The Cincinnati Bearcats were ready to kick off their second day in Maui with a matchup in a familiar fore in the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Bearcats fell on their first night to the Arizona Wildcats by a final score of 101-93. The Bearcats got it going in the second half and were looking to build off their momentum. The Bearcats ran out the same starting 5 they have all year in David DeJulius, Mika Adams-Woods, Jeremiah Davenport, Landers Nolley II and Viktor Lakhin. Would the Bearcats bounce back from last night’s loss?
The Bearcats got off to a quick 8-2 run to begin the game thanks to a couple of Jeremiah Davenport 3’s. Ohio State would answer the run though as they were very physical and created a bunch of second-chance opportunities early on to get an 11-8 lead. Cincinnati and Ohio State went back and forth for the next couple of minutes before Dan Skillings reclaimed the lead for the Bearcats on a nice layup. The Bearcats and Buckeyes were going back and forth, but the Buckeyes were winning the battles on the glass and were just making shots too hard for the Bearcats. The Buckeyes claimed a 26-22 lead with 7 and 1/2 minutes to go with the surge from Sean McNeil. McNeil was providing great shots for the Buckeyes that the Bearcats had no answer for in the first half. The Bearcats went scoreless for the next 5 minutes which allowed the Buckeyes to claim a double fight lead at 35-24 with 2 minutes to go in the half. The Bearcats went young off the bench with Josh Reed and Dan Skillings getting plenty of time against the Buckeyes. The Bearcats cut the lead to single digits on a Mika Adams-Woods layup, but the Buckeyes hit a buzzer-beating 3 to claim a 35-24 lead at the half. The leading scorer for the Bearcats was Viktor Lakhin at eight. The Bearcats were beat on the glass and out-hustled in the first half. How would the Bearcats respond in the second half?
In the second half, the Bearcats went from a bad spot to even worse. The Buckeyes went on a 9-1 run to claim a 47-28 lead with 15:27 to go. Bruce Thornton got going for the Buckeyes as each time the Bearcats tried to gain some momentum the Buckeyes came right back. The Bearcats trailed 51-30 with 14:04 to go in the game. Viktor Lakhin was showing some life for the Bearcats on the board as he had the team high 12 points at the time. The Bearcats tried to battle back but the Buckeyes were giving them fits as they were getting great looks and outpowering the Bearcats in the second half. The Bearcat deficit remained around 22 points for the next 4 minutes and it was looking like a lost cause for the Bearcats. The Buckeyes increased their lead to 24 after a Bruce Thorton 3. The Bearcats finally found some momentum as Mika Adams-Woods drilled a 3 that cut the lead to 19 with 8 minutes to go. The Bearcats continued to fight on the boards as they got some good production from Ody Oguama, but the Bearcats just were too inconsistent to climb back into this one. The Bearcats fell to the Buckeyes by a final score of 81-53. The Bearcats were just outplayed in all aspects and were dominated on the boards. The Bearcats shot 38% compared to Ohio State’s 47%. The Buckeyes outrebounded the Bearcats by a 42-29 margin. A bad day for the Bearcats, but still early in the season. The Bearcats leading scorer was Viktor Lakhin with 12. The Buckeyes were led by Zed Key with 19.
The Bearcats with the loss fall to 3-3 on the year. The Bearcats follow their 3-0 start to the year with an 0-3 stretch in the last 3. The Bearcats will look to bounce back tomorrow when they play Louisville at 5 pm in Maui as the Bearcats look to get back on the winning side of things.
