Three Man Weave: Xavier Tops UC 80-77 In Wild Crosstown Shootout

The Bearcats dropped 53 points in the second-half but still lost to Xavier for the fourth-straight time.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (6-4) suffered their first home loss of the season on Saturday 80-77 against the Xavier Musketeers (7-3).

Xavier stormed out to an early 10-1 lead at Fifth Third Arena and never looked back behind strong outings from guard Souley Boum (21 points, 6 rebounds) and forward Zach Freemantle (14 points, 12 rebounds). Cincinnati shot over 55% in the second half, but the ice-cold shooting start was too much to topple (2-of-13 to open the game).

David DeJulius (22 points, 7-of-16 shooting) hit an incredible and-one three to tie the game at 77, but UC fouled with under 10 seconds left to give Xavier the winning advantage.

Cincinnati has now lost four in a row to Xavier, and Wes Miller is 0-2 in the rivalry after losing at the Cintas Center 83-63 last season.

"I can't tell you how bad I want it for our team and for people who support this program," Miller said about the loss. "For the people who have played and coached in this program. I can't tell you how bad I want us to get to where we're supposed to be as a Cincinnati basketball program. I don't say the words ’I promise’ a lot, but I promise we'll freaking get there. And I mean we'll get there or I'II damn be in the grave. It's that simple. We will get there. You look at that building tonight, and you want it so bad for those people. They deserve it. You want it so bad for these kids. They deserve it. We will get there."

He's the Three Man Weave on the 90th all-time meeting in the Crosstown Shootout.

Silky Souley

Xavier's leading scorer this season stayed hyper-efficient in Xavier's fourth-straight win over Cincinnati. Boum was like a calm assassin on the floor throughout his team's win.

He trailed only Zach Freemantle in efficiency score (24) and guided the Xavier ship throughout a game they never trailed in.

The 6-foot-3 guard came into this game on a red-hot start to the season (team-high 70% true shooting, 63.8% eFG). That production didn't slow down much against UC.

Boum was the main engine for Xavier's offense and even made a key defensive play with an inbound steal in the first half that helped spark a 6-0 run. That quelled any real hope of a UC comeback as it became too little too late for the Bearcats.

"That's what road games are like. Road games are not easy no matter who you're playing,” Boum said after the game. “We came out really strong, really hot, but we knew they were going to make a run. It felt good to finish the game. We just had to stay poised, stay together and finish the game. I look forward to road games more than home games. It feels good leaving an opposing team's arena and coming out with a victory."

Wes Miller noted this week that Xavier's the best offensive squad they'll face this season. Boum was and continues to be a big reason why.

Big Vik, On-His-Head Ody

The Bearcats couldn't defend the frontcourt very well on Saturday, but their two interior pieces showed up on offense. Viktor Lakhin (16 points, 8 rebounds) and Ody Oguama (9 points, 4 rebounds) were the engines of UC's offense—especially in their second-half near-comeback.

The duo was consistent all game and had a lot to do with a 15-5 advantage on fast break points. Oguama brought some spice with his buckets, including a pair of transition slams that ignited the UC crowd.

"That environment is the best I’ve ever been a part of as a college basketball player or coach," Miller said postgame.

Lakhin, unfortunately, fouled out in those crazy last 15 seconds. The mistake gave Xavier the lead again after a pair of Boum free throws. Still, UC wouldn't have had any chance without his consistency all game.

The center led all UC players in efficiency score (20), effective field goal percentage (83%), and rebound rate (19.3%).

DeJulius turned it on late, but a complete showing out of the guard likely results in a UC win. He shot just 1-of-7 from the floor in the opening half and then ignited in the second half (17 points, 6-of-9 FG). He had a locked-in look on his face that entire 20 minutes on both ends, but it wasn't enough.

"They came out and had a great game plan defensively," DeJulius said. "You could tell they scouted well. But it also just wasn't falling for us. We needed to share it a little more and get some live-ball stops on defense. I think those three things were the main factors."

Freemantle Feasts

The Bearcats entered the game with one clear mismatch problem and Xavier spammed it throughout their win.

Freemantle led all players with 12 rebounds, as UC had no reliable frontcourt option to defend him when Lakhin guarded Jack Nunge (18 points, 3 rebounds). In most crucial point of the second half, UC trailed by three as Nunge hit a trailing three followed by a Freemantle steal, UC foul, and two made free throws.

The timing and offensive experience in that duo are hard for any team to stop.

"Props to Xavier," Oguama said. "Nunge, Freemantle, they're good players. They're where they're at for a reason. I thought we did a good job prior to the game of scouting, trying to really lock in on the defense end of what they're going to do, but props to them."

It gets even harder when Jeremiah Davenport and other tweener position players are guarding the 6-foot-9, 225-pound bruiser. I noted in the preview how balanced Xavier's top-15 offense had been this season.

UC stifled that a bit in terms of bench scoring, but the regular contributors in Nunge, Boum, and Freemantle all ate up. UC needed to force the ball into other players' hands, and that didn't happen enough on Saturday afternoon.

Wes Miller's crew now licks its wounds and continues a month-long home-stand against another bitter rival on Wednesday night. UC tips off against Miami (Ohio) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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