This afternoon the Bearcats (4th seed) took on the 5th seeded Temple Owls in the second round of the AAC Tournament. The Bearcats are sitting (20-11, 10-7 AAC) on the season while the Owls are (16-15, 10-8 AAC) on the season. The last time these two teams faced over two weeks ago was back at Fifth Third Arena where the Bearcats won 88-83 in overtime. Landers Nolley and David DeJulius willed the Bearcats to victory as both finished with 20 points. Temple guard Damian Dunn had a career high 34 points in the Owls loss but was exchanging shot for shot with Landers Nolley in overtime, Nolley, would get the best of him in that segment going 4-of-4 from the field for nine points in that five minute overtime period.
The winner of this matchup would set themselves up with a date vs No. 1 overall Houston tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm. A chance for the Bearcats to redeem themselves after falling to the Cougars both times in the regular season.
Damien Dunn would give the Owls an early 5-0 lead. A sign Bearcats fans didn’t want to see after his performance at Fifth Third Arena a couple weeks ago where he finished with 34 points in the Bearcats 88-83 overtime win. Wes Miller and the Bearcats wasted no time attacking the Owls 2-3 match zone, as Viktor Lakhin was making easy work inside early for the Bearcats. The Bearcats shot 75% from the field in the opening four minutes but found themselves trailing 8-6 at the under 16 breaks. The Owls would then go on a 11-0 run following six straight from Zach Hicks after a very tough contested three over Landers Nolley. The Owls guards weren’t messing around early as they looked to set the tone here at Dickies Arena.
Dan Skillings wasted no time this afternoon as the Bearcats needed a spark early and man he did just that. Skillings, went on a 4-0 run to make it 16-10 in favor of the Owls. The Owls had the opportunity to open the gates, but Viktor Lakhin thought otherwise as he came up with two huge blocks on the defensive end that sparked a huge burst of momentum for the Bearcats. The Bearcats would go on a 9-0 run to make this a 16-15 game with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, following a 7-0 run from Skillings. A huge burst of momentum from the freshman in the early minutes off the bench, which was a great sign for Wes Miller and the Bearcats. The Bearcats would spark a 19-5 run following that huge segment from Skillings as the Bearcats took a 25-20 lead with 7 minutes remaining in the first half. Skillings was a problem for the Owls in the first 13 minutes as he had nine points in just six minutes of play.
The Bearcats were starting to settling in after a slow start and it started with the early minutes of Dan Skillings. The Bearcats kept their foot on the gas as Landers Nolley would turn it up a notch after a quick eight points. The Bearcats were getting stops on defense as Viktor Lakhin was not allowing anything to go down near the rim for the Owls as he recorded four huge blocks in the first half. Lakhin, only played 19 minutes in the last matchup due to foul trouble and man was he a difference maker here in the first 20 minutes of this one.
The Bearcats would build off that early run from Skillings, and it was the difference maker in the first half as the freshman went on a 7-0 run, the Bearcats outscored the Owls 31-12 to end the half. Skillings had an astronomically impact there in the first half. The Bearcats were getting seeing shots fall while getting stops on defense as the Owls shot just 30% from the field in the first half, compared to the Bearcats 45. The Owls just simply had no answer as Aarron Mckie and the Owls found themselves trailing 37-27 at the break. However, Wes Miller and the Bearcats would have to keep their foot on the gas as Aaron Mckie will find a way to get guard Damian Dunn going for the Owls, like he did in the last matchup. The Owls are still without leading scorer Khalif Battle for the rest of the season it seems, and they are clearly missing him this afternoon.
