Maui Fastbreak: UC Hammers Louisville 81-62 In Tournament Finale

The Bearcats have something to build on as they return home for a seven-game home stand.

© Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — The Maui Invitational ended on a high note for the Cincinnati Bearcats via an 81-62 win over Louisville. David DeJulius (tied career-high 26 points) and Landers Nolley (21 points) woke up in the final game to power the victory.

Viktor Lakhin (12 points, four rebounds, one block), continued his role as this team's most consistent front court option with a nice second half against the Cardinals.

Kalu Ezikpe (three minutes, two fouls) is still struggling mightily, but Ody Oguama (six points, six rebounds) gave UC enough of a 1-2 inside punch to blow out the now 0-6 Cardinals.

The Rundown: UC's leading scorers this season combined for just three points against Ohio State but caught fire from outside (11-of-22 from deep) in what could be a big bellwether for this team going forward.

The outings from DeJulius and Nolley marked UC's first complementary 20-point games since DeJulius and Jeremiah Davenport both went over 20 in a January win over Tulsa this year.

"The basket opened up for him a little bit," UC head coach Wes Miller said about DeJulius after the game. "And we got to do a better job as a staff and as coaches putting these guys in the right position to make plays and do what they do well. We'll do that as we get back and get some practice time. But it hasn't been an easy stretch here, and the guy here to my left just finally got it going a little bit, and we got to do a better job so he can do that more consistently because he's certainly capable."

The ball movement was much easier to find, with DeJulius and Nolley heating up. UC posted 17 assists against Lousiville, which would rank top-40 nationally over a whole season. 

Maybe the most encouraging part of the game was how Jeremiah Davenport (1-of-7 FGs, five assists) started to facilitate more when he knew it wasn't his shooting night.

Nolley's four turnovers need cleaning up, but that hasn't been a nagging issue for him this season. He's the only "impact" transfer living up to that status this season. UC needs more from Ezikpe and Rob Phinisee (12 minutes, one assist) if they want to overcome John Newman III's injury and reach the NCAA Tournament.

The win means Maui wasn't a complete failure, but UC likely needs to win their remaining six non-conference games to build a strong enough tourney resúme. ESPN's Matchup Predictor has them favored in every game, including the Xavier battle (53.1% chance to win).

Notable Nuggets: Lakhin shot 69.2% in Maui and averaged 13.7 PPG. Stretches like that need to be the norm this season.

The 100th meeting in this storied rivalry ended with Cincinnati's largest margin of victory against the Cardinals since Feb. 22, 2003.

DeJulius (993 career points) will likely cross the 1,000-point mark next week against NJIT.

No UC player took more than two free throws in this game. Cincinnati is now 172nd nationally in free throw attempts per game.

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