Tonight, the Cincinnati Bearcats (11-6, 2-2 AAC) welcomed in East Carolina University (10-7, 1-3 AAC) to Fifth Third Arena for a late night AAC showdown. The Bearcats are coming off a 72-59 loss to now No. 1 Houston on Sunday in a game plagued by turnovers. Wes Miller and the Bearcats will look to turn the page tonight as they look to get back in the win column vs a very tough and physical East Carolina Squad.
The Pirates are led by guards Javon Small and RJ Felton, along with forward Brandon Johnson. Small, leads the team in scoring as he averages 15.4 points per game, while Felton averages nearly 12 as the young backcourt looks to cause some issues for opposing teams. Forward Brandon Johnson enters tonight averaging nearly 13 points per game along with 9 rebounds, a big-time presence inside for the Pirates as he can do it all as we have seen that through the first half of the season, as Johnson is shooting roughly 50% from the field through the Pirates first 17 games.
How it Happened- The Bearcats would jump out to a quick 6-0 lead behind two made threes from Landers Nolley. Just like we saw on Sunday vs Houston, Nolley was looking to get going early for the Bearcats. The Bearcats would continue to make an impact on the glass as they were up 7-5 on the glass in the opening minutes behind three early rebounds from big man Viktor Lakhin. The Bearcats would fight off a East Carolina run, as they opened this one up a bit after consecutive made threes from Jeremiah Davenport made this a 16-10 game with 11 minutes left in the first half.
Bearcats’ freshman forward Josh Reed would add to the splash party after knocking down two consecutive threes for a six-point run of his own to extend the Bearcats lead to 10. Wes Miller has been mentioning finding minutes for Reed and Skillings, and Reed made a huge impact off the bench there in the early portions of the first half.
The Bearcats would start this one 10-of-14 from behind the arch, propelled by a quick 12 points from Jeremiah Davenport. The Bearcats were letting it fly here at Fifth Third Arena as they were making it known early that the Pirates were welcomed to the splash party. The Bearcats would finish the first half with a 38-25 lead over the Pirates. Jeremiah Davenport set the tone for the Bearcats as he led the way with 12 points, on 4-of-7 shooting in the first half. What stood out to me the most was the ball movement, David DeJulius had a game high seven assists in the first half as the Bearcats were really looking to make that extra swing pass around the horn to give an open look. Josh Reed provided a huge spark off the Bench for Wes Miller and the Bearcats as the freshman made a huge impact in the early minutes after scoring a quick six points.
The Bearcats would come out of the locker room with a quick five points to extend their lead to 18 in the opening minutes as they led the Pirates 43-25. The Bearcats would keep their foot on the glass behind an 18-4 run to start the second half as the Bearcats would lead 56-29 with 13 minutes remaining, their biggest lead of the night. The Pirates just had no answer for the Bearcats tonight it seemed, as the Bearcats continued to dominate from start to finish tonight.
East Carolina forward Brandon Johnson entered tonight averaging 13 points and nine rebounds per game, however, the Bearcats have held him to just two points and three boards in the first 33 minutes of this one. A game changer, as Wes Miller and staff knew they’d have to find a way and contain the Pirates big man and they did a great job doing that tonight. The Pirates on the other hand were willing their way back into this one behind a huge second half from point guard Javon Small, who has recorded 17 second half points and has single handedly kept the Pirates in this one as they trailed 72-53 with just under four minutes left.
The Bearcats would finish this one on a 13-2 run as they would improve to (12-6, 3-2 AAC) on the season. The Bearcats were led by Landers Nolley, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Davenport contributed 16. David DeJulius finished with 11 points and 12 assists (one off his career high).
The Bearcats dominated on all ends of the court tonight as they held Brandon Johnson to just two points, as the ECU Forward entered tonight averaging 13 points and 10 boards. Wes Miller and staff did a fantastic job eliminating the East Carolina big man. However, the Bearcats ball movement tonight was phenomenal, the Bearcats had 20 assists to just nine turnovers. Great ball movement allowed the Bearcats to shoot 48% from the field in their 83-55 victory over Eastern Carolina.
The Bearcats will be back in action this Saturday when they head down to Dallas to take on SMU this Saturday at 4 pm.
