Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Outlasts Merrimack 65-49

Cincinnati stayed undefeated at home this season.

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati basketball stayed perfect at home this season with a 65-49 win over Merrimack powered by a nice, efficient night from Viktor Lakhin (18 points, seven rebounds).

UC fed its big men to drive the offensive train on Tuesday in fits and starts. The defense fired on all cylinders as a normally strong two-point shooting Warriors team couldn't find many answers inside the arc.

Cincinnati did not play with much of a sustainable identity on Tuesday as the guard play continues to be missing with time running out in non-conference play. It marked the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Lakhin Hooks

The Bearcats had a clear size advantage in this win and Lakhin asserted that early with a consistent hook-shot weapon. He went 4-of-5 from the field in the opening half as Cincinnati tried to work through the zone defense Merrimack employed.

Cincinnati struggled to get it to Lakhin consistently on Tuesday, but it was very effective when they could feed him and Jamille Reynolds (seven points, 11 rebounds). It all came against a small but crafty Warrior defense ranked 132nd nationally.

They did get pesky with Lakhin as he was one of five Bearcats with multiple turnovers in the team entered the game after entering with the 18th-best turnover average nationally. Overall, Lakhin played a sound game and returned to his normal efficiency. It was also a night of avoiding the three-point shot and working his package of post moves inside.

Elite Defense

The Bearcats didn't have heavy competition to deal with on the defensive end Saturday but they did work the size advantage all night, holding Merrimack to 34% shooting from the field.

It included a nice showing against the Warriors' two best scorers as Jordan Derdack (18 points on 10 shots) and Adam Clark (four points, 2-of-12 from the field) got held in check. Merrimack had no real way to penetrate the Bearcats' interior defense and didn't create free throw opportunities like they have across most of their road outings this season.

John Newman III and the rest of UC's perimeter defender crew played great face-up defense all night

The Warriors shot just six free throws and continued a terrible start to the season from deep with a 33.3% three-point mark. It was a nice bounce-back defensive effort after nothing worked against Dayton.

Still, it's hard to take much away from stopping the 309th-ranked offense on KenPom by adjusted efficiency. Cincinnati needs to keep stringing these strong defensive habits together to build momentum for Big 12 play.

Guards Ghost Again

Cincinnati didn't get much impact again from its lead ball handlers in this game as they thankfully didn't have to deal with a long defense shutting down easy passing lanes inside for the big fellas' offensive production.

Jizzle James, Newman III, Day Day Thomas, and Simas Lukošius combined for 24 points and 13 assists as the offense struggled on the perimeter with the Warriors' wonky style of defense. It led to some ball possession issues that cannot happen in the Big 12 from this unit.

Consistently turning the ball over double-digit times in a half will lead to blowouts in the nation's toughest conference and that starts with Cincinnati's guards who committed nine in the game.

Still, UC recovered well with its strong athleticism and kept Merrimack from scoring well on turnovers (28 to 4 points off TOs). They now prepare for a shorter turnaround on Friday at home against Stetson.

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