Recap: Villanova 68 Cincinnati 60
Cincinnati (6-1) suffered their first defeat of the season Tuesday night in a 68-60 loss at Villanova (5-4).
(AP Photo / Laurence Kesterson)
The Bearcats made just 2-of-9 shots from deep during the first half, allowing Villanova to take a 37-28 halftime lead.
Jhamir Brickus made all three of his attempts from deep during the first half, including a three at the buzzer to key a 5-of-9 first half showing by the Wildcats from three. Brickus would finish with 13 points for the game.
Nova scored the first four points of the second half but the Bearcats answered with a 13-2 run over the next 3:37 to cut Villanova's lead to two, 43-41, with 13:43 left in the game.
The Bearcats had multiple opportunities to take control of the game during a Villanova drought but couldn't get over the hump, missing 11 of their next 12 field goal attempts.
Tyler Perkins three with 7:36 remaining was followed by an Eric Dixon free throw to give the Wildcats a 55-44 lead with six minutes left in the game.
A sixth year grad student and second team All-Big East forward, Dixon scored 20 of his game high 31 points during the second half, while also pulling down six rebounds.
Dixon finished 11-of-23 from the field, making 3-of-7 from deep, and 6-of-9 from the free throw line.
To say Cincinnati had no answer for Dixon, would be an understatement. After Cincinnati cut the Nova lead to six (55-49) with 3:57 remaining, Dixon scored eight straight, including three's on consecutive possessions, to push the Nova lead back to double figures and put the game away.
Wooga Poplar finished with a double-double (12 pts, 10 rbs), making all six of his free throws.
Nova as a team would make 14 of their 17 free throws, while Cincinnati was 6-of-11 for the game.
UC entered Tuesday night's Big 12-Big East Challenge ranking second nationally in shooting (53.6 percent) and first in effective field goal percentage (61.4).
(AP Photo / Laurence Kesterson)
The Bearcats struggled to ever get in an offensive rhythm against multiple defensive looks from Nova, leading to a 38% finish from the field and 30.8% showing from three.
Simas Lukosius scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, but had another off night from deep, making just 3-of-9 attempts.
Cincinnati made just 8-of-26 attempts from three for the game.
Jizzle James led the Bearcats in scoring, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field.
Key Stats and Notes:
- Dillon Mitchell was limited to nine points, four rebounds in 27 minutes. It is the first time this season that Mitchell has failed to reach double figures.
- Day Day Thomas (8 points) and Josh Reed (6 points) combined for all 14 of UC's bench points. Both Tyler Betsey and Arrinten Page were held scoreless as the talented youngsters struggled to match Villanova's intensity and physicality on defense.
- UC won the rebounding battle, 33-32, scored 12 points off nine Nova turnovers, and outscored Nova 24-16 in the paint but did not record a block as Villanova was the more aggressive team around the rim, finishing with six blocks.
- Villanova trailed for just :25 seconds. Jizzle James scored the opening basket of the game and Nova never trailed again. Nova did a good job mixing different defensive looks and UC struggled to figure out how to attack those looks during stretches. UC finished with just 10 assists on 23 made baskets. The Bearcats were 16th nationally prior tonight, averaging 19 assists per game.
Final Thoughts:
Following the game, Wes Miller told Terry Nelson and Dan Hoard that his team hasn't had the same edge over the last week and that he doesn't feel the same urgency to be great.
Villanova had shown flashes of putting things together prior to tonight and took full advantage of Miller's observation of his team. UC struggled to match the intensity of physicality of Villanova at both ends of the floor and couldn't sustain the necessary effort needed to overcome a hungry team that had better talent than their record indicated.
With the Crosstown Shootout just 11 days away and just one more tune up prior to December 14th, the Bearcats better figure things out fast.
Up Next:
Sunday 12/8 v Howard 2:00 pm