TicketsESPN+ | Listen Live (700 WLW) | Live Stats
Cincinnati claimed its second-straight road win Saturday with a 54-52 nailbiter at SMU. Landers Nolley II's third double-double in four games (16 pts, 12 rebs), combined with Mika Adams-Woods' 16 points and Viktor Lakhin's eight blocks paved the way. Those swats tied for sixth in school history, including the most in the AAC since 2017 and by a Bearcat since Eric Hicks in 2006. Nolley's 43.6 3FG% ranks second in the AAC, up 10.0 from last season.
Adams-Woods leads the AAC with a 53.8 percent three-point clip, and it goes deeper than that. He was 32.6 percent in non-conference and 26 percent all last season. In addition to his 40.6 3FG% mark, he also has career-highs in FG% (48.0), free-throws (87.5) and scoring (10.4 ppg). Adams-Woods is 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) on threes over his last four games. Lakhin's 10 boards gave him six double-figure games of the year, ranking fourth in the AAC at 7.7 per game. He still sits 17th (second in AAC) in shooting at 62.7 percent.
The Bearcats on Saturday also had their first trio of double-figure rebounders since 2016, with Jeremiah Davenport even logging a season-high nine as well (Nolley 12, Lakhin 10, Ody Oguama 10). Since a 46-28 loss on the boards at Temple, UC has gone plus-45 the four games since, including 39-33 against now-No. 1 Houston. Cincinnati's first 12 wins were decided by 21.2 ppg until SMU, and the Wichita State win on Jan. 5 was its first by single-digits. All 13 wins have come when leading at the half. The Bearcats' 36.2 three-point clip leads the AAC after ranking eighth last season at 31.5 percent.
SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati leads the all-time series 35-10, including an 11-2 mark in the AAC. The programs were also C-USA (1995-05) and BIG EAST mates (2005-13). In fact, the teams' 28 consecutive years as league mates are second only to Memphis (1975-05) for the longest in Cincinnati history.
Each team's leading scorer (Tyler Harris, 16.6 ppg for South Florida) were teammates at Memphis in 2021-22. Cincinnati associate head coach Chad Dollar was a three-year letter winner at South Florida from 1990-93, including teams that reached the 1991 NIT and the 1992 NCAA Tournament. He completed his collegiate playing career at Milligan College (Tenn.).
The Bearcats are seeking retribution for last year's buzzer-beating, Senior Night defeat on Feb. 26. The Bearcats trailed by four with two minutes to play on Senior Night when Oguama made a layup and Davenport swished a long jumper to tie the game with 58 seconds left. Abdul Ado forced a turnover with 35 seconds left to give the Bearcats the ball back with a chance to win, but David DeJulius' stepback jumper with five seconds left rattled out. The Bulls took advantage of their last-second opportunity when Corey Walker, Jr. whipped a quick pass to Tchewa for the game-winning bucket.
DeJulius scored 24 points, his second of three-straight 20-plus outings, to lead Cincinnati to a 70-59 win in the first meeting on Feb. 9. Davenport also connected four times from deep for 14 points, while Mike Saunders Jr. added 10. UC went 10-for-21 from deep (47.6 percent), one of its nine times this season with 10 or more. Conversely, the Bulls were held to 1-for-9, UC's first-such showing since Jan. 11, 2020.