Cincinnati Bearcats close out nonconference play with 72-54 win over Detroit Mercy

Viktor Lakhin confidently said scoring in double figures is becoming the "norm" for him. Wes Miller said the Russian big man is only scratching the surface.

Lakhin recorded his fifth career double-double – 18 points and 15 rebounds – and Miller's University of Cincinnati men's basketball team closed out its nonconference schedule with a 72-54 win over the Detroit Mercy Titans on Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena.

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"You're just seeing the tip of the iceberg of what Vik is capable of," Miller said of Lakhin, who shot 8-for-10 from the field. "I think Vik can play anywhere in the world. I think he's got that in him. Now, he's going to have to continue to grow and develop to get that all out of him, but he's improving at a rapid rate. He knows that. And I think he's just getting started."

Landers Nolley II added 11 points and nine rebounds, Mika Adams-Woods chipped in with 11 points and David DeJulius scored 10 for the Bearcats (9-4), who improved to 6-1 in their last seven games.

Cincinnati missed eight of its first 10 shots Wednesday, including an 0-for-5 start from behind the 3-point line. Fortunately for the Bearcats, Detroit Mercy (5-8) also started cold.

But the Titans found their offense first, going on a 9-0 run to open up a 16-8 lead at the 12:27 mark in the first half.

"(Detroit Mercy's) zone (defense) stagnated us," Miller said. "Give Mike (Titans coach Mike Davis) credit. We didn't practice a whole lot against zone. We need to get back in the gym and work a little bit, which we will."

Cincinnati countered with a 9-0 spurt of its own to jump back ahead 17-16 with 8:55 remaining in the opening frame. Jeremiah Davenport (Moeller High School) sparked the surge with a 3-pointer. He finished with eight points and five assists.

DeJulius knocked down a 3 at the halftime buzzer to cap a 9-0 run by the Bearcats and UC took a 37-28 lead into the locker room.

Lakhin, who had scored in double figures in eight straight games, had 10 points and eight rebounds at the break. Ody Oguama added eight points in 11 first-half minutes off the bench.

DeJulius opened the second half with a steal on one end and an easy layup at the other end to put the Bearcats up 11. He then extended Cincinnati's lead to 14 on a 3-point basket off another Detroit Mercy turnover. Nolley II knocked in two more on a turnaround jumper to make it a 44-28 game and force Davis to burn a timeout.

DeJulius threw a lob pass to Lakhin and the Bearcats surged ahead 46-28 with 17 minutes to play.

Cincinnati was on cruise control the rest of the way.

The Bearcats owned a 46-20 advantage in the paint and a 15-2 fastbreak points.

Detroit Mercy graduate guard Antoine Davis entered the night averaging 24.8 points per game. The preseason Horizon League Player of the Year finished with 17 on 6-for-20 shooting. Cincinnati walk-on guard CJ Anthony played the role of Davis on scout team this week in practice.

"I spent two years at North Carolina on the scout team," Miller said. "When you get to be someone like Antoine Davis, it's fun, and (CJ) had a lot of fun with it. That was fun to see him enjoy it. But he did a terrific job. He is dynamic and good enough to get in these games. He helped, not just him but the scout team, they did a really nice job helping us prepare for this game."

Cincinnati won't take the court again until Dec. 29. The Bearcats will open their final American Athletic Conference schedule against Tulane. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

"Over the last two weeks since we got back from Maui, I felt like we started to establish our identity as team," Miller said. "We've had ore purpose in practice. We're figuring out roles and rotations, where we fit. And I do think we've grown a lot the last three weeks. The nonconference is over, and it gets real when league play starts. So I do like our improvement here in the last three weeks, but that doesn't guarantee anything. When we get back, we have to keep growing and we're going to have to take this up another level to compete the way that we want in the American."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati basketball: Bearcats beat Detroit Mercy before AAC slate