TicketsHIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- A tough shooting night was too much for Cincinnati to overcome as the Bearcats fell to Northern Kentucky, 64-51, Wednesday in their first road game of the season.
Redshirt sophomore Viktor Lakhin and senior David DeJulius lead the Bearcats with nine points each. Lakhin also grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.
Cincinnati continued to feel the effects of playing on the road going 0-5 in the first five minutes of the second half as NKU went on a 9-0 run, which fifth-year senior Kalu Ezikpe ended the a bucket in the post.
After the NKU lead grew to double-digits with seven minutes left in game, senior Jeremiah Davenport was able to bring the deficit back down to nine after hitting a corner three.
The Norse, the preseason Horizon League champion, extended the lead back to 10 with four minutes left and held it for the rest of the game.
Cincinnati went into the locker room up 40-36. Lakhin led the Bearcats with eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in only seven minutes of action due to foul trouble. The Bearcat bench came through with 10 points in the half, including five from freshman Josh Reed in his collegiate debut.
Down 30-22 at the 7:44 mark, Cincinnati came out a media time with a set play to Lakhin for a slam dunk that sparked an 8-0. Lakhin become the focal point of the offense scoring three straight buckets to bring the lead to two. The Bearcats capped of the run with a DeJulius transition lay up to tie the game.
Cincinnati would grab their first lead late in first half after Ezikpe showed some mussel on the low block and banked in a lay up, which was then followed up by a Davenport three to put the Bearcats up five.
Cincinnati racked up 12 second-chance points and 18 in the paint for the half.
FROM WES MILLER
"As I said on the radio, if you score 11 points in a half, it's gonna be hard to win a game in college basketball. I told the guys in the locker room that the first thing you do in the locker room is look in the mirror as a coach and see what did I not to do to prepare us for the match zone (defense). We saw it in the first half and put 40 points up. I was proud of that and how we dug back in after they hit some tough shots early. They exploited our press a little bit. I was happy with how we handled being down early on the road, but we had 11 points in the second half and nine turnovers. It was still a seven-point game with five minutes left, and we had our chances."
UP NEXT
Cincinnati travels to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and take on Arizona in the opening round of the tournament on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. ET.
Redshirt sophomore Viktor Lakhin and senior David DeJulius lead the Bearcats with nine points each. Lakhin also grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.
Cincinnati continued to feel the effects of playing on the road going 0-5 in the first five minutes of the second half as NKU went on a 9-0 run, which fifth-year senior Kalu Ezikpe ended the a bucket in the post.
After the NKU lead grew to double-digits with seven minutes left in game, senior Jeremiah Davenport was able to bring the deficit back down to nine after hitting a corner three.
The Norse, the preseason Horizon League champion, extended the lead back to 10 with four minutes left and held it for the rest of the game.
Cincinnati went into the locker room up 40-36. Lakhin led the Bearcats with eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in only seven minutes of action due to foul trouble. The Bearcat bench came through with 10 points in the half, including five from freshman Josh Reed in his collegiate debut.
Down 30-22 at the 7:44 mark, Cincinnati came out a media time with a set play to Lakhin for a slam dunk that sparked an 8-0. Lakhin become the focal point of the offense scoring three straight buckets to bring the lead to two. The Bearcats capped of the run with a DeJulius transition lay up to tie the game.
Cincinnati would grab their first lead late in first half after Ezikpe showed some mussel on the low block and banked in a lay up, which was then followed up by a Davenport three to put the Bearcats up five.
Cincinnati racked up 12 second-chance points and 18 in the paint for the half.
FROM WES MILLER
"As I said on the radio, if you score 11 points in a half, it's gonna be hard to win a game in college basketball. I told the guys in the locker room that the first thing you do in the locker room is look in the mirror as a coach and see what did I not to do to prepare us for the match zone (defense). We saw it in the first half and put 40 points up. I was proud of that and how we dug back in after they hit some tough shots early. They exploited our press a little bit. I was happy with how we handled being down early on the road, but we had 11 points in the second half and nine turnovers. It was still a seven-point game with five minutes left, and we had our chances."
UP NEXT
Cincinnati travels to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and take on Arizona in the opening round of the tournament on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. ET.