Three Man Weave: Temple Stifles UC's Offense 70-61

The Bearcats ball movement didn't show up for long in Philadelphia.

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CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (10-5, 1-1) offense started well on the road, but it didn't last in a 70-61 loss to Temple (8-7, 2-0).

Cincinnati led 27-20 in the opening half but took on a scoring flurry from Temple, and their offense tanked as a result. Five different Owls scored in double figures as the team's bench outscored UC 20-2 and out rebounded UC 46-28 overall. 

UC is yet to win a road game (0-2) or a game where they trail at half this season.

Landers Nolley II (team-high 15 points, 4 rebounds) showed off some decent shotmaking, but UC's offense stalled for the final 30 minutes and showed little ball-movement life.

"You try not to talk to teams too much after losses right away. It's emotional," UC head coach Wes Miller said after the loss. "We'll look at the tape. We got beat 46-28 on the boards, and we talked about that. Viktor's foul trouble was a factor in the game, and that's an important part."

Check out the Three Man Weave on Cincinnati's third-straight loss to Temple.

Offense Stays In Clifton

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The Bearcats entered a sleepy Philadelphia environment but faced a physical Owls team. Up and down the roster, Temple got gritty production from most rotation pieces.

Jahlil White (14 points, 16 rebounds) hurt Cincinnati the most with a career-high rebounding night. The long 6-foot-7 guard was a vacuum on the glass, timing his jumps well and making sure UC got limited extra chances with 14 defensive boards.

Once UC's offense got on its heels, the dribbling increased. UC had its fewest assist total since losing to Ohio State—and it showed on each possession. Temple is no stranger to outings like this with a good, not great defense (138th def. efficiency).

The more surprising part is UC got going early but then fell flat. Viktor Lakhin (11 points, 4 rebounds) was under 50% from the field for the second-straight game as he faced a tougher size matchup. Teams are starting to foul him rather than let soft-drop shots get off (5-10 FTs).

"That stretch where they went on the 15-0 run," Miller described. "He's [Lakhin] sitting on the bench and you try to put him back in to get yourselves back in the game, and he picks up a third foul late in the half...if you give up 15-0 runs on the road, you're gonna be in a big hole and it'll be harder than it needs to be."

Nolley's veteran Moxy is showing on the road offensively, but more experienced players need to start joining him if UC wants to meet its goals this season.

"It's a game of runs," Nolley said after the loss. "We know they've got good players and a good program. They definitely had it going on the offensive end and we didn't have it going on the defensive end."

Bench Blinks

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Depth usually needs to step up a bit on the road, and UC got a no-show outside of the starting five.

Dan Skillings Jr., Josh Reed, Jarrett Hensley, and Ody Oguama combined to go 1-of-9 from the field for 2 points, and 1 missed free throw. It was a tough watch at times as Skillings' showed his youth in a justifiable nervous spot returning home to a gym right near his high school.

He and Oguama combined for 3 turnovers as UC continues to search for a frontcourt complement to Lakhin. The burly forward hauled in a team-high 5 rebounds, but overall Oguama is treated as a non-threat when he roams the offense.

"There's some good defensive possessions there in the second half," Miller said. "Then you don't finish them with rebounds and they turn into bad defensive possessions."

Kalu Ezipe continues to ride the bench as his chances to impact this season dwindle. He has not played since the win over La Salle and has logged just 14 minutes since the Maui Invitational.

Cincinnati is about to face two great defensive teams in Wichita State (49th def. efficiency) and Houston (second in def. efficiency) during a huge week for this team.

Temple Triple

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The Owls aren't a great three-point shooting team, but they got hot against Cincinnati. The Bearcats are 87th in three-pointers allowed yet leaked oil on Sunday.

 Khalif Battle (14 points, 3-6 3 FGs) and Zach Hicks (13 points, 8 rebounds, 3-of-5 3 FGs), rained down at home.

"You know Battle is going to have some moments," Miller said about the guard. "He explodes a little bit. He's capable of creating space and making very difficult challenge shots. You know that's going to happen over the course of the game with a player like him. It's the stuff you can control that frustrates you even more."

The offensive rebounding prowess stood out against a team that had some deep size. UC hasn't faced a bigger team since the Crosstown Shootout. All the kick outs scrambled the perimeter defense for a rough cycle.

Hicks's size at 6-foot-7 punished Cincinnati in the first half, and Battle took the baton after the opening frame. It wasn't a super pretty offensive showing from the winning Owls, but the classic road test in Philly stumped all the same.

Only one Bearcat gobbled up 5-plus rebounds, and the punishing physicality from Aaron Mckie's team was eerily similar to how Northern Kentucky bullied UC on defense and hit them with deep booms on the other end.

Cincinnati was about to enter the top 100 in the NET rankings with a win on Sunday and set up a huge week at Wichita State and home against Houston. Now, they might need to sweep those teams for a chance to make the NCAA Tournament.

First things first is winning a road game this season. Cincinnati plays Wichita State in Kansas at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday.

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