The Cincinnati Bearcats improved to (14-6, 3-4 Big 12) after defeating Central Florida 68-57 after a huge second half comeback. The Victory marked the Bearcats fourth comeback victory over the last month dating back to the game vs Evansville.
The Bearcats were without starting forward Viktor Lakhin, after missing the game due to illness. Lakhin was on the floor for pre-game warmups but was not spotted during the team’s final warmups. Wes Miller noted on his weekly radio show on Thursday, that there was a sickness going around the team.
The Knights would be shorthanded in the frontcourt as Shemarri Allen (ankle) and CJ Walker (undisclosed) were both unavailable for the Knights. Allen averages nearly seven points, four rebounds, three assists in nearly 29 minutes of action per game. The Knights were also without second leading rebounder CJ Walker who was out tonight due to an undisclosed injury per head coach Johnny Dawkins.
“I’m obviously pleased our guys dug in and found a way to win,” said Wes Miller. “The quality to dig and figure it out, stay together is way more important than anything x and o wise.”
The Bearcats were led by Dan Skillings who finished with a team high 21 points and seven rebounds on yet a very efficient 8-14 shooting. The Sophomore guard has now led the Bearcats in scoring over the last two games and has quickly turned a lot of heads as conference play continues to move forward.
“Give Dan and the people around him credit, he has the right mentality, he hasn’t expected anything, comes to work every day. When it doesn’t go his way, he doesn’t have people trying to pull him out of Cincinnati. I think you are seeing that natural progression: He is still in the middle of the process, but I don’t think he has even scratched the surface yet. He has so much better basketball in him than we have seen, but I am proud of how he has developed.”
John Newman finished with 19 points and seven rebounds as the 6th year veteran has turned things up on both sides of the ball this season. Newman has now scored in double figures for the fourth straight game and has become a key option for the Bearcats. Newman flashed his 40-inch vertical tonight, that may even end up on Sportscenter later tonight after a huge poster dunk over Omar Payne late in the second half.
“I though John Newman was an absolute warrior,” said Miller. “That will be a game when I tell stories about John Newman years down the road this will be a game I definitely talk about. You guys show me a better perimeter defender in all of college basketball than John Newman. You can’t tell me there is anyone out there better than John Newman, I mean he has been phenomenal.”
The Rundown
Cincinnati took an early 5-0 lead after Simas Lukosius buried his first three-point attempt of the night to get the scoring started on the opening possession. John Newman forced a turnover on the other end resulting in two free throws for the Bearcats. Cincinnati guard Dan Skillings went on to score the next eight for Cincinnati as Cincinnati took an 15-6 lead with 16:00 minutes remaining in the first half.
The Knights would weather the early storm scoring five unanswered to cut the Bearcats lead to single digits as Jaylin Sellers responded with all five for the Knights. The Knights offense was clicking early after responding with 13 unanswered points, following a Cincinnati turnover resulted in a three-point play for Antwann Jones. However, the Knights were shooting nearly 75% from the field, while the Bearcats were shooting just 40%. Cincinnati knew they would need to respond early quickly, and that was exactly what Day-Day Thomas did as he stopped the near four-minute scoring drought for Cincinnati.
Ody Oguama would come off the bench and play some huge minutes early for Cincinnati, with Lakhin unavailable, the veteran big man was ready for his moment. Oguama provided a huge spark for the Bearcats on both ends of the court, after grabbing two early rebounds on the defensive end. Oguama was able to slam one home for the Bearcats after Skillings made a miraculous save on the miss, where Lukosius was able to find Oguama all alone in the paint for the slam.
The Knights would build off their early run as Sellers buried another huge three to give the Knights a 31-23 lead. Despite Cincinnati making four of their first five field goal attempts of the game, the Bearcats would go on to miss 10 of their next 12 shots. The Knights would take advantage of the early struggles, as they extended their lead to eight with 3:41 left in the first half, as Sellers continued to will the Knights early.
Central Florida guards Marchelous Avery and Jaylin Sellers willed the Knights in the first half, as the back court duo combined for 28 of the Knights 39 first half points. As the backcourt duo was lights out, where they shot 10-18 from the field, as Johnny Dawkins was relying more on the front court, with Walker and Allen both out for the Knights.
The Knights took a 39-27 lead heading into the break after a strong first half, where the Knights shot 52% from the field through the first twenty minutes of play, while Cincinnati shot just 33%. The Bearcats offense went ice cold as they went just 2 for 11 from the field in the final seven minutes of the first half. Cincinnati had no answer for Avery or Sellers as they both continued to cause problems on the offensive end in the first half.
Cincinnati was struggling to find some rhythm inside with Lakhin out, as Aziz Bandaogo, Jamille Reynolds, and Oguama combined for just six points in the first half. That was something Cincinnati would have to get going in the second half, as Bandaogo started to towards the end of the first half, but they needed some production inside, especially with Diallo in early foul trouble for the Knights. However, all the momentum was in favor of the Knights after scoring the final seven points of the first half.
The Bearcats responded with an 8-2 run out of the half after forcing Central Florida big man Ibrahima Diallo to pick up two quick fouls in the first 90 seconds of the second half. That allowed Cincinnati to get inside and attack around the rim after Skillings drove baseline to make this a 41-35 game, forcing a Central Florida timeout.
Sellers extended the Knights lead back to double digits after burying a tough contested jumper over Newman. Cincinnati would respond with a huge defensive clinic as they held the Knights without a field goal for over five minutes, resulting in a huge eight-point swing in favor of Cincinnati. A run that started with Skillings snatching a huge offensive rebound off the Thomas missed free throw, which was something that Skillings has beat the Knights on most the night.
Cincinnati would respond with their second consecutive kill, (3rd stop in a row) after Oguama rejected the layup from Sylla, which resulted in a three-point play for Newman on the other end. Fifth Third was back on their feet as the Bearcats searched for their first lead since the opening minutes. The Knights stopped the bleeding after an Avery three pointer ended a six-minute scoring drought to give the Knights a 48-44 lead with 10:00 remaining.
Johnny Dawkins elected to bring Diallo at the 10-minute mark to stop the Bearcats momentum, but Newman flashed his 40-inch vertical going over Diallo for the rebound which resulted in the Knights center picking up his fifth foul with 9:13 remaining. A huge opportunity for the Bearcats as the Knights were now without their leading rebounder for the final stretch of this contest. Cincinnati would tke their first lead since, 16-15 after Thomas slashed through the Knights defense for the easy scoop and score as Cincinnati led the Knights 50-49.
Despite Newman picking up his third foul with 7 minutes remaining, the Bearcats held the Knights to another scoring drought, this one almost four minutes long, after the Knights went 1 for their last 11 during that span. The Bearcats front court was too much to handle for the Knights here in the second half as the length and physicality made it difficult for Central Florida to find their rhythm offensively.
Cincinnati would start to build their momentum down the stretch after defensive stops turned into offensive points. Cincinnati forward John Newman set the tone with 5:00 left after putting Central Florida forward Omar Payne on an absolute poster to this game at 52 with a loud Fifth Third Arena right behind them.
That dunk by Newman, busted the lid off of Fifth Third Arena as the Bearcats finished the game on a 18-5 run to give the Bearcats a 68-57 victory over the Knights. That dunk by Newman started it all, as the Bearcats rattled off a 11-0 run before Sylla silenced the crowd with a huge three for the Knights.
However, Cincinnati just poured it on from there as Skillings closed it out with a huge steal that turned into a huge tomahawk dunk on the other end, and by that point, the damage was already done as the Knights were quickly silenced. Cincinnati outscored the Knights 41-18 in the second half, as they held the Knights to just 20% from the field, while the Bearcats shot nearly 64%.
Up Next
The Bearcats (14-6, 3-4 Big 12) will travel to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on West Virginia (7-13, 2-5) in a battle between former Big East rivals. The Mountaineers coaching staff features Bearcat legend and former Cincinnati player and development coach Dermarr Johnson, who was on staff with Wes Miller from 2021-2022 before reuniting with now former Coach Bob Huggins.
