Three Man Weave: Balanced Scoring Powers UC In 97-71 Win Over Bryant

The Bearcats are now 5-0 all-time against Bryant.

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats (6-3) kept the undefeated home vibes rolling with a 97-1 win over the Bryant Bulldogs (6-3). Both teams were down bodies as UC lost Rob Phinisee to injury, and Bryant missed six players due to illness.

Still, Jeremiah Davenport (14 points, three rebounds) got back into his 2021 shooting form from outside to spark the big win. Meanwhile, Viktor Lakhin (16 points, career-high 13 rebounds) continued his highly-efficient 2022-23 campaign with the second-most points of his career.

Cincinnati is now 5-0 all-time against Bryant and has scored over 80 points in three-straight games for the first time under Wes Miller. The win marked the second-most points for UC since the start of last season.

Down The Drive Defense

The Bearcats' defensive acumen fueled their big first half against Bryant and provided more than enough cushion for the full game. 

Cincinnati held the Bulldogs to 21% shooting in the first half and just 3-for-24 from outside. Bryant shot 30% for the full 40 minutes.

The effort, timing, and communication were as locked in as they've been all season for UC. A welcome occurrence with Xavier coming to town next week (11th nationally in adjusted offense). No Earl Timberlake was a big problem for Bryant on the inside.

Lakhin was great on offense and especially on defense. At one point in the second half, he had a 6.5 defensive rating to lead all players. The Russian was a black hole on the defensive glass (11 def. rebounds) while adding a block and steal.

Big Vik is turning into one of the more fun players to watch on this team.

He's playing with so much more patience and physicality this season after his first real summer with the program. Check another box for the Monster Factory.

Defense like this will be imperative to beating Xavier next weekend.

Freshmen Sightings

All three members of Wes Miller's inaugural freshman class at UC played for the first time together on Sunday. Dan Skillings (career-high 13 points, career-high 13 rebounds), Josh Reed (10 points, nine rebounds), and Sage Tolentino (four points, two rebounds) all played on Sunday.

It marked the first UC action for Tolentino and the first career double-double for Skillings. The latter was a menace on the glass, timing his jumps well and boxing out precisely.

He did turn the ball over four times, but Skillings is getting more and more locked in on defense throughout this non-conference stretch. Miller makes it clear at practice that if you don't defend, you're not playing out there for long. Skillings' commitment on that end is slowly but surely paying off.

The three-ball falling is very encouraging (3-for-6). Skillings was 1-for-15 from deep heading into this game.

Reed is on a similar track to Skillings. He's getting the hang of UC's defensive sets and therefore getting more chances to shine. He set a career-high with 10 points and was a strong force on the glass just like Skillings.

Those two showing signs of growth this early in their careers is very encouraging for the program as it steps up competition in the Big 12.

JD For Three

When Davenport makes shots at the rate he did against Bryant, UC is very tough to beat. The senior had ten points in the first ten minutes to spark a big early cushion.

Cincinnati is now 3-1 this season when Davenport scores in double-figures. 

It was a classic Davenport game where he found the hot spots early and kept hammering them. It turned into a tale of two halves by the end of the forty minutes (5-of-8 1H, 0-for-4 2H), but Davenport took the reins from Landers Nolley (eight points, 2-of-7 shooting).

His strong start made sure UC never had to worry about the cold outing from their second-leading scorer.

It highlighted a sustainable brand of ball for UC over this three-game winning streak. More points in the paint and more assists (12-plus in all three wins) will spell shooting issues when they arise. The Bearcats are still fighting for more free throw attempts and better shooting from the line (266th in free throws made/100 possessions).

Getting that closer to the 150s will make this growing offense that much more effective.

Next up is Xavier at home next Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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