Tonight, the Cincinnati Bearcats (3-0) traveled across the river to take on the Northern Kentucky Norse (1-1) as they look to renew the Riverboat Rivalry. The Bearcats come into this one without senior forward John Newman who is out indefinitely with a knee injury. The Bearcats would see some great news as Dan Skillings would be available tonight after rolling his ankle Sunday in the Bearcats 87-69 victory over EKU. A great sign for Wes Miller and the Bearcats as Skillings is looking to see his minutes increase now that Newman is out for an extended period of time.
The Norse would get starting guard Sam Vinson back after not playing in the teams 89-49 victory over UC Clermont. Head coach Darrin Horn said Vinson was battling a sprained ankle and was day-to-day following the Norses victory over the Cougars on Saturday.
The Norse would get off to a quick 6-0 start behind consecutive threes from guards Sam Vinson and Marques Warrick. The Norse would take a 12-6 lead at the under-16 media break following a turnover as Jeremiah Davenport stepped in to take a charge as the Norse looked to capitalize off the 2-1 opportunity. The Norse was showing that typical 2-3 zone look that caused the Bearcats some trouble early, as that was something they haven’t seen much of in the first three games.
The Bearcats would see great minutes from Josh Reed who made his Bearcat debut as he immediately set the tone for the Bearcats with five quick points off the bench as the Bearcats would cut the Norse lead to four as they trailed 19-15. The Norse were shooting 70% from the field, 80% from three to start this one as they lead 26-17 halfway through the first half. Northen Kentucky was just getting everything to fall early, and this was a whole different Norse team tonight then the one I saw on Saturday, and it all starts with the play of Sam Vinson. Vinson started 3-of-3 from the field with a quick nine points that sparked the Norse momentum early.
The Bearcats would spark an eight-point run to make this a 30-30 ball game with six minutes remaining in the first half. The Bearcats would look to create a few turnovers and push the tempo as they looked to get out and run-in the open floor, which would allow the Bearcats to get to the line and get back in this one. The Norse had no answer for Viktor Lakhin inside as the 7′ center was doing a great job at crashing the boards and getting those second chance opportunities for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats would spark a 7-0 run late in the first half to take a 39-34 lead following four quick points from Kalu Ezipke and a Davenport three, and just like that the Bearcats were finding their groove late in the first half after Northen Kentucky dominated the start.
The Bearcats would take a 40-36 lead to the break behind a team high eight points and four rebounds from Viktor Lakhin. Despite the Bearcats slow start, they shot nearly 53% from the field in the first half, as Landers Nolley (seven) and David DeJulius (six) were both getting to their spots early, but that 2-3 zone was giving the Bearcats some troubles. The Norse saw guards Sam Vinson (nine) and Marques Warrick (14) combine for 23 of the teams 36 points and the back court duo was giving the Bearcats defense a lot of problems as they continued to light it up from deep as the Norse shot 66% from behind the arch in the first half.
The Norse would come out of the break on an 8-0 behind Chris Brandon and Marques Warrick, and just that the Bearcats would have to play catch up as they trailed 44-40 with 16:27 remaining in the second half. The Bearcats would struggle to get anything going offensively as they shot just 1-9 to start the second half and the Norse was starting to gain steam after a Trevon Faulker triple gave the Norse a huge 51-42 lead with 12 minutes remaining.
The Bearcats just couldn’t get anything going despite a huge three from Davenport, the Bearcats offense went cold, and the Norse would take a huge 55-48 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. All the momentum was favoring the Norse as they were shooting nearly 50% from the field, while the Bearcats were just shooting 13% in the second half as the Norse held them to 3-of-22 shooting in the second half as Darrin Horn and the Norse did a great job making those second half adjustments to really throw the Bearcats off balance as they lead 59-51 with just under two minutes remaining.
The Norse would hold on defeat the Bearcats 64-51 and give the Bearcats their first loss of the season. The Norse just dominated from start to finish as they came out and set the tone early after Warrick and Vinson hit consecutive 3-pointers to start the game. The Norse’s zone however was just too dominant for the Bearcats as they held the Bearcats to just 4-29 shooting in the second half. The Norse were led by the dynamic guard duo of Sam Vinson and Marques Warrick, as Vinson finished with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while Warrick finished with a game high 22 points. The Norse also saw an elite performance from Chris Brandon who finished with his second double-double of the season as he finished with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
The Bearcats were led by David DeJulius who finished with a team high nine points, Viktor Lakhin had another big night for the Bearcats as he finished with nine points, and nine rebounds in the Bearcats 64-51 loss to the Norse.
“You score 11 points in a half it’s going to be hard to win a basketball game,” said Wes Miller. “The first thing you do when that happens is look in the mirror as a coach, what did I not to do prepare us to play against a match zone.”
The Bearcats now sit will be back in action this Monday at 11:30pm ET as they take on Arizona to kick off the Maui Invitational.
