UC Bearcats basketball merry, sometimes rusty against Merrimack in win No. 9

It was Tuesday night therapy for University of Cincinnati basketball as they followed a difficult loss to a nearby rival with a rebound win over Merrimack of the Northeast Conference, 65-49.

Vikor Lakhin led the Bearcats with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Simas Lukošius had 11 making all three of his treys. In his first minutes at Fifth Third Arena, 6-11 transfer Jamille Reynolds had seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

It wasn't extremely high on style points as UC appeared prime to run away with the game several times but the Merrimack zone forced them into miscues.

"It was an ugly game," Lakhin said. "We missed a lot but down the stretch, I think we did a pretty good job."

The 65 points is a season-low for UC, lower than their 68 vs. Dayton. Likewise, Merrimack's 49 points was their lowest total since scoring 52 at Ohio State.

Another Quad 4 triumph

Merrimack entered the game at No. 197 in the NCAA NET rankings, making it yet another Quadrant 4 victory for the Bearcats who are roughly two weeks away from facing Quadrant 1 opponents night in and night out in the Big 12.

"I'm happy that we won but I still think we've got to work on us and be better and more consistent throughout 40 minutes like Dayton showed," Lakhin said. "We've got a long way to go. Dayton and Xavier (are) probably two games we didn't look like us."

5 thoughts on UC's merry, yet sluggish Merrimack win

1. Miller delighted with UC defense

After allowing 82 points to Dayton last Saturday and 84 to Xavier the Saturday before, the UC coach has emphasized defense in recent practices.

"You hold somebody under 50, I'm going to be happy," UC coach Wes Miller said. "Our defense got more active for the first time in a long time. We've taken these last couple of losses really hard. Harder than I've had teams take losses. At the same time, I've seen guys lose a little bit of their confidence. I think everybody can see that, which is part of the growth process."

2. No Bandaogo, Fredrick for Bearcats

Aziz Bandaogo and C.J. Fredrick were nursing injuries from the Dayton loss and were unavailable Tuesday. Bandaogo tweaked his back early in the game but still finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Fredrick's minutes were limited in the second half due to a hamstring issue, something he had surgery on at Kentucky.

"Somebody cracked down and hit him really hard," Miller said of Bandaogo. "They did not call the foul. I think everybody understands it was a foul. He jacked his back up bad. We did X-rays and there's no structural issues, it's just muscular. He'll be back. It's kind of a day-by-day thing."

As for Fredrick, Miller said Senior AD/Head Basketball Athletic Trainer Bob Mangine wanted to be cautious given his history. He added Fredrick felt he could have played.

3. Feed Mr. Postman

Against the shorter Warriors, the strategy was to get the ball inside. With Bandaogo out, that left more opportunities for Lakhin who responded with a team-high 18 points and Reynolds who delivered a team-high 11 rebounds in less than 15 minutes. Ody Oguama was back in the starting lineup and added eight points.

Lakhin, Reynolds and Oguama all grabbed balls lofted in the air and slammed them down with authority. For a while in the first half, there were more lobs than a senior citizen tennis match.

"Coach prepared us to use our size more down in the paint because they're smaller," Lakhin said.

Said Reynolds of the 9,477 in attendance, "I'm new to it coming from Temple. I love it! When you play here the environment makes us play harder."

Neither Miller nor Reynolds thought he played well, but the potential is clear when he ferociously dunks the basketball.

"I don't think anybody that watched doesn't see the talent, the explosiveness, the hands, the feet," Miller said. "He's going to be just fine."

4. Merry Assist-mas

UC led Merrimack in assists 16-7. Though Day Day Thomas was held to seven late points to help UC pull away, he had a team-high four assists. Lukošius and Lakhin had three each and Jizzle James had a pair of lobs while being held to a season-low four points.

5. Merrimack may be a tourney team

The Warriors play a zone that forced UC into 18 turnovers and are eligible for the NCAA tournament this season in the Northeast Conference. Last season, they were transitioning to Division I and ineligible, which allowed Fairleigh Dickinson to go make history by knocking off top-seed Purdue.

This season, they were down six at Ohio State at halftime, lost a controversial game at Georgetown and had a 31-30 halftime lead at Florida before losing Dec. 5. Miller had envisioned an ugly game all along.

"They played three high-major games," Miller said. "He (Merrimack coach Joe Gallo) is picked to win his league and there's a good chance he'll do that. I think you guys will watch this team in the NCAA tournament. I am pleased we held them under 50. Any team you beat a team that's going to play in the tournament most likely, by double figures, that's a good thing."

Next game

The Bearcats are back home to start the Friday, Dec. 22 holiday weekend hosting Stetson.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 5 takeaways from a Cincinnati Bearcat basketball win over Merrimack