The Cincinnati Bearcats defeated NJIT on Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena rather easily, after a long absence away from home. They recently returned from a strenuous trip to Hawaii where they competed in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Following a road loss to NKU, the Bearcats embarked on the trip to Maui and were immediately bullied by Arizona and Ohio State, both of whom are currently ranked in the AP Top 25. They salvaged a victory in the seventh-place game against the winless Louisville Cardinals to get back on track. Cincinnati’s 86-60 win over the Highlanders on Wednesday was the first of seven consecutive games at home for the Bearcats.
“It’s good to come back and win, it’s good to be back in our own building,” said Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller. “There’s a long history of teams coming off of [the MJM Invitational] and really struggling the next week. 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.” He continued, “To come out here and have some good moments, have some not so good moments, but to feel a win, to be back in our own building coming off of that trip, I think that was needed.”
Through the first several minutes of the game, Cincinnati opened up the early advantage over NJIT. The Bearcats expanded their lead to 15-7 near the 13-minute mark of the game. The Highlanders subsequently answered with a 12-2 run to take the lead. Raheim Sullivan connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to close the gap to 15-13, scoring his only six points on the night. Another NJIT triple from Adam Hess following a Mika Adams-Woods jumper for Cincinnati cut the lead to one point. Shortly after, a Cincinnati turnover followed by a three-point play from NJIT forward Kevin Osawe gave the Highlanders the lead.
Hess and Osawe led the scoring for the Highlanders, each posting 13 points in the loss.
NJIT quickly squandered the advantage over Cincinnati, as they allowed the Bearcats to go on a scoring spree to close the half.
Following four straight successful free throw attempts from Cincinnati junior Ody Oguama to give the Bearcats the lead back at 21-19, their primary playmakers started to click on offense. A veteran guard and primary scorer, David DeJulius scored eight straight points for Cincinnati in a roughly two-minute span. The spurt for DeJulius helped give the Bearcats a 33-21 lead at the five-minute mark in the half. Late 3-pointers from seniors Landers Nolley II, Rob Phinisee and Jeremiah Davenport padded the lead going into the locker room.
After experiencing recent second-half collapses, DeJulius wanted to keep his foot on the gas, even with the 14-point halftime advantage. “I wanted to kind of be aggressive,” he said. “I also knew after [the half] they were going to start sending two [players] to the ball and then there was going to be a four on-three on the backside. So I just wanted to be aggressive, not only for myself but for my teammates as well.”
DeJulius finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including 4-for-8 from behind the arc. He continues to exhibit great efficiency, shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from 3-point range this season. DeJulius also added two rebounds, two assists and a steal in the win.
To begin the scoring for Cincinnati in the second half, DeJulius knocked down two more field goals, followed by six straight points from Nolley to give the Bearcats a 55-33 lead, their largest of the game to that point. Nolley scored 18 points on just seven field goals attempted, including a trio of 3-pointers on four attempts. The senior guard added four rebounds, three assists and a steal as well.
Cincinnati outscored the Highlanders 31-27 over the final 16 minutes to win the game by a final score of 86-60.
The ability to out-rebound proved to be a difference-maker for the Bearcats in their win over NJIT. “I feel like it makes us aggressive, it just gives us extra opportunities to score if we’re struggling in the half court or not getting anything in transition,” Nolley stated. “Guys getting there and getting their hands on the offensive rebounds gives us second opportunities to score again.”
Arguably the best rebounder Cincinnati has to offer is sophomore Viktor Lakhin. The 6-foot-11 forward has taken major strides for the Bearcats, and his progress was evident again on Wednesday night. Cincinnati finished with a massive 40-22 rebounding advantage over the Highlanders, including a 14-4 difference on offensive boards. Lakhin accounted for a quarter of Cincinnati’s total rebounds, including four of the 14 offensive rebounds. He finished with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win, his second double-double of the season.
“For me honestly, he’s probably the best big in our league,” claimed Nolley, speaking about Lakhin. “When he’s got somebody on his back, he’s either going to get fouled or he’s going to score, I feel like. That’s how we all feel.”
Aside from rebounding, Miller especially feels that shot efficiency is important for his team as the season moves on. “Shot selection is an important part of us becoming a better offensive team,” he said. “It’s a challenge because we have three guys that can make really tough challenge shots. Sometimes [they] shoot it better taking a tougher shot than an open shot. 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.”
Cincinnati shot 50 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from behind the 3-point line in the win. Comparatively, NJIT shot fairly well, converting on 42 percent of their shots from the field and 43 percent from long distance while going 9-for-11 from the free throw line. They did, however, shoot the ball 14 fewer times than Cincinnati due in part to a lack of second-chance opportunities that the Bearcats capitalized on throughout the game.
The Bearcats improve to 5-3 on the season and will host Bryant on Sunday. The Bulldogs have been impressive to start the season, winning six of their first seven games. They have already reeled in a signature win on young season, a 73-72 road win at Syracuse on Saturday. Their only loss of the season came at the hands of Florida Atlantic on Nov. 17, when they fell 85-74.
