Cincinnati Runs Past Tulsa, 81-55
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team used a 15-0 first-half run to blow past Tulsa (81-55) at Fifth Third Arena Wednesday night.
Led by the senior team with 20 points off the bench Jeremiah Davenport and a career-best 13-point rebound performance by the senior guard Lander’s Nolley IIthe Bearcats reached double figures with five players and improved to 15-8 and 6-4 in the American Athletic Conference.
Senior Mika Adams-Woods (10 points), Redshirt post Victor Lakhin (10) and Senior Guard David DeJulius (11) also scored 10 or more points.
The Bearcats held a commanding 44-32 lead on the glass, and DeJulius added nine assists.
Both teams struggled to get off early shots in the first 10 minutes with eight lead changes until the Bearcats’ shots started to come and their defense got even tighter.
A Nolley II jumper set off the game-changing 15-0 run for the Bearcats as Tulsa missed 12 straight shots in an eight-minute stretch before halftime.
After Nolley’s shot put UC 15:14 at 9:09, rookie winger Daniel Skillings converted a bucket on the block and Davenport had two free throws before Nolley and Skillings both hit 3s.
When the dust settled after a Lakhin tip slam and a Davenport Trey, Cincinnati led 29-14.
Davenport added another seven quick points late in the first half with a free throw and two 3s as UC went 36-18 at halftime.
Cincinnati held Tulsa at just 21% shooting before the break.
After halftime, Cincinnati continued their hot shooting with Nolley II and Davenport both burying 3-pointers and the older forward Ody Oguama He shook the edge with an emphatic dunk that extended Cincinnati’s lead to 54-37 with 12:33 remaining.
Adams-Woods gave Cincinnati a 21-point lead on a 3-pointer with 9:14 in the game.
Davenport added a late 3-pointer and an and-one layup after a skillful pass from DeJulius to make the score 75-52 at 3:20.
senior forward Kalu Ezikpe Put an exclamation point on the game with a slam for final points after stealing from walk-on guard Chase Kirkwood in the final minute.
NEXT
Cincinnati hosts UCF at 12 p.m. Saturday. The Knights (13-8, 4-5 in AAC) have lost four straight by a 4-1 mark after opening conference play. UCF suffered a 77-70 overtime loss to Temple last Saturday.
