Three Man Weave: Cincinnati's Comeback Falls Short In 76-73 Loss To Memphis

Cincinnati is now a near-lock to enter the AAC Tournament as the fourth seed.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (19-11, 10-7) hopes for a two-seed in the 2023 AAC Tournament took a brutal blow in Sunday's 76-73 loss to the Memphis Tigers (21-8, 12-4).

Cincinnati committed a season-high 20 turnovers to drive the defeat as Kendric Davis (22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Deandre Williams (21 points, 7 rebounds) answered the bell—like they have all season. 

It was the program's most single-game turnovers since a 2019 loss to Georgia.

The Bearcats had a chance to come back in the final minutes, but a pair of seniors in Mika Adams Woods and Jeremiah Davenport missed the front end of 1-and-1s to drive the knife deeper.

The Bearcats have now lost five straight games to Memphis and will enter the AAC Tournament without a Quad 1 win this season.

"I think we can play with anybody and everybody but you've got to grow to be able to get over the hump to beat anybody and everybody," UC head coach Wes Miller said after the loss. "I think we're capable of that."

Here's the Three Man Weave on another close Top-50 loss.

Turnover Town

Cincinnati did exactly what you can't do on the road in a big game: set a season-high with 20 giveaways.

Landers Nolley II (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers) led the team a game after he vowed not to have 3-plus turnovers in a contest the rest of the season. All in all, five players committed multiple turnovers in the team's sloppiest game of the season.

"Them converting pressure into baskets was a huge factor in the game," Miller said about the Tigers intense defense. "We didn't do that well either half."

Oddly enough, UC was 3-1 this season when committing 15-plus turnovers.

That luck stopped in Memphis. The Tigers earned a lot of those extra possessions by forcing 15 steals. Penny Hardaway had his team execute great ball pressure defense in man-to-man sets. That pressure was too much to overcome, especially in the first half.

Williams led the way with 5 steals, while Davis and Alex Lomax (4 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) turned their 3 steals into points more than once. Cincinnati was one of the 20 best teams nationally in turnover rate coming into this game.

They shunned that identity across the game's 40 minutes, and it allowed Memphis to outshoot them by 6 shots despite Cincinnati winning the rebounding battle 39-29.

"We kind of discussed it at halftime." David DeJulius said. "They play so up-tempo. It allows them to get runs but it also allows you to get back into the game. We wanted to stay solid down the stretch and were able to make some plays. Ultimately, we just didn't have enough time."

Oguama On It

Cincinnati got back in the game after an 11-point halftime deficit against Memphis through a mixture of things. Big parts of that involved Ody Oguama (12 points, 6 rebounds) and his efficient shooting outing (5-of-6 FGs).

His quick decision-making on interior looks helped UC find needed easy points. It's something they probably should've spammed more often on a day where Oguama and Viktor Lakhin (8 points, 3-of-3 FGs, 9 rebounds) were very efficient.

Lakhin was a turnstile on defense, but offensively the Tigers didn't have many answers for the interior battery. Both players led UC in game score and seemed to get lost in the shuffle of a fast-paced game that featured 124 shots.

That cannot happen again if UC gets another crack at Memphis in the AAC Tournament. Oguama and Lakhin have both proven they need to be featured on the inside throughout a full 40 minutes.

Williams Works Again

The Tigers' interior mauler was all over the floor on Sunday afternoon in another career highlight show. Williams became an aggressor from the start of the game, posting 15 first-half points by way of multiple post moves and silky finishes.

Williams has now posted 47 points against UC across two games this season as he haunts recent outings. His 28 game score led all players at FedEx Forum.

The defensive impact from Williams was arguably just as palpable as his offense. His 6-foot-9 length helped contribute to a career-high 5 steals.

Lakhin got overlooked on offense and proved a glaring problem on defense. Williams destroyed him on interior entry after interior entry. A lot of the time Williams got the entry so deep that a double would've created an immediate open look. Memphis even got Lakhin caught in some guard matchups on the baseline.

Those went about as poorly as expected.

Cincinnati's biggest team weakness was exposed by Williams and Co. on Sunday as Cincinnati's search for a top 50 or even a Quad 1 win continues this season.

Another Quad 4 matchup awaits UC next Sunday at 2 p.m. inside Fifth Third Arena. Catch the game at 2 p.m ET on ESPN+.

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