Three Man Weave: UC Lineup Tweak Sparks 70-61 Win At Wichita State

Cincinnati returned to form in The Roundhouse on Thursday night.

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CINCINNATI — A much-needed 70-61 win at The Roundhouse.

Cincinnati (11-5, 2-1) took an early lead against Wichita State (7-8, 0-3) and never looked back after a nice shooting night from outside (13-for-29). 

The fourth-straight win over Wichita State also marked UC's first true road win this season.

Jeremiah Davenport (22 points, 3 rebounds, 8-of-12 FGs) came off the bench for the first time this season and found a great shooting rhythm. Four different players scored in double figures as UC shortened its rotation to just eight guys.

"Anytime you go on the road and get a win, you enjoy it," UC head coach Wes Miller said. "We played real well for 34-35 minutes, and I was real proud of the way we played after Temple a few days ago. We just need to get a little better at executing down the stretch and finishing games. We didn't take good shots then or get back on defense, which we did well the whole night. There is a lot to learn from the end of that game, but now we can get some rest and get ready for Sunday."

Here's the Three Man Weave on UC's 10th win over WSU in their last 12 meetings.

Juiced Up JD

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The Bearcats brought one of their longest-tenured players off the bench to great avail Thursday night. Ody Oguama (6 rebounds, 1 assist) started the game, with Davenport entering quickly in the first four minutes.

Who knows how much that had to do with shots falling, but he looked more comfortable in the role and took fewer frustrating attempts. He dropped a season-high in points (22) and made threes (6).

"It was real fun," Davenport said about the performance. "It all comes down to confidence. Confidence in myself. You keep pushing. I was in a slump and found my rhythm tonight. I'm going to keep pushing moving forward."

JD's 90% effective field goal rate was easily his best of the season during a campaign where he's hit 44% of his shots just twice now. I wrote how Landers Nolley (12 points, 11 rebounds) needs to take the most threes for this team. 

"It comes down to my team," the forward said. "Do whatever it takes to win. To give my team a chance to win, I'd do anything for my team."

Davenport proved me wrong on this night by accepting a new role and taking fewer bad shots. Miller did what good coaches do: adjust. 

Cincinnati scored just 2 bench points in the Temple loss and got hammered on the boards. UC killed two birds with one stone by swapping one lineup spot.

"He handled that really well," Miller said of Davenport accepting his first bench role in two years. "Jeremiah Davenport is all about winning and all about the Cincinnati Bearcats."

It's the most points off the bench by a UC player since Jan. 2017.

Rebounded, Literally

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That lineup change instituted a physical mentality right from the first tip, and Cincinnati controlled the glass all game (43-32 rebounding advantage).

Nolley (11 rebounds) led the way in that regard with his first double-double as a Bearcat. The team mentality that Davenport accepts was on display from multiple UC players who didn't quite shoot as well. Nolley (5-of-12) wasn't ice cold, but he poured great energy into the boards and made some nice passes (4 assists).

Five Bearcats wrangled in at least 4 rebounds as the team communicated well on misses and boxed out much better than we saw on Sunday. The road drop off this team showed at Northern Kentucky, and Temple did not travel with them to Kansas.

Miller revealed his mother even called to point out the deficiency this week.

"There's some things in basketball that my mom watching games can tell you," Miller said about the need to rebound better. "I thought we did a much better job the first 35 [minutes]."

Miller was not happy about WSU's 12-2 run to finish the game, but it's a nice way to flush the win and start prepping for arguably the biggest game of the season as Houston comes to town this Sunday.

Shocked Offense

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Cincinnati's defense came into Kansas hungry.

WSU had just two players in double figures, shooting 33% overall and 27% from deep. The free throw line (11-of-17 FTs) is the only reason this wasn't a double-digit loss.

The Shockers' offense isn't great, and the off-night defensively did them in. They allowed 15% more made triples than they average this season with a top-45 three-point defense. Cincinnati brought the pain and Nolley had a lot to do with Wichita's issues.

The Memphis transfer led all UC players in defensive rating (95.8), stops (8), and stop rate (77.6%). He was strong in man-to-man coverage for all 40 minutes and made sure no one besides Craig Porter Jr. (19 points, 7 rebounds, 2-of-3 from deep) hurt them from the perimeter.

The Shockers did hold a 13-2 turnover advantage, but only mustered 10 points off those UC mistakes.

Up next is a No. 2 (AP Poll) Houston program that's beaten UC four straight times and seven of the past 12 outings. It's a massive test to see where this program stands in Year Two of the Miller era. An upset win injects rocket fuel into any NCAA Tournament chances.

The game tips off at 3 p.m. ET this Sunday on ESPN. Watch via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

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