Three Man Weave: UC Beats Cleveland State 69-58 at Fifth Third Arena

Cincinnati is now 13-0 all-time against the Vikings.

CINCINNATI — UC didn't make it easy on themselves, but came away with a 69-58 victory over Cleveland State at home. Cincinnati is now 13-0 all-time against the Vikings.

The Bearcats struggled in half court offense (39 FG% overall), but used its size advantage (43-31 rebound edge) to get a bigger shot diet. Rebounding will and free throws (17-of-22) helped them overcome a rough night in the halfcourt on both ends.

"It's good to win," UC head coach Wes Miller said about the victory. "It wasn't pretty, give [Cleveland State] a ton of credit, they lost a game against a Division II opponent on Monday night, and I thought they came in and played with great spirit, made it difficult on us, and outplayed us a lot of moments in the game. There's a lot of things that I'm not pleased with on both sides of the ball. But it's really good to get in some of those moments and have to figure it out as a group."

David Dejulius (18 points on nine shots, six assists) ended up one of the few UC players to stay efficient, while Landers Nolley II (16 points) came back to earth a little bit but made enough winning plays at Fifth Third Arena.

Here's the Three Man Weave on UC's up and down night.

Loose Lakhin

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The Bearcats' big man in the middle was crucial on a night when he seemed like the only resistance at the rim. Viktor Lakhin (14 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks) was fantastic on a limited usage rate offensively, and UC needed every one of his swats at the other end.

The Russian is stronger and faster this season, leading to more confident nights like this career highs in points, rebounds, and blocks. The Vikings didn't roll a player out taller than 6-foot-9 and Lakhin made sure his size got factored in enough to lead UC with a team-high game score (25). 

"I thought he finished well," Miller said about Lakhin's offense. "But he needs to keep taking steps forward. I think he can and he's a really important part of this team.”

His efficiency and hustle were very impressive when he had to be the last defense at the rim, with Kalu Ezikpe struggling to find any consistency on either side of the court. Ezikpe (team-low -1.8 game score, nine minutes) contributed to some of the interior defense problems with bad positioning.

Good thing UC had a ready Lakhin. He looks like a player that's finally settled into life as a Bearcat. The Monster Factory work showed through during a game that Lakhin could and did physically dominate (10.6% block rate).

"He's improved in a lot of areas," Miller said about the Russian's defense. "It's amazing. Last year, you're like pulling your hair out in practice, trying to convince him of why getting to the right position is so important. This year, he's like the example of where you're supposed to be. I thought in the ball screen late he was a little too low. I wanted him to get up higher and use his athleticism, because he can really move for 6-11. But his positioning defensively has taken a huge leap.

"He's got great basketball instincts, and when you're in the right position on defense, you give yourself a chance to go make plays and let your instincts and talent take over. So, now, he's in the right place, and we're starting to see some of his ability take over more so than a year ago."

Paint Problems

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The Vikings made UC's interior defense look like paper mache on Thursday night. They scored 34 points in the paint on UC hovered around 45% shooting for much of the game because of so many point-blank looks.

Wes Miller was visibly frustrated with the lapses multiple times in moments where UC would just lose track of backside action. Cleveland State only had one true half-court weapon in Tristan Enaruna—once it became clear they'd have to run through him things tightened up a bit.

“Defensively in the first half, I was furious," Miller said. "The ball just keeps going from slot to front of the rim. Whether it's the guy guarding the ball, not defeating the dribble handoff or a ball screen, whether it's the guy guarding the screener, not communicating or, being in position to make you go through his chest, or whether it's the guy off the ball."

Still, this is the 271st-ranked team in the nation on KenPom that just lost to DII Notre Dame College 72-68. UC prides itself on taking away driving lanes and easy paths to the basket under Wes Miller. Two games in, and that's still a work in progress with plenty of new faces.

“Tonight, I could see there was some frustration," Miller said about encouraging the team in tough moments. "The first time we've faced a little bit of adversity in a real game. So, to me the most important thing at halftime was just getting us to band together and figure it out. I think we got a bunch of high character guys. And one of the strengths of this team could be that it's a resilient, connected group. But you got to go through stuff to become that with six newcomers."

Jeremiah Davenport (seven points, 2-of-10 FGs) stamped a rocky night with a block and stop at the rim on Enaruna. Carrying that over to the Eastern Kentucky game on Sunday is crucial.

Enaruna Runs The Show

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The Vikings' leading scorer to open the season got cooking early and often against the Bearcats. Enaruna (15 points, four rebounds, two assists) was solid in the halfcourt, making shots all over the floor for a team-high 15 points.

A transfer from Iowa State, Enaruna looked like a professional scorer against UC, taking on the bulk of the shooting (7-of-19) and posting a game-high 35.7% usage rate. 

He paired the scoring prowess around the rim with a nice night on defense as well. Davenport was his main target most of the evening, burying his shoulder into the forward for penetrating drives multiple times.

He has a long spindly 6-foot-8 frame that hurt the Bearcats' efficiency in the half-court. It helped him tally a team-high three steals and be a pest for the full 40 minutes.

Enaruna and his running mate, Deshon Parker (seven points, team-high five assists), kept CSU in the game for much of the night and made life harder on UC than many expected after the loss to Notre Dame College. Both were integral parts of CSU carving the Bearcats up in the paint.

UC now faces EKU on Sunday at noon ET on ESPN+.

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