Cincinnati Basketball Players To Watch: Merrimack Edition

The Bearcats host Merrimack University as they enter the final stretch of non-conference play.

CINCINNATI — Merrimack enters tonight's battle with Cincinnati owning a 5-6 record following their 89-85 win over Felician University on Saturday. The Warriors started the season projected to finish fourth in the NEC preseason polls just behind Fairleigh Dickinson University.

However, this should be a very winnable matchup for the Bearcats as they are currently 97% favorites according to the ESPN matchup predictor. The Warriors sit 263rd in the latest KenPom ratings, while the Bearcats fell to 37th following their loss over the weekend.

Players To Watch For The Warriors

Jordan Derkack: The 6-foot-5, 210-pound point guard has been the heart and soul of the Warriors offense this season as the sophomore averages nearly 17 points, seven rebounds, and three assists per game. Derkack is very good at creating separation and getting to his spots in the midrange game, as he is shooting just above 50% from the floor this season. However, Derkack struggles to shoot the deep ball as he is just 4-for-26 (15%) from behind the arch this season, so don't expect him to be that three-point sharpshooter for the Warriors.

Derkack can also affect the game on the defensive end as a gritty, physical on-ball defender. He will look to create turnovers and be on top of the ball as much as possible. Expect Derkack to give some trouble to guards Day-Day Thomas and Jizzle James, as the sophomore guard will use his size to his advantage.

Adam Clark: The freshman is another intriguing guard to keep an eye on for the Warriors. Clark, averages 12 points, three rebounds, and three steals per game, which ranks tenth nationally in terms of steals. Clark, a smaller undersized guard who stands 5'11 and weighs just 155 pounds, is a quick shifty guard with tremendous hands who loves to get active on the ball and force turnovers. The Bearcats will have to make sure they protect the ball at all costs when Clark is around in hopes of preventing those early turnovers.

Players To Watch For The Bearcats

The Bearcats have quite the size advantage heading into this matchup as the Warriors have nobody on their roster listed taller than 6'7". UC, on the other hand, have six players who stand 6'7 or higher, five of which are significant players, in Simas Lukosius (6'8"), Viktor Lakhin (6'11"), Aziz Bandaogo (7'0"), Jamille Reynolds (6'11"), Ody Oguama (6'10"). This is something the Bearcats utilized in their dominant win over Bryant last week where they outrebounded the Bulldogs 57-33. The Bearcats should be very capable of putting up those kinds of numbers here again tonight matched up with a struggling Merrimack team.

Viktor Lakhin is my player to watch for the Bearcats. The Russian is coming off one of his worst games of the season where he finished with just four points and seven rebounds on 2-of-9 shooting in the Bearcats' 82-68 loss to Dayton on Saturday. That is a stat line that many Bearcat fans aren't used to after the seven-footer dominated in the first half of non-conference play with double-digit points in six straight games, including a new career high of 26 points in the Bearcats win over Eastern Washington.

Lakhin has scored just 11 points over the last two games after hitting a small bump in the road over the last week or so. However, he is one of the Bearcat's most efficient players as the seven-footer is currently shooting 57% from the field on the season. I expect Lakhin to rebound with a solid performance here tonight use his size to his advantage and dominate the glass where he could finish with eight or more rebounds for the Bearcats. Lakhin started the season off shooting nearly 50% from behind the arch but is just 1-of-12 from deep over the last two games, so I expect Lakhin to get back to the midrange game and dominate the paint for the Bearcats.

Prediction: I predict the Bearcats will beat the Warriors 85-58 and a key reason why is the size of the frontcourt. I think the matchups Bandaogo, Lakhin, Oguama, and Reynolds present for the Warriors will cause problems all night. The Bearcats are capable of putting up 35-40 points in the paint tonight against a very small Warriors team. Cincinnati is in great shape if it can dominate the glass with a size advantage and have another night where they heavily outrebound opponents.

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