Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Guts Out 54-52 Win Over SMU

The Bearcats moved to 18-6 all-time against SMU.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (13-6, 4-2) survived their shooting outing this season to beat the SMU Mustangs (6-12, 1-4) 54-52 in a down-to-the-wire game.

Mika Adams-Woods (16 points) and Landers Nolley (16 points, game-high 12 rebounds) drove the sporadic offense—while Viktor Lakhin (6 points, 10 rebounds, 8 blocks) posted a new career-high in blocks to anchor the rim protection on an equally great defensive outing.

Lakhin's blocks are tied for the second-most all-time by a UC player in a single game.

"My favorite wins as a coach are when you can't throw it into the ocean, and you turn it over 17 times, but you guard and you rebound well enough to find a way to win," UC head coach Wes Miller said after the game. "That shows the character of the team. Believe me, I don't want to turn it over 17 times. I want to shoot it better. But to be in that offensive standpoint, those are the ones you're most proud of."

The victory marks Cincinnati's first win of the season, shooting less than 38.5% from the field. UC is now 18-6 all-time against SMU.

Here's the Three Man Weave on a much-needed road win in Texas.

Mika Money

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Adams-Woods brought his shot against SMU, canning 4 threes (second-most in his career). 

He commanded the basketball all afternoon and helped start the break seamlessly on plenty of Nolley rebounds. The senior guard has greatly improved his efficiency from last season, raising his true shooting rate by 15%.

"All the hard work I put in in the offseason, I'm just happy to finally seeing it paying off." Adams-Woods said. "My teammates, they give me confidence and just keep telling me to keep shooting and the shot's going in."

On a brutal road shooting outing, Cincinnati needed all of Shooey's one-man offense. He and Nolley paced Cincinnati in game score, while Adams-Woods was the only Bearcat over 50% shooting.

His calming presence on the ball is cementing a much-need role for the Bearcats after losing a pair of guards to long-term injury. MAW has been extremely durable, starting all 19 games, and averaging 27 minutes per outing.

Defense Travels

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Cincinnati didn't let its rough shooting affect the intensity and rebounding on the other end. The rim pressure and collapsing were fantastic, leading to a season-high 12 team blocks.

Lakhin had most of those and continued showcasing his growth as an all-around interior weapon. His base was fundamentally sound in front of the rim all night, and the lack of big options for SMU did them in.

"I just love him," Nolley said about Lakhin. "I just feel like we got one of the best big men in the country."

Viktor Blakhin pic.twitter.com/JMXdZzXSjY

— Barstool Cincinnati (@UCBarstool) January 14, 2023

Lakhin (73 defensive rating) and Nolley (66.4 def. rating) were the best stoppers on the floor in a defensive showcase. The duo created 18 stops and gobbled up 22 rebounds.

"Coach has emphasized that when I crash the boards and get more rebounds it's just better for our team," Nolley said. "So I told him from now on, I'm gonna try and get 10 boards every game."

Top-seven AAC scorer Zhuric Phelps (11 points) returned from injury and had no answer for UC's man-to-man defense. Phelps shot 5-of-18 from the field and missed all three triple tries.

His 0-of-4 finish in the game melted into SMU's 1-of-9 finish as a team. 

Stifling stuff from Miller's crew.

Ugly games like Saturdays require stamina and togetherness. The Bearcats' best players brought that on defense all night and kept their season alive.

Turnover Trouble

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The Bearcats' offense is a little scattershot over the past five games, as Saturday marked the worst shooting day of the season (33.8%) and the second-worst turnover showing (17).

Whenever Adams-Woods didn't run sets, things felt rushed and antsy. The ball movement evaporated after driving the 83 points against East Carolina. 

Cincinnati posted 13 assists, but it took a lot of sloppy turnovers and clogged passing lanes to get there. Nolley was great on defense but had a team-high and season-high 5 TOs.

A couple of those came down the stretch with everything in the balance.

"We know we haven't arrived," Miller said about the finish and rebounding. "We still got a long way to go there. But you know, again, for me, in my core if we defend and we rebound, you're always gonna give yourself a chance to win. Even with a difficult offensive night tonight, we did those two things."

The frontcourt also struggled to handle their touches at times. Lakhin (3 TO) and Ody Oguama (5 points, 2-of-9 FGs, 3 TOs) gave the ball up way too much.

Still, Cincinnati stayed alive in the AAC race with the win and showed they can outlast defensively in tight contests. 

Next up is South Florida (7-10, 0-4), another win UC has to bank before a massive two-game stretch against Memphis and No. 1 Houston.

Next up is South Florida (7-10, 0-4), another win UC has to bank before a massive two-game stretch against Memphis and No. 1 Houston.

Cincinnati battles the Bulls on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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