However, the Bearcats are back to the drawing board with a tough stretch ahead of them as they travel to UCF on Sunday, who like the Bearcats, desperately need a win in order to sneak into the top four within the American Athletic Conference. A game in which the Bearcats will desperately need Viktor Lakhin to help contain Taylor Hendricks, as the Knights are looking to avenge their 73-64 loss to the Bearcats two weeks ago. Lakhin’s status is still up in the air heading into Saturday, but that will be something we keep an eye on and monitor here as the week progresses. The Bearcats also have to go on the road and take on Memphis, whose tied for second within the AAC standings, as well as Temple who currently holds the 4th seed.
Both teams have gotten the best of the Bearcats in the early part of the season, but the Bearcats will need to respond differently than last season as they lost their last six of seven heading into the AAC Tournament. However, like the Bearcats, Memphis is also battling some injuries as guard Alex Lomax and center Malcom Dandridge continue to recover from injuries, two veteran pieces who have had big performances vs the Bearcats in recent years.
Fans need to be patient heading into the final stretch of the season, as Wes Miller and company are looking to turn things around and make that final push as the door is still wide open to a top four seed within the conference tournament. The Bearcats control their own fate and know the test at hand, but don’t count the Bearcats out as they look to build that momentum in hopes of a conference tournament run and NIT hopes.
The Bearcats miss Viktor Lakhin tremendously as his rim presence is missed dearly, but Ody Oguama has really taken a huge step since joining the starting lineup, as the senior big man has scored in double digits two of the last three games, including a career high 18 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting vs USF. A great sign for the Bearcats, as Oguama still has the option to return for an extra year of eligibility after the season if he chooses. The Bearcats have also seen Jeremiah Davenport really turn things up a notch here late after consecutive performance of 18 or more points. We all know the elite scorer Davenport can be for this team, and if the Bearcats can put it all together here soon, this team is very capable of making a deep run within the conference tournament, with guys like Davenport, Nolley, DeJulius and a healthy Lakhin.
However, the next four games are CRUCIAL for the Bearcats in hopes to make a run at the conference tournament. If the Bearcats can go 4-0 in this final stretch, it will be massive for the program heading into the conference tournament, especially with how the Bearcats have played Memphis and Houston this season, they just have to put it together for a complete 40 minutes and keep their foot on the gas the whole time to avoid any late game heroics like opposing teams have seen as a of late. It will be interesting to see how the Bearcats respond after arguably the worst loss of the season vs a sub .500% ECU team, but they know they have a quick turnaround vs a very talented UCF team on Sunday.
