Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Rolls 72-54 Over Antoine Davis, Detroit

Viktor Lakhin powered the win in another great showing from the Russian.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Dec 22, 2022 6:31 AM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (9-4) rolled to another blowout victory at home in a 72-54 triumph over Detroit Mercy (5-8).

Cincinnati held one of the 75 best offenses so far this season to just 33.9% shooting from the floor. They paired that with enough offensive rhythm to keep building their lead.

Viktor Lakhin (career-high 18 points, career-high 15 rebounds) had another monster game as he continues to shoot over 70% from the floor. Ody Oguama (8 points, 2 rebounds) also added a nice spark on a nice night for the frontcourt.

Here's the Three Man Weave on UC's first game against Detroit since 2004.

Lakhin Lovin It

Dec 21, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats forward Viktor Lakhin (30) controls the ball against Detroit Mercy Titans forward Damezi Anderson (23) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports — © Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Lakhin's consistency was on full display Wednesday night during a career game where UC needed all the offense it could get. Detroit rarely had a player who could match up with his size.

It led to easy entry passes and another game with elite shot efficiency. He's now scored 10-plus points in nine consecutive games, with three of those being double-doubles, including tonight.

"Victor (Lakhin) 18 (points) and 15 (rebounds)," UC head coach Wes Miller said. "I'm sitting there and I'm coaching every detail of what he's not doing. And then you look down he's got 18 (points) and 15 (rebounds). I say that because I think he's still just scratching the surface how good he can be, but he was really effective tonight."

Funneling things to Lakhin ended up breeding a 16-4 A/TO ratio. The turnovers were Cincinnati's fewest in a game since 2019.

“Yeah, I like 16 to four (turnovers) no doubt," Miller said. "Now let's put it in perspective, their playing zone the whole game. There's not a lot of pressure, but four turnovers is four turnovers over 40 minutes, and that part you do like.”

On top of that, the Russian is playing more minutes as his conditioning gets into a nice flow. Over the past five games, he's averaged 21.7 minutes per game compared to 18.6 before that.

He produced a strong 29 minutes against a Detroit team with no rotation players over 6-foot-8. Maybe the biggest improvement for Lakhin is his touch and court awareness. Those are the biggest reasons why he ranks fourth nationally in FG%.

Man-To-Man Monsters

Cincinnati Bearcats forward Ody Oguama (33) blocks Detroit Mercy Titans forward Jordan Phillips (12) in the first half of the NCAA men s basketball game at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Ncaa Basketball Detroit Mercy Titans At Cincinnati Bearcats — © Albert Cesare / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Wes Miller's team played some stellar defense against the Titans.

UC held Detroit to 20 points in the paint, and 7-of-23 from deep (just two makes in the last 30 minutes). It was a nice display of what we've seen in practice over the last few weeks inside Fifth Third Arena. UC specifically game-planned around Antoine Davis (17 points, 5 turnovers, 6-of-20 FGs).

They did a great job on the nation's leading scorer.

He never had easy paths around ball screens, and the defensive communication made him work for every basket. Face-up situations were death blows for Detroit as UC keeps sharpening defensive disruption with its length.

Davis had a whopping 43.2% usage rate but only finished with a 6 game score. He posted a 35% effective field goal rate, far below his season average of 50%. David DeJulius drew the assignment and stifled the scorcher nicely.

"I was impressed with David DeJulius tonight," Miller said about the defensive effort. "Antoine Davis is a really good player. I mean a really good player. He’s seen about everything you can throw at him. And I thought David (DeJulius) did as good of a job as you can do on him in the possessions that he guarded him which was the majority of the game. I can't imagine a lot of people hold him under 17 and a lot of that 17 wasn't with Dave (DeJulius) guarding him. So, tip my cap to David (DeJulius) because that was really fun to watch."

Detroit entered the game making the ninth most threes per game in the country (10.5 per game). Cincinnati ran them off the line nicely and didn't allow easy inside offense to get set up by the outside shot.

Cincinnati did all that against the 71st-ranked team nationally by offensive efficiency.

Next up is Tulane, which sits at No. 88.

Davenport Dishes

Dec 21, 2022; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Detroit Mercy Titans guard T.J. Moss, left, defends as Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jeremiah Davenport (24) attempts a three-point basket in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports — © Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Jeremiah Davenport (8 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists) continued his rough shooting this season, but the playmaking showed through against Detroit.

The senior posted a lowly 27% effective field goal rate on 3-of-15 shooting.

He seemingly felt the night not going his way though, and began making more quick decisions to pass. That has to be a consistent staple going forward. Cincinnati has already faced many of the worst defenses on their schedule, and it's hard to think his 32.7% FG rate coming into the game will get a whole lot better.

“I think that I've been really pleased with how he's trying to play the right way here over the last week or so," Miller said about Davenport's recent play. "There's a concerted effort to try to play the right way. And you want when guys do that. To all the sudden they also scored at a higher rate because I do believe that's how it works over time. And so I hate that it's the one night that he doesn't shoot it well, but if he continues to play like that, it's going to give our team and him the best chance to play and by the way"

Facilitating and using the game plan against defenses is a perfect foil for him to use.

Will he use it? That's the question.

Davenport now has just three games over two assists this season. Wednesday was his first since the win over Louisville. Finding ways to make winning plays will be crucial in conference play. Making that extra pass is a good way to do it.

Up next is Tulane at home on Dec. 29 at 9 p.m. ET.

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