TicketsCINCINNATI -- Viktor Lakhin's ninth-career double-double, combined with a career-high 26 points, led Cincinnati to an 85-73 win over defending Big Sky champ Eastern Washington on Sunday afternoon.
Lakhin scored the Bearcats' first six points before Day Day Thomas fed John Newman III in transition for a corner three, UC's first lead of the game at 15:50.
UC turned a 14-0 run into an 18-7 lead by the 10:55 media timeout, with EWU in the midst of a 1-for-11 shooting stretch. A deep-ball to pull within 18-12 at 8:52 ended a 7:37 field-goal drought.
The Eagles eventually countered with eight-straight makes. Back-to-back treys by Newman and Jizzle James kept EWU at bay, 38-30 at the break.
Cincinnati took another 11-point lead, matching its largest of the day, at 16:20, but the Eagles got back within 47-42. Newman reclaimed the energy once again with his third-straight game of a posterizing slam, giving UC a 49-42 lead at 14:00.
Lakhin scored his 18th points on back-to-back post-ups for a 62-47 advantage at 9:34. EWU had another 1-for-8 shooting drought at that point as well. His top-of-the-key bomb at 7:22 gave him his career-high 23rd and marked his first trey of the season.
The Bearcats get a week-long break before hosting Northern Kentucky at 2 p.m. Sunday.
FROM WES MILLER
"Sometimes in college basketball, and this isn't anybody's fault, but with the name on the front of the jersey we put too much value into thinking about who's good and who's not. Eastern Washington may not have that national type of name, but they are a really good basketball team. They are a really good basketball team that has a system and identity. Their system and their identity fit the parts. You look back and they won 18 games in a row at one point last year and won their league. They are a good basketball team. When you beat a good basketball team by double figures, that's a good win.
"Viktor [Lakhin] had a really good preseason and a really good offseason. He's really improved and I've got to see that most days in practice. I'm glad everybody else that was watching got to see that today. I was pleased with the performance. I thought Jizzle [James] gave us some really meaningful minutes today. There were times in the first two games where I'm saying, come on Jizzle [James], I don't want to play you to give you experience. I want to play him because he helps our team. I am pleased that today he helped our team. He helped our team win today and that was really good to see."
NOTABLE
-Lakhin's 26 points were the most by a Bearcat this season.
-Day Day Thomas' 11 points made him the only Bearcat with three-straight double-figure games to open the season.
-Jizzle James scored 13 points for the second-straight game and is 10-for-11 at the foul line this year.
-UC has boasted 11 double-figure scorers over the last two games.
-It was the first all-time meeting between the schools.
Lakhin scored the Bearcats' first six points before Day Day Thomas fed John Newman III in transition for a corner three, UC's first lead of the game at 15:50.
UC turned a 14-0 run into an 18-7 lead by the 10:55 media timeout, with EWU in the midst of a 1-for-11 shooting stretch. A deep-ball to pull within 18-12 at 8:52 ended a 7:37 field-goal drought.
The Eagles eventually countered with eight-straight makes. Back-to-back treys by Newman and Jizzle James kept EWU at bay, 38-30 at the break.
Cincinnati took another 11-point lead, matching its largest of the day, at 16:20, but the Eagles got back within 47-42. Newman reclaimed the energy once again with his third-straight game of a posterizing slam, giving UC a 49-42 lead at 14:00.
Lakhin scored his 18th points on back-to-back post-ups for a 62-47 advantage at 9:34. EWU had another 1-for-8 shooting drought at that point as well. His top-of-the-key bomb at 7:22 gave him his career-high 23rd and marked his first trey of the season.
The Bearcats get a week-long break before hosting Northern Kentucky at 2 p.m. Sunday.
FROM WES MILLER
"Sometimes in college basketball, and this isn't anybody's fault, but with the name on the front of the jersey we put too much value into thinking about who's good and who's not. Eastern Washington may not have that national type of name, but they are a really good basketball team. They are a really good basketball team that has a system and identity. Their system and their identity fit the parts. You look back and they won 18 games in a row at one point last year and won their league. They are a good basketball team. When you beat a good basketball team by double figures, that's a good win.
"Viktor [Lakhin] had a really good preseason and a really good offseason. He's really improved and I've got to see that most days in practice. I'm glad everybody else that was watching got to see that today. I was pleased with the performance. I thought Jizzle [James] gave us some really meaningful minutes today. There were times in the first two games where I'm saying, come on Jizzle [James], I don't want to play you to give you experience. I want to play him because he helps our team. I am pleased that today he helped our team. He helped our team win today and that was really good to see."
NOTABLE
-Lakhin's 26 points were the most by a Bearcat this season.
-Day Day Thomas' 11 points made him the only Bearcat with three-straight double-figure games to open the season.
-Jizzle James scored 13 points for the second-straight game and is 10-for-11 at the foul line this year.
-UC has boasted 11 double-figure scorers over the last two games.
-It was the first all-time meeting between the schools.