Takeaways from a late night of UC Bearcat basketball against East Carolina

Landers Nolley II doesn't care for the late-night tips the Cincinnati Bearcats have had. The 6-foot-7 redshirt senior said Wednesday night that he'd just as soon play before noon and then have all day to "get right."

UC's uniform No. 2 was anything but sleepy in front of the Fifth Third Arena crowd as he finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Bearcats' 83-55 plundering of the Pirates of East Carolina. The numbers would suggest more late tips.

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Coach Wes Miller doesn't care about the tip time, he's ready to roll the ball out anytime someone wants to throw down.

"I don't know what Landers said in here, I'm sure he was having fun," Miller said. "Whenever they say the ball's tipping up, we need to be ready to compete."

Nolley and many of the Bearcats were ready Wednesday, particularly from long range. He hit his first two 3-pointers of the night and finished 4-for-9. Senior Jeremiah Davenport hit 4-for-8 after missing all of his 3-balls Sunday against Houston. Freshman Josh Reed and senior Mika Adams-Woods were a combined 5-for-5.

In the first half, UC was a red-hot 10-of-14 from behind the arc and they finished the game 14-for-26, just three off the season-best 17 made 3-pointers in Maui against Arizona.

The 28-point victory was the Bearcats largest win margin since the opening game of the season against Chaminade Nov. 7.

Way back Wednesday

The long-range shots were falling Wednesday as the Bearcats made seven of their first nine 3-pointers and finished the half 10-for-14 for 71.4%. The 10 triples were the most ECU had allowed in any game this season. The 10 long balls were the most in a half by UC since they drained 13 in the second half against Arizona in Maui.

"I feel like when everybody is clicking on all cylinders, we're one of the best teams in the nation," Nolley said.

Doubles mean trouble

Nolley was ecstatic about his double-double, especially the rebounds. It was his second such effort this month. He also was in awe of the David DeJulius' 11-point, 12-assist effort. It was the second time this season two players had double-doubles as Viktor Lakhin and Dan Skillings Jr. did so in December against Bryant.

"The one thing I was feeling bad about at the beginning of the season was that my assists were low," DeJulius said. "I'm a team-first guy. Also, at the next level at my height, I'm going to have to be able to run the team. I'm for sure grateful and happy to have games like this."

Freshmen aren't flinching

Josh Reed came off the bench and delivered a trio of 3-pointers, while Skillings Jr. missed only one shot from the field. The pair are growing up and continue to draw the praise of Miller.

"I want Bearcat fans if they haven't already to appreciate Josh Reed," DeJulius said. "I feel like he's going to have a great career. You might look at him and he might not 360 dunk, but you look at stats we look at in practice, SGPs, scoring-generated plays, he's always leading in those categories. He's a heck of a player and he's only going to get better from here."

Said Miller of his young players, "I've said it all along, Josh and Dan are much more skilled offensive players than people have been able to see. You see him (Reed) come out and shoot the ball like that, that's not a fluke. He's a big-time shooter."

One streak ends

A slow first half kept 6-foot-11, redshirt sophomore Lakhin from a 15th consecutive double-figure game, He still finished with eight points and six rebounds. It was the first time he had been held to single digits since the NKU loss where UC could muster only 11 second-half points. He still is a factor in most games by his presence alone.

"Viktor Lakhin is a real rim presence," Miller said. "As he continues to improve positionally on defense, his rim presence becomes greater and greater. He's reaching less and less and his rim presence is becoming greater and greater. It's there but he hasn't always been in a position to make that happen."

Miller also mentioned Ody Oguama's improvement in that area.

Shooters shoot

Before going to Wichita State this month, Jeremiah Davenport was 0-for-10 on 3-pointers against the Shockers. He responded by going 6-of-9 for a season-high 22 points. Then, against Houston, he was 0-for-7. Wednesday night the former Moeller Crusader was hitting, making 4-of-8 and finishing with 16 points and six rebounds. UC led in bench scoring vs. ECU 33-5.

"He made some shots early that lifted us," Miller said. "I thought they were the right shots. We're a dangerous team offensively when he's in a rhythm making shots. Everybody knows that. We need him to be impactful. He knows that. There's not a kid that cares more about Cincinnati basketball than Jeremiah Davenport."

The verdict?

Wednesday was a solid bounce-back win after a disappointing afternoon Sunday against Houston. The Cougars took over the No. 1 spot in the college rankings the next day while Coach Miller hunkered down and got his guys to share the ball better (20 assists) and reduce turnovers (17 vs. Houston, six against ECU). Quite frankly, if you hit nearly 54% of your 3-point shots and make 14, you can win a lot of games. This season the Bearcats are 10-2 when they make eight or more treys.

Rayvon calling

Bearcat signee Rayvon Griffith and his Arizona Compass team play in this weekend's Flyin' To The Hoop event for UC fans looking for a preview. Griffith's squad plays Friday in Kettering's Trent Arena at 8:15 against the Combine Academy of North Carolina. Griffith's old team he won a state title with, the Taft Senators, play Sunday. Local schools Fairfield and Lakota West have games on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Xavier recruit Dailyn Swain from Columbus Africentric, Indiana recruit Gabe Cupps from Centerville and Ohio State recruit Devin Royal of Pickerington Central are also part of the event that runs Friday through Monday.

Up next

UC's at Southern Methodist University Saturday afternoon for a 4 p.m. tip with the Mustangs. SMU lost to Tulane at home Wednesday 97-88. They have scored 180 points combined in their last two games at Moody Coliseum but tallied just 53 in back-to-back road losses this month at Houston and UCF. The Bearcats beat the Mustangs at Fifth Third Arena last year by 17, then lost to them by five in Dallas.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati basketball throws in threes to thrash ECU Pirates Wednesday