Three Man Weave: UC Stumbles 75-68 Against Memphis

Memphis has now won four-straight games against UC for the first time since 2009.

© Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (14-7, 5-3) postseason hopes took another major blow on Sunday as they fell 75-68 to the Memphis Tigers (15-5, 5-2).

Viktor Lakhin (22 points, 10 rebounds) returned to his great form with a career-high in points—but a rough outside shooting performance as a team and inside dominance from the Tigers' Deandre Williams (26 points, 8 rebounds) made sure UC never led after a 3-2 advantage.

Cincinnati still doesn't have a Quad 1 or 2 win this season following the loss and is running out of chances to even get on the NCAA Tournament bubble, let alone cement an at-large bid. It's been almost 15 months since the team pulled off a ranked win, let alone any kind of signature victory.

They are also still winless this season when trailing at the half.

Here's the Three Man Weave on The Tiger's fourth-straight win over Cincinnati.

Outside Issues

The Bearcats put themselves in a brutal shooting hole during the first half going 1-of-13 from deep and 6-of-24 for the game. Some were bad decisions, some were rough luck off the rim, but all were opportunities for Memphis to get downhill and to the basket.

That's how the Tigers scored most of their easy points in the first half. 

The roughest showing belonged to Mika Adams-Woods (2 points, 3 assists, 1-10 FGs). The guard fouled out and went 0-of-5 from deep, including a wide-open two-shot sequence during a crucial late-game segment.

He's now been under 34% shooting in consecutive games after shooting 52% overall and 54% from three in the five games prior.

Memphis employed a tough man-to-man switching defense on Sunday. They communicated well in it and didn't give up a ton of open looks. The ones that did slip through usually didn't fall, which Wes Miller never wants as an excuse for not winning close games like Sunday's.

Efficient Vik, Back

The Bearcats' top big man had struggled with his shot over the past four games, but that changed on Sunday. Lakhin was back to his top-10 FG% self with an 11-of-14 performance. The one big hang-up is free throw shooting, going 0-for-4, including multiple front-end misses on 1-and-1s.

Lakhin quickly impacted the game early with some of the only consistent offense UC found in the first half. Multiple UC guards hit him on quick entry passes to stem Memphis's tide. The Russian went 5-of-5 in those 20 minutes.

He then came back with a complete performance on both ends. 

Lakhin easily led the team in defensive rating (94.5) on a day where they couldn't defend consistently. Williams may have had 40 if Lakhin was off the floor all game.

He's worked well to sharpen fundamental defense down low, and it's been a savior for UC's biggest weakness in terms of frontcourt depth. Lakhin kept proving why he owns the team's best player efficiency rating by a significant margin.

Deandre Down Low

Williams was a mismatch problem inside all afternoon for Cincinnati. 

The senior showed his well-sharpened interior skills with baby hooks, face-ups, and a hunger for contact.

It marked his fifth 20-point game of the season in what's become a norm for the top-15 AAC scorer. He was the second-most efficient player in the game behind Viktor Lakhin.

The slim 6-foot-9 forward played well within the Tigers' offensive flow and was more than comfortable dumping passes to open cutters on the baseline when doubled. He had a lot to do with Memphis's great opening start, as all of their first 10 points came in the paint.

Memphis is now 12-2 this season when Williams does not foul out.

UC struggled with Williams and did a poor job containing Kendric Davis (21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists). The AAC's leading scorer finished with an inefficient shooting outing (4-of-10 FGs), but other than that, Davis got his. The spunky guard led the team in assists, and free throws, while being second in rebounds.

His rim attacks were a big problem and caused foul trouble for guards like Adams-Woods. Davis overcame the UC game plan on Sunday.

Cincinnati now has Houston on the road this coming Saturday at 2:15 p.m. ET on CBS. The game is available via fuboTV—start your free trial here.

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

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