TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team nearly put together an improbable rally in its AAC opener, but Tulane held on for a 68-60 win on New Year's Day.
The Bearcats trailed by as much as 26 late in the first half before pulling within 11 at 13:48 and seven with a minute left. Junior guard Jeremiah Davenport recorded his second-career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds while redshirt freshman Viktor Lakhin had eight points and four rebounds.
The Bearcats scored their quickest basket of the season at 19:56 when senior guard John Newman III laid in an easy basket right off the tip and Davenport's three gave the Bearcats an early 5-0 advantage.
Tulane would go on a 23-3 run, with 13-0 and 8-0 runs, and shot 64.3 percent from three-point range in the first half.
Junior guard Mika Adams-Woods would hit his first three of the game after Davenport's jumper cut the visitors' lead to 37-18.
Junior forward Ody Oguama's three-point play and huge slam dunk got the Fifth Third Arena faithful up on their feet at 16:25 with an 18-point deficit.
Abdul Ado slammed a dunk and Davenport splashed a three all part of a 13-0 run and cut the deficit to 52-41 at 13:48. Davenport had 19 points, which was the most against a Division I opponent this season, while also matching a career-high 10 rebounds for his second-career double-double.
The Bearcats held the visitors to just 19.2 percent from the field in the second half, including a stretch late where Tulane was held to one bucket out of 15 attempts, and Tulane was one for 15 to finish the game.
Cincinnati (10-4, 0-1 AAC) continues its homestand Thursday at 9 p.m. ET against SMU.
FROM WES MILLER
"When you get down 26 against a Division I basketball team it is going to tough to come back. I was disappointed in our effort in the first half, and I mean that. We didn't play hard, we didn't play with energy. I thought we had a great week of practice and maybe one of the best weeks of practices. Sometimes it doesn't carry over right away. You got to continue to have great weeks of practice and build on them. Unfortunately, it did not carry over to the first 20 minutes of the game. I am disappointed, frustrated and I think our team feels the same way."
NOTABLE
-Cincinnati out-rebounded Tulane 43-34, its first defeat in 11 games this season winning that battle.
-The Bearcats are 8-3 against the Green Wave as AAC rivals, leading 29-16 overall.
The Bearcats trailed by as much as 26 late in the first half before pulling within 11 at 13:48 and seven with a minute left. Junior guard Jeremiah Davenport recorded his second-career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds while redshirt freshman Viktor Lakhin had eight points and four rebounds.
The Bearcats scored their quickest basket of the season at 19:56 when senior guard John Newman III laid in an easy basket right off the tip and Davenport's three gave the Bearcats an early 5-0 advantage.
Tulane would go on a 23-3 run, with 13-0 and 8-0 runs, and shot 64.3 percent from three-point range in the first half.
Junior guard Mika Adams-Woods would hit his first three of the game after Davenport's jumper cut the visitors' lead to 37-18.
Junior forward Ody Oguama's three-point play and huge slam dunk got the Fifth Third Arena faithful up on their feet at 16:25 with an 18-point deficit.
Abdul Ado slammed a dunk and Davenport splashed a three all part of a 13-0 run and cut the deficit to 52-41 at 13:48. Davenport had 19 points, which was the most against a Division I opponent this season, while also matching a career-high 10 rebounds for his second-career double-double.
The Bearcats held the visitors to just 19.2 percent from the field in the second half, including a stretch late where Tulane was held to one bucket out of 15 attempts, and Tulane was one for 15 to finish the game.
Cincinnati (10-4, 0-1 AAC) continues its homestand Thursday at 9 p.m. ET against SMU.
FROM WES MILLER
"When you get down 26 against a Division I basketball team it is going to tough to come back. I was disappointed in our effort in the first half, and I mean that. We didn't play hard, we didn't play with energy. I thought we had a great week of practice and maybe one of the best weeks of practices. Sometimes it doesn't carry over right away. You got to continue to have great weeks of practice and build on them. Unfortunately, it did not carry over to the first 20 minutes of the game. I am disappointed, frustrated and I think our team feels the same way."
NOTABLE
-Cincinnati out-rebounded Tulane 43-34, its first defeat in 11 games this season winning that battle.
-The Bearcats are 8-3 against the Green Wave as AAC rivals, leading 29-16 overall.