Cincinnati- Tonight the Bearcats (17-11) (7-8 AAC) welcomed in the University of South Florida (7-20) (2-13 AAC) to Fifth Third Arena, where they honor their five seniors, Hayden Koval, Abdul Ado, and fan favorite, Walk on Sam Martin, as well as managers Nick Booth and Ryan Tanner for their contributions to the Bearcat Basketball program over the years.
The Starters for the Bearcats final home contest of the 2021-2022 season included Abdul Ado, Jeremiah Davenport, Hayden Koval, Sam Martin and David DeJulius.
The Bearcats would seem to be without forward Viktor Lakhin for tonight’s contest. Postgame Wes Miller confirmed he was out due to personal reasons and will be back with the team tomorrow for practice.
How it happened- The Bulls got off to a quick start where they led the Bearcats 5-0 at the first media break, as the Bearcats started 0-7 from the field to start the game, despite seeing a lot of action inside early. The Bearcats were looking to find some momentum after the media break but shot 0-11 to start the game before Mason Madsen got the scoring started for the Bearcats with a huge triple at the 13 minute mark where the Bearcats trailed the Bulls 6-5. The Bearcats would look to try to find some momentum after the Madsen three, but nothing would fall for the Bearcats as they shot 2-16 from the field at the under 12 media break. The Bearcats responded with a quick 7 points after a full court assist from John Newman found a streaking Mason Madsen for the easy layup, where Mika Adams-Woods responded with a 3 point shot, to give the Bearcats a 16-15 lead. The Bearcats extended their run after a Madsen three gave the Bearcats a 5 point lead late in the half.
The Bearcats would push their lead to 6, where they led the Bulls 22-16, behind Madsen who erupted for a quick 8 points. The Bearcats would look to extend their lead to finish the half, but the Bulls would start to find their groove where they went 4 straight possessions with field goals to cut the Bearcats lead to 2 with 1 minute remaining in the first half. The Bearcats would take a 27-25 lead to the break, after shooting just 26% from the field, (24% from deep) during the first half, as they were led by Mason Madsen who had a game high eight points, David DeJulius with five in the first half.
The Bearcats would come out to a hot start to the 2nd half where they established the inside game as they rattled off a quick 7 points, 6 of those on easy layups inside as the Bearcats were looking to establish momentum to start the second half. A 6 point run by the Bearcats sparked a USF timeout where the Bearcats led the Bulls 40-33 with 12:30 remaining in the second half. The Bulls then responded with a 7-0 run to take a 43-41 lead with 8 minutes left in the game, as they started to find their momentum late in the second half. The Bearcats would see that lead slip away late in the second half as the Bulls took a 54-50 lead with two minutes remaining, as the Bearcats were looking to try to pull this one out down the stretch. The Bearcats rallied to tie this one up behind a big shot from Jeremiah Davenport in the corner with 58 seconds left. After tying the game, the Bearcats couldn’t get a basket on the other end with the time winding down, as a step back jumper from DeJulius rattled around the rim and fell short, the Bulls would get another shot where they would win on a Buzzer beating hook shot by Russel Tchewa to propel the Bulls over the Bearcats.
Notables- John Newman finished with a team high 11 points and eight rebounds.
John Newman says he’ll return for his 5th season, use extra year of eligibility.
Mika Adams-Woods finished with 10 points and three assists.
The Bearcats will be back in action this Wednesday when they travel to Houston to take on the number 14 ranked Houston Cougars as they look to make a run heading into the AAC Tournament.
