(Ryan Luster)
by Taylor Bergfeld
Fresh off the heartbreaking loss vs Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout, the Bearcats welcomed Travis Steel and the Miami Redhawks to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats defeated the Redhawks by a score of 103-76. Cincinnati put together arguably their best 20 minutes of the season in the first half, forcing Miami (Oh) into 10 TO’s resulting in 13 points. Landers Nolley II and David DeJulius both continued their stellar play leading the Bearcats with 12 points each in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bearcats had their way offensively, pushing the tempo to match Miami’s preferred style of play. Wes Miller made it a point of emphasis to put Anderson Mirambeaux in ball screens, allowing 5th Year Senior David DeJulius to create opportunities for himself along with Viktor Lakhin. DeJulius finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-13 shooting. Memphis Transfer Landers Nolley finished with 20 points on 8-11 shooting, both David and Landers are forming an elite duo heading into AAC conference play.
The Bearcats have made strides to become more efficient offensively, relying less on iso 1-on-1 situations. Tonight is the perfect example of the Offense that Coach Wes Miller wants to maintain in the Queen City. The Bearcats were 38-60 (63%) on 23 assists from the field, 12-20 (60%) from 3, and 15-17 (88%) from the charity stripe. The Bearcats kept their own turnovers in check, only coughing up 9 TO’s compared to the 17 they forced.
The Bearcats host La Salle on Saturday the 17th at 2:00 PM as they inch closer to AAC conference play. In a League with heavy hitters like Houston & Memphis, the Bearcats need to start off strong to create Q 1 & 2 opportunities to boost the Cats NCAA Tournament chances! Be sure to be on the lookout for more Bearcat Coverage through the 48 minutes network team!
