UC Bearcats look to capture second straight win, complete regular-season sweep of Tulsa
After watching his team commit 19 turnovers Wednesday night at South Florida, University of Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said the Bearcats need to take better care of the basketball.
"We really have stressed trying to get the ball moving better, and we stress our pace and our execution," Miller said. "I thought our guys made a real, concerted effort to do that tonight, but you saw us throw it around a little bit, especially in the open court when we had some advantages. So you want us to clean that up a little bit.
"But when you have 19 turnovers and you still win by double figures, that is something to be proud of from a toughness standpoint. But we do need to keep cleaning up our offensive execution."
More: DeJulius scores 24, leads Cincinnati Bearcats to 70-59 win at South Florida
The last time Cincinnati committed 19 turnovers was Jan. 20 against Tulsa, when UC defeated the Golden Hurricane 90-69. Those 90 points remain a season high for the Bearcats, who had five players score in double figures that day.
Coincidentally, the Bearcats (16-7, 6-4 American Athletic Conference) will face Tulsa again Saturday night. Cincinnati will look to trim its turnovers, improve its offensive execution and complete the regular-season sweep of the Golden Hurricane (7-15, 1-10).
More: Playing with renewed confidence, David DeJulius steps into go-to role for UC Bearcats
THE GAME
Tipoff: 8 p.m. on Saturday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
TV/Radio: ESPN+/WLW-AM (700)
Series info: Cincinnati and Tulsa are set to meet for the 44th time, with the Bearcats owning a 30-13 advantage in the series.
SCOUTING REPORT
Cincinnati (16-7, 6-4)
Coach: Wes Miller, first season (16-7)
Offense: 70.2 ppg
Defense: 63.1 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
David DeJulius (G, 6’0", 14.3 ppg)
Mika Adams-Woods (G, 6’3”, 8.9 ppg)
John Newman III (G, 6’5”, 6.5 ppg)
Jeremiah Davenport (G, 6'7", 13.2 ppg)
Abdul Ado (F, 6’11”, 1.7 bpg)
Tulsa (7-15, 1-10)
Coach: Frank Haith, eighth season (134-103)
Offense: 67.6 ppg
Defense: 69.3 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
Sam Griffin (G, 6'3", 15.7 ppg)
Darien Jackson (G, 6'3", 8.5 ppg)
LaDavius Draine (G, 6'4", 3.5 ppg)
Jeriah Horne (F, 6'7", 15.9 ppg)
Rey Idowu (F, 6'9", 8 ppg)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Abdul Ado
South Florida coach Brian Gregory said the 6-foot-11, 255-pound Ado was the difference in the Bearcats' 70-59 win over the Bulls on Wednesday. The Mississippi State graduate transfer scored just five points on one shot from the field (3-for-6 from the foul line) but had eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Ado's rim protection and presence on the defensive end need to continue to be a major factor for Cincinnati if the Bearcats are going to make some noise down the stretch.
Jeriah Horne
Averaging a team-high 15.9 points per game, Horne will be the priority for UC defensively. The 6-foot-7 forward is coming off an 18-point (4-for-6 from 3-point range), six-rebound effort in a narrow 73-71 loss to East Carolina on Tuesday. Horne knocked down three 3-pointers and had 19 points and seven boards against the Bearcats last month.
KEY TO THE GAME
More offense
David DeJulius is shooting the ball well and scoring at a high clip of late. The senior guard had 20-plus points in each of the last two games. DeJulius is starting to attract a lot of attention from opposing defenses and thus is creating open opportunities for his teammates. Those open looks need to start falling with more consistency for the Bearcats to keep opposing teams honest on the defensive end.
RANKINGS
KenPom.com: Cincinnati (79); Tulsa (173)
NET: Cincinnati (71); Tulsa (188)
RPI: Cincinnati (90); Tulsa (283)
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati basketball: Bearcats to head to Tulsa for AAC showdown
