2023 AAC Tournament Preview Paw Prints: Temple Owls

Cincinnati starts the march gauntlet on Friday.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats start the AAC Tournament gauntlet this Friday against the Temple Owls. Records are tossed out as each team (save for Houston and Memphis) faces a multi-game path to the NCAA Tournament.

UC will have to beat Houston if they it the Owls, but it's one game at a time in Fort Worth, Texas. The two teams split their season series, with each winning at home.

The Bearcats are ranked 63rd on KenPom, while Temple is 111th. 

ESPN's Matchup Predictor has Cincinnati winning 73.1% of the time. UC'S home win over Temple last month snapped a three-game losing streak to the Owls.

Here's the preview of another crucial AAC matchup.

Vik On The Mend

© Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati forward Viktor Lakhin has been the team's breakthrough player this season, but his production hasn't been as impactful since returning from an ankle injury a couple of weeks back.

Lakhin's averaging 8.7 points and 6 rebounds over the past three games. He's shooting a whopping 83.3% from the field over that time but hasn't been able to stay on the floor as long due to foul trouble.

"He hasn't been 100% yet," Wes Miller said about his center this week. "So I think it's important to put that in perspective. And Vik's a guy that over the last two years, he's improved at a crazy rate. And he improved because of his work ethic. And because of the habits he worked on day after day, and then he saw great results. So when he was out with the ankle, it wasn't just the two weeks off and getting out of shape, but it's not working those habits that he's worked really hard to build."

Overall, his minutes, points, and rebounding averages are all down from the pre-injury marks. He's averaging 3.3 fouls per game in the past three contests, 0.5 fouls higher than his average before the injury.

"I know the foul trouble was there in the last game against SMU," Miller continued. "That was a little frustrating for his minutes and his rhythm, but I thought the days up to practice he looked more like himself again. I thought the possessions that he did play when he didn't commit fouls. I thought he started looking more like himself. So I think another week. I think it'll be close to kind of how he was before he got hurt."

The pre-ankle Lakhin was a force on both ends with his amazing finishing and nice defensive timing.

UC likely needs him at 100% if it's going to win three-straight games in Texas.

NIT Projections

© Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Bearcats own the third-best odds to win the 2023 AAC Tournament, but it's still highly unlikely the program goes dancing in 2023. A postseason berth is very much on the table though.

According to DRatings.com, Cincinnati is a projected four seed in the 2023 NIT. That would land fans another home game at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats are projected to play either Florida, Villanova, Dayton, or Seton Hall in the first round.

Landers Nolley II doesn't want to play in this event if he can help it, but he's already had plenty of success in the field. UC's leading scorer led Memphis to the 2021 NIT Title and was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. UC has made 10 NIT appearances, with no championships.

The program's best finish happened in 1955 when it made the third-place game. 

Mick Cronin led the last trip to the NIT back in 2010, before rattling off nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Dynamic Dunn

© Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati's first step towards making the 2023 NCAA Tournament will likely require slowing down Temple guard Damian Dunn (15.4 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 3.1 Ast). The veteran posted one of the highest-individual scoring outings from any opposing player this season (34 points) in UC's 88-83 OT win last month.

He hammered Cincinnati with a 12-of-14 mark from the free throw line while shooting 50% from the floor and 36% from deep.

"They are probably watching our press conference right now," Miller joked. "So we're gonna triple team him (Dunn), box-and-one him. No, he's a great player, but we did some nice things on him in the last game and he still gets 30. That speaks to the level of player he is and his offensive ability."

Miller went on to say Temple's not a one-man show. 

One man who wasn't at the last show is the team's leading scorer Khalif Battle. He's a near-lock to transfer this spring after not playing since February 16 due to differences with the coaching staff.

Yikes, does not sound like Khalif Battle will be involved in the #Bearcats-Temple game on Friday.

Has not played since Feb. 16. https://t.co/IbyhvQHzpc

— Russ Heltman (@russheltman11) March 9, 2023

That's a huge boon for UC and means more minutes for Hysier Miller (8.7 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 3.7 Ast). The guard played well in Battle's absence during the first few games but is 4-of-17 from the field for 12 points over the past two contests.

Cincinnati should set up a third matchup against Houston if it can keep Dunn under control in Texas.

UC takes on Temple at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 this Friday. Catch the game via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

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