TicketsCINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team will close the regular season with two games in Texas this week, beginning with Houston on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET. The contest also serves as a makeup from when the Cougars had COVID issues for the Dec. 28 date.
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THE RUNDOWN
Cincinnati suffered a buzzer-beating , 56-54 loss in Saturday's home finale to South Florida, and the Bearcats were previously 11-0 when allowing 59 or fewer points. John Newman III paced UC with team-highs of 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench. It was the team's third loss out of 15 games this season when out-rebounding its opponent (41-38) and ninth game with single-digit turnovers (27th nationally, 267 last year).
Cincinnati's 744 three-point attempts rank third in school history and are 21 away from matching the school record. The 235 makes are eighth. David DeJulius had been in double-figures for 11-straight games heading into USF. He is sixth in AAC play for scoring (16.0 ppg) and field-goal percentage (42.6). DeJulius' 12-for-12 free-throw outing in the first Houston matchup was one of six perfect games of 12 or more attempts in school history. His improvements from last season include 5.3 ppg and 11.3 percent from deep.
Jeremiah Davenport is sixth in AAC-play rebounding (6.13). His 72 threes on the year are already the most by a Bearcat since Jarron Cumberland in 2018-19, and eight more over the next four-plus games would mark the most since Sean Kilpatrick in 2013-14. Ody Oguama has also averaged 14.5 mpg and 5.8 ppg over his last five games, up from 9.2 and 1.6 in the previous five. UC is allowing 65.1 ppg, which is the team's lowest since 2019. UC is seeking its second ranked win of the season, having knocked off Illinois this year by 20 after trailing 23-8 to start.
SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati leads the all-time series 33-9, including an 11-8 mark as AAC rivals. The Bearcats are also 14-6 on the road against the Cougars, as well as winning 27 of the first 28 meetings (1957-2016).
These future Big 12 foes have also faced each other in each of the last three AAC Championship games, with UC coming out on top in 2018 and 2019. The two teams were also the top seeds in 2020, but the tourney never began due to COVID-19.
The Bearcats trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, but 18 points from DeJulius before the break kept UC in the game. Trailing 40-19, Cincinnati closed the first half on a 12-2 run as DeJulius made a second-chance three-pointer and a contested jumper during the run and he found sophomore forward Viktor Lakhin for a corner three-pointer to cut the deficit to 11 and electrified the nearly-sold-out crowd 30 seconds before the break. The Bearcats trailed by eight, but came up short on a third-chance possession early in the second half before the Cougars notched a three to end the rally.
Jeremiah Davenport averaged 11.0 ppg over the two matchups last season, including the AAC title game in which he earned All-Tourney honors. Should UC emerge victorious, Wes Miller would become the program's first coach to collect two ranked wins in his first season since Tay Baker (1965-66), when the Bearcats defeated No. 8 UCLA and No. 7 Bradley as part of a Missouri Valley Conference-winning season.
ESPNU | 700 WLW | Live Stats
THE RUNDOWN
Cincinnati suffered a buzzer-beating , 56-54 loss in Saturday's home finale to South Florida, and the Bearcats were previously 11-0 when allowing 59 or fewer points. John Newman III paced UC with team-highs of 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench. It was the team's third loss out of 15 games this season when out-rebounding its opponent (41-38) and ninth game with single-digit turnovers (27th nationally, 267 last year).
Cincinnati's 744 three-point attempts rank third in school history and are 21 away from matching the school record. The 235 makes are eighth. David DeJulius had been in double-figures for 11-straight games heading into USF. He is sixth in AAC play for scoring (16.0 ppg) and field-goal percentage (42.6). DeJulius' 12-for-12 free-throw outing in the first Houston matchup was one of six perfect games of 12 or more attempts in school history. His improvements from last season include 5.3 ppg and 11.3 percent from deep.
Jeremiah Davenport is sixth in AAC-play rebounding (6.13). His 72 threes on the year are already the most by a Bearcat since Jarron Cumberland in 2018-19, and eight more over the next four-plus games would mark the most since Sean Kilpatrick in 2013-14. Ody Oguama has also averaged 14.5 mpg and 5.8 ppg over his last five games, up from 9.2 and 1.6 in the previous five. UC is allowing 65.1 ppg, which is the team's lowest since 2019. UC is seeking its second ranked win of the season, having knocked off Illinois this year by 20 after trailing 23-8 to start.
SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati leads the all-time series 33-9, including an 11-8 mark as AAC rivals. The Bearcats are also 14-6 on the road against the Cougars, as well as winning 27 of the first 28 meetings (1957-2016).
These future Big 12 foes have also faced each other in each of the last three AAC Championship games, with UC coming out on top in 2018 and 2019. The two teams were also the top seeds in 2020, but the tourney never began due to COVID-19.
The Bearcats trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, but 18 points from DeJulius before the break kept UC in the game. Trailing 40-19, Cincinnati closed the first half on a 12-2 run as DeJulius made a second-chance three-pointer and a contested jumper during the run and he found sophomore forward Viktor Lakhin for a corner three-pointer to cut the deficit to 11 and electrified the nearly-sold-out crowd 30 seconds before the break. The Bearcats trailed by eight, but came up short on a third-chance possession early in the second half before the Cougars notched a three to end the rally.
Jeremiah Davenport averaged 11.0 ppg over the two matchups last season, including the AAC title game in which he earned All-Tourney honors. Should UC emerge victorious, Wes Miller would become the program's first coach to collect two ranked wins in his first season since Tay Baker (1965-66), when the Bearcats defeated No. 8 UCLA and No. 7 Bradley as part of a Missouri Valley Conference-winning season.