Preview Paw Prints: Central Florida Knights Game Two

Cincinnati is in a similar position as this time last season.

© Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

CINCINNATI — Déjà vu results are starting to hit in Year 2 of the Wes Miller era as Cincinnati (17-10, 8-6) battles Central Florida (15-10, 6-7) down south on Sunday.

Cincinnati suffered its worst loss of the season Wednesday, blowing a 16-point lead in the 75-71 debacle against East Carolina. All the while, UCF lost a heartbreaker 64-63 to Memphis. UC is lucky they did, because this would've been a do-or-die game if not.

The Knights enter the weekend ranked 55th on KenPom, while Cincinnati is 66th. ESPN's Matchup Predictor has Cincinnati losing the game 70.8% of the time.

Here's a preview of two teams battling for a top-five seed in the AAC Tournament.

Longing For Lakhin

© Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The biggest weakness for UC hoops heading into this season was the frontcourt. Viktor Lakhin's absence hammered that home in Wednesday's 75-71 loss to ECU.

Cincinnati's interior defense collapsed during the Pirates' 26-6 closing run. It was done through high-value shots at the rim, while Cincinnati clanked three after three. 

ECU made eight of its last 12 shots from the field (six layups). Cincinnati missed nine of its last 10 tries (seven three-pointers). Without their leading rebounder and shot blocker—both of UC's ends suffered greatly near the hoop.

Kalu Ezikpe and Ody Oguama combined for 14 points on 8 shots to go with 8 fouls.

"We weren't focused," head coach Wes Miller said about the collapse. "We didn't finish the game even though we had opportunities to do that. So, you're frustrated on every possible level and disappointed."

The loss moved Cincinnati to an abysmal 3-5 record on the road this season. They struggled to close out trips with Lakhin, and without him, they are now 0-2 finishing those road chances since he got injured.

There's no firm confirmation of his status for Sunday. Cincinnati could use a gutty performance though. They are currently tied for the fourth seed in the AAC Tournament, with Temple, Wichita State, and UCF all within 1.5 games.

UC dropped its final five games last season and is four losses away from repeating the same finish. 

Dan Trending Down

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The freshman experience has been up and down for Daniel Skillings, who's slotting into the latter category of late. Skillings' minutes have noticeably dropped over the past seven games.

Wes Miller's played the long wing just 11.9 minutes per game since he posted his second-career double-digit scoring outing at South Florida.

All of it amounting to 3.9 points per game on 31.3% shooting from the field and a 2.1 game score. Skillings is shooting the three-ball better compared to the rest of the season, but his average game score has dropped significantly (3.1 to start the season).

Skillings is still getting adjusted to the demanding man-to-man defense UC employs and it's hard to play any offensive talent for long stretches when they get burned on the other end.

Hitting the freshman wall isn't crazy and happens in this sport, but an uptick during the homestretch would ease any uneasy feelings about his development.

Hello, Hendricks

© Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

UCF forward Taylor Hendricks (14.9 Pts, 6.8 Reb, 1.5 Ast) got whatever he wanted in the last meeting between these two teams. That should continue on Sunday, especially if Cincinnati doesn't have Lakhin to throw at him.

Hendricks dropped 21 points and 8 rebounds on 50% shooting against UC earlier this month as the dynamic wing continues to show why he and Jarace Walker are the two best NBA prospects the AAC has to offer this season.

Career-high watch can start now for Hendricks, who should have zero trouble stretching the floor and then punishing UC's lowly defense of late on the inside. Brandon Johnson's efficient 16-point outing on Wednesday was a light preview of how Hendricks can attack a Lakhin-less UC.

Hendricks is fifth in the AAC this season in field goal percentage (47.7%) and second in offensive rating (124 points per 100 poss.).

Oh, and that just highlights His impact on one end. He's arguably the most intimidating shot blocker in the league (1.8 BPG, 1st in AAC). 

His main distributor won't be easy to stop either, especially if the Bearcats can't force a whopping 25 turnovers this time around. Darius Johnson (11.8 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 4.7 Ast) was one of three Knights with four turnovers in that game.

Johnson's struggled to reel that in this season (2.4 TOVs per game) but is the Knights' best passer, and a top-five assist artist in the conference. He's posted consecutive games with 8-plus dimes.

Cincinnati and UCF clash at noon ET on Sunday. The game is airing on ESPNU and is available via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

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