field on Wednesday and set the physical tone that teams are bringing right at Cincinnati lately. Walker defined energy in this game, and it started on the glass.

He and Mbacke Diong combined for 12 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds from Diong. Those extra chances were a big reason UCF outscored Cincinnati 17-6 on second-chance points and 40-30 in the paint.

The Golden Knights did a great job putting UC's defensive sets into a spin cycle and then finding the backside cutter at the end of actions. UCF only went 10-of-19 on layup attempts, but was 19-of-28 overall when factoring dunks. Allowing nearly 30 shots at the rim is a recipe for disaster.

Abdul Ado (two points, three rebounds) had the best defensive rating of any Bearcats big man (103.3), but Mbacke Diong made sure his stout defense made Ado a non-factor.

Cincinnati got eight shots from their frontcourt in this game. UCF was more than willing to let the Bearcats guards chuck up low-percentage jump shots while turning the ball over. The strategy worked out very well for Johnny Dawkins' team.

David Dejulius Punches The Clock

Cincinnati's leading scorers put up decent numbers on the surface against UCF, but a deeper dive magnifies plenty of inefficiencies. David Dejulius (16 points, three rebounds, three assists) led all players in scoring but it took plenty of work to get there.

He posted a 46% effective field goal rate and never got into a rhythm save for a few good-looking runners in the second half. The real headache came on defense, where the toll appears to be wearing on Dejulius.

Dejulius was one of UC's best on-ball defenders much of the season but is slipping lately with the load he has to carry. He earned a 110.1 defensive rating on Wednesday. In recent games, he's been even worse; Temple (149.1), Wichita State (130.1), Memphis (147.2).

Jeremiah Davenport (15 points, career-high 12 rebounds) tried to pick up the defensive slack. He earned a team-best 86.7 defensive rating in this game and brought the extra gear all game. Unfortunately, the car stalled on most of his shooting motions.

Davenport paired a team-high 32% shot rate with a rotation-low 37% eFG rate. He was 1-of-8 from outside on a night where he couldn't seem to square his shoulders to the hoop with consistency.

The Bearcats are now close to a lock to play on Day One of the AAC Tournament as they sit two games back of fifth-place Tulane with three games to play. Every team in front of them owns the tiebreaker except for SMU in second place.

Senior Night is up next for Cincinnati. They tip-off against South Florida on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. The game is airing on ESPN+.

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