Bearcats Fall in Overtime at Tulane

Cincinnati fought back from a six-point overtime deficit to tie it at 89 with 2:12 left, but Tulane was able to stay the course and come out on top in an emotional 101-94 decision on Tuesday night.  

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Bearcats Fall in Overtime at TulaneBearcats Fall in Overtime at Tulane
NEW ORLEANS -- Cincinnati fought back from a six-point overtime deficit to tie it at 89 with 2:12 left, but Tulane was able to stay the course and come out on top in an emotional 101-94 decision on Tuesday night.

It was Cincinnati's first overtime game since Feb. 16, 2020, a win at East Carolina. The Bearcats in regulation lost Viktor Lakhin and Rob Phinisee to injury, and the overtime period was marred by technical fouls and ejections amidst controversy.

The Bearcats went 17-for-48 from deep, tying the most attempts in school history while the makes were third. Four of the top-eight games for three-pointers made have come under Wes Miller.

Landers Nolley's corner-three against a sleeping defense put UC ahead 70-64 via an 8-0 run over 1:43. Mika Adams-Woods connected from deep twice in a row on identical wing spots for a 76-68 advantage at 5:02, a 14-4 run.

Cincinnati's 6-for-7 stretch from deep made it 83-76 in the final three minutes. The Green Wave tied it at 83 with 1:01 left on a top-of-the-key trey and called timeout. After a Bearcat miss, Tulane's three-pointer was short and the follow-up dunk was too late for the shot clock, and David DeJulius' subsequent long-range attempt for the win rimmed out.

Tulane scored the first six points of overtime to force a Cincinnati timeout at 3:27. Adams-Woods and Davenport each knocked down one to tie it at 89 with 2:12 left. The Green Wave answered with five of their own to lead 94-89 at 1:11. 

Cincinnati started 4-for-19 from the field, then made its next four shots for an 11-0 run to lead 23-18 going into the 7:51 media timeout. DeJulius knocked down back-to-back treys. Kalu Ezikpe scored four-straight points, then Nolley added a 3-pointer to lead 33-22 at 4:13. Cincinnati led by as much as 13 before entering the half up 37-28.

Tulane opened the second-half with a short bucket, but an Ody Oguama dunk and three-point play by Nolley put the Bearcats ahead 42-30 at 18:16. Jeremiah Davenport, limited to one minute in the first half after two fouls, scored his first five points early in the second period as well.

Tulane made six-straight field goals to tie it at 52 before Nolley calmly hit a triple in front of his bench to make it 55-52 at 11:39. Two foul-shots at 10:57 gave the Green Wave their first lead in 19 minutes.

Ezikpe scored his season-high eighth point on an and-one opportunity at 7:54, which tied it at 64 at the media stoppage. He then swished the free-throw for the lead.

UP NEXT
Cincinnati returns home for a Saturday night clash with South Florida (7 p.m.).

NOTABLE
-UC is 16-3 when leading at the half.
-UC went 4-2 at Tulane in the AAC era.
-Ody Oguama had his third-career double-double (first at Cincinnati) with career-highs of 16 points and 13 reboundss.
-David DeJulius had his 10th consecutive game of five-plus assists, finishing with eight.
-Kalu Ezikpe's nine points were a season-high.