The second season of the Wes Miller era officially got underway on Monday night. The Cincinnati Bearcats welcomed in the Chaminade Silverswords to begin the season. The Bearcats are looking to bounce from last year where they fell short of making the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. This team has a lot of new faces coming into this season and a team that can stretch the floor compared to last year’s team that had height and was able to protect the paint. The Bearcats ran out a starting 5 of guard David DeJulius, guard Mika Adams-Woods, forward Landers Nolley II, forward Jeremiah Davenport, and center Viktor Lakhin. How would the season start this year? Will this be the year Wes Miller and the Bearcats get back in the NCAA tournament? Sit down and enjoy because Bearcats basketball is back!
The Bearcats jumped off to a quick start as Landers Nolley II and Jeremiah Davenport drained back to back 3’s to get a quick 6-0 lead early on. The Bearcats continued their great shooting from behind the arc as Jeremiah Davenport and Landers Nolley hit on a combined 4-of-4 from behind the arc. This gave the Bearcats an early 16-5 lead with 16:31 to go in the first half. The Bearcats and Silverswords went back and forth for a little while, but the play of Nolley II stood out early as he was making plays left and right in the first half. The Bearcats showed some tough defense in the first half as Dan Skillings got his first minutes as a Bearcat and made an immediate impact with a block, steal and dunk. After this, a good play on a pass to the paint by Rob Phinisee led to an and 1 layup from David DeJulius. This had the Bearcats cruising up 34-18 with 8:30 to go in the half. The Bearcats continued the dominant first half as Chaminade struggled to get anything going in the first half. The Bearcats were forcing the Silverswords to move the ball quickly. The Bearcats went to a full-court press and tough zone defense. The Silverswords had no answers in the first half. The crowd was on their feet after a behind-the-back pass to Mika Adams-Woods had the Bearcats up 24 with 5 minutes in the first half. The Bearcats finished the half attacking the paint and claiming a 54-28 lead at the half. The Bearcats leading scorers at the half were David DeJulius and Landers Nolley II with 12 each. The Bearcats were attacking from all cylinders and shooting a lights-out 71 % from the field in the opening half. This is exactly what Wes Miller was looking for a quick-tempo offense that was able to create easy baskets off turnovers and tough defense. How would the Bearcats look after halftime?
The Silverswords came out on a quick 5-0 run to begin the half cutting the lead to 21. The Bearcats responded quickly though with a nice take from Adams-Woods followed by a nice put back from Viktor Lakhin. The Bearcats went on a 10-0 run after some stellar defense caused multiple turnovers. The Bearcats extended their lead to 30 after a great pass from Phinisee set up DeJulius with an easy layup. The Bearcats continued the dominance as they overwhelmed the Silverswords all game with their full-court press. The Bearcats went on a 17-3 run in a span of 6 minutes to wash away any hope the Silverswords had of coming back. The Bearcats did not look back and walked out of Fifth Third with their first win of the season a final score of 98-55. The Bearcats were led by David DeJulius and his 24 points. A very impressive night for the Bearcats to begin the 2022 season.
Cincinnati with the win today moves to 1-0 on the year. The Bearcats are back at home on Thursday when they welcome Cleveland State for a matchup. The Bearcats will look to feed off tonight’s momentum to start the young season 2-0.
