Cincinnati Continues Road Swing at SMU Thursday

HOUSTON -- The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team will finish its regular season Thursday when it takes on SMU in Dallas at 6 p.m. CT. The Bearcats will return to Texas for its AAC Tournament opener next Thursday in Fort Worth.

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THE RUNDOWN
Cincinnati fought tooth-and-nail with No. 14 Houston in the first half, but the Cougars gradually slipped away over the final 15 minutes to win, 71-53. UH also made 20 free-throws to the Bearcats' five, while UC made eight three-pointers for the ninth time this year, setting a new school record with 771 attempts (and sixth with 243 makes).

John Newman III, who suffered a serious injury late in the 2019-20 season and has played hurt much of the year, has had consecutive games of 11 points and eight or seven rebounds. His three-point shooting is also up 7.2 percent from non-conference to AAC play and 8.8 overall since last year at Clemson. Mike Saunders Jr. led the Bearcats with 14 points off the bench, his eighth game in double-figures (UC was previously 6-1 when he did so). He is second on the team in assists and tied for its AAC-only lead with 48, despite not starting a game, with his deep-shooting up 12.6 percent from last year. Ody Oguama is also averaging 15.7 mpg over the last six (9.2 the previous five). He had 10 boards in the first SMU game.

UC is 8-5 in March regular-season games over the past six years (Wes Miller is 11-4 over that same span, not including NCAA/NIT games). The Bearcats still rank 29th nationally in field-goal defense (40.0 percent) and 32nd in turnovers per game (10.7) after being 267 last year. Mika Adams-Woods has committed just two turnovers over his last four games (108 minutes) to rank 20th in assist-turnover ratio (2.66).

SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati's 17-5 record against SMU includes a 15-4 mark as members of the AAC.

UC boasts a 10-game win streak against the Mustangs, the longest against any AAC team. Included in that was a 74-71 victory in the first round of last year's AAC Tourney. The Bearcats led by 20 with six minutes left, holding on for its  seventh-straight AAC Tourney win.

Cincinnati won 77-60 in the Jan. 6 meeting, halting SMU's eight-game win streak. David DeJulius went for 22 points, while Mika Adams-Woods sank two treys to start the game en route for a then-career-high 17 points. UC led 44-27 at the break and held the Mustangs to their fewest points since Jan. 31, 2021.

The Bearcats' 11 three-pointers in that January meeting remain a season-high allowed.

Jeremiah Davenport last season averaged 18.5 points (13-for-23 from the field) and 8.5 rebounds over his two SMU games. He earned his first-career double-double in the Jan. 7 matchup before registering a career-high four steals in the next one, paving the way for All-AAC Tournament honors.

Mike Saunders Jr. scored 12 points in the second SMU matchup, one of his two double-figure scoring games as a freshman (Memphis as the other).