UC Basketball Stars Of The Game: Players Who Stood Out in Bearcats Disappointing Loss at ECU

Cincinnati blew a 16-point second half lead on Wednesday night

Author:
Alex Frank
Feb 16, 2023 11:17 AM EST

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CINCINNATI — There is no excuse for a loss like this. The Cincinnati Bearcats blew a 16-point lead at East Carolina Wednesday night, falling 75-71.

Yes, Viktor Lahkin and Rob Phinisee were out. But there's no excuse to lose to a team the Bearcats just beat by 28 points last month.

Regardless, here are my three players who stood out.

1. Jeremiah Davenport - If there is any good that came out of this game, it's that Davenport is catching fire at the right time. Last night, the hometown senior tied for the team lead in scoring with 19 points, going 6-of-9 from the field, including 5 triples.

He's scored 37 points over his last two games, and is now 9/17 over that stretch from three-point range.

2. Landers Nolley II - Despite being in a shooting slump, Nolley still tied for the team lead in scoring with 19 points. In addition, the senior transfer pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists.

3. David DeJulius - In 37 minutes Wednesday night, DeJulius chipped in 15 points on 6/15 shooting while also dishing out five assists.

Other Thoughts From The 75-71 Loss

It's one thing to get out-rebounded 46-28 at Temple and have that be the only time it happens during the season. But to get out-rebounded 46-27 against East Carolina?!

This team isn't progressing as the season goes on. In fact, it feels like they're regressing.

Landers Nolley is in a shooting slump at the worst time of the season. Over his last five games, Nolley is shooting just under 37 percent overall and under 32 percent from three-point range. He's attempted at least 14 shots in each of his last five games, but he hasn't shot 50 percent in any of them.

He's still a high-impact player, but his slump is impacting the Cincinnati Bearcats in crucial moments in close games. Nolley is a combined one-for-seven from three-point range in the last five minutes of UC's last two road games

Look at the box score from Wednesday night. Nolley and DeJulius combined for 34 shot attempts. The other six players combined for just 24 shot attempts.

And what really stands out to me is that Ody Oguama and Kalu Ezikpe posted just eight shot attempts combined. To put that into perspective, Lahkin hasn't had a game with fewer than eight shot attempts since November. Davenport attempted more shots than Oguama and Ezikpe combined in the rough road trip to Greenville.

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