Cincinnati Bearcats rout Bryant, win 3rd straight heading into Crosstown Shootout

Keith Jenkins, Cincinnati Enquirer
·4 min read
1

The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team will enter the Crosstown Shootout on a three-game winning streak.

Viktor Lakhin (16 points and 13 rebounds) and Dan Skillings Jr. (14 points and 13 rebounds) each recorded a double-double as the Bearcats thumped a shorthanded Bryant squad 97-71 Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena.

'Monster Factory':A look inside the source of strength, power for UC Bearcats basketball

Cincinnati, which improved to 6-3 with the lopsided win, won't take the court again until Saturday. The Bearcats will be back at Fifth Third to host Xavier in the 90th installment of the Crosstown Shootout rivalry series. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. on ESPN2.

The Musketeers (6-3) have won their last two games, including an 84-74 victory Saturday night over former Bearcats coach Bob Huggins and West Virginia.

"I haven't had a chance to really process who we're going to handle this week leading up to the Xavier game," Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. "I will say our guys understand. We've got a bunch of returning guys. We have guys that have played at Xavier last year. We have guys that hear it around campus and around the community every day. It doesn't take long being around Cincinnati to learn about that (rivalry). It took me about 10 hours. 'Oh, this is pretty serious stuff.'

"Our guys understand how big of a game it is to this community. They don't need a message from me. They'll be ready to work and ready to compete and ready to prepare. Just like I'm sure Xavier will be as well. We're going to approach it as business as usual."

Cincinnati jumped on Bryant early Sunday, shooting 52% (16-for-31) from the field in the first half and owning a 40-24 lead at the break. Jeremiah Davenport (Moeller High School) paced the Bearcats with 13 first-half points. He finished with 14.

Cincinnati guard Jeremiah Davenport scored 13 of his 14 points in the first half to help lead the Bearcats to victory over Bryant on Sunday.
Cincinnati guard Jeremiah Davenport scored 13 of his 14 points in the first half to help lead the Bearcats to victory over Bryant on Sunday.

The Bulldogs (6-3) took the court with a limited roster, as six of their players were sick with an undisclosed illness.

UC led by as many as 23 (36-13 at the 4:17 mark) before intermission.

The Bulldogs shot just 21% (8-for-39) in the opening period, including an anemic 13% (3-for-24) from deep.

Cincinnati pushed its lead to 30 on three separate occasions in the second half. Josh Reed and Jarrett Hensley each scored 10 in the win. David DeJulius added 14 points and seven assists, playing many of his 26 minutes at the point guard position.

"I thought he looked incredibly comfortable tonight," Miller said of the preseason second-team All-AAC selection. "We haven't played him there much in the year that I've been here. He looked a lot more comfortable and made great decisions with the ball for the most part. I think that's important because he and Shoey (Mika Adams-Woods) are going to have to split some point-guard minutes."

Cincinnati Bearcats guard David DeJulius (5) had 14 points and seven assists in Sunday's win against Bryant.
Cincinnati Bearcats guard David DeJulius (5) had 14 points and seven assists in Sunday's win against Bryant.

Bearcats reserve point guard Rob Phinisee did not play. The Indiana transfer is out indefinitely after suffering a fractured foot in practice.

"Losing Rob Phinisee, that stinks," Miller said. "I thought he was starting to kind of find his way offensively. We've made some offensive adjustments to what we were doing, and I thought he was a guy that was really going to benefit from those, and he looked comfortable offensively for the first time in our last game. But this is life and this is basketball."

With Phinisee out and graduate wing John Newman III already sidelined with a knee injury, freshman big man Sage Tolentino (Hamilton High School) got his first minutes of his young college career. Tolentino, who checked in with 3:12 to play before halftime, had four points and two rebounds in five minutes.

Cincinnati owned a sizeable advantage in bench points (42-12), points in the paint (46-30), second-chance points (21-4) and most notably rebounding (56-41) against the Bulldogs.

"Rebounding is the one area where it's OK to be selfish," Miller said. "It's the only area in basketball where I think it's OK to be selfish. You can go get as many of those as you want, and that's good for the team."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati basketball: Bearcats rout Bryant