February 20, 2022
CINCINNATI – Junior forward Jeremiah Davenport matched a season-high with 24 points, but the Cincinnati men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome red-hot shooting from Temple, falling 75-71, to the Owls on Sunday at Fifth Third Arena.
Temple made eight of 10 three-point attempts and shot 56 percent overall from the field in the first half to hold a 47-33 lead at halftime.
The Owls scored four straight coming out of the intermission to take a 51-33 lead.
A jumper and a layup from Davenport capped a 7-0 run that brought Cincinnati with in 9, 62-53 with seven minutes left in the game. His layup with 5:40 left cut the deficit to 8 and junior forward Ody Oguama’s free throw brought UC within seven.
A runner from senior guard David DeJulius made the score 67-62 with 1:24 left. Temple hit enough free-throws down the stretch, however, to build the lead back up.
UC had a last gasp when DeJulius hit a three-pointer and sophomore guard Mason Madsen hit a jumper with one second left to bring UC within three after a jump ball.
The Bearcats dropped to 17-10 overall and 7-7 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Owls improved to 15-9 and 8-5 in the AAC.
For the game, Temple shot 42.3 percent overall (28 in the second half) and held a 43-39 advantage on the glass.
Cincinnati missed its first five shots as Temple jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the game’s first five minutes.
The Bearcats fought back behind seven early points from Oguama and eight first-half points from senior guard John Newman III.
Oguama made the first three-pointer of his career from the top of the key to bring Cincinnati within nine points, 22-13, at the 10-minute mark of the first half.
Temple’s Zach Hicks made four three-pointers in the first half. His triple put Temple in front 33-21.
Cincinnati responded with four straight points from Newman III. The Clemson transfer made two free throws before Mike Saunders, Jr. found him for a flying layup on a fast break to close the deficit to eight points, 33-25 with 5:27 left before the break.
Cincinnati cut the deficit to seven points late in the first half, but Hicks connected on two more triples to extend the Owls’ advantage to 14.
NOTES
-UC leads the all-time series 26-11, including a 12-5 mark in the AAC.
–Jeremiah Davenport matched his season high with 24 points, scoring 20 or more points for the seventh time in his career, sixth time this season and second time in three games. He scored 20 against Memphis last Tuesday.
–Ody Oguama (11 points) reached double figures in scoring for the second time this season and 10th time in his career.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati hits the road to face UCF in Orlando on Wednesday at 9 p.m. (ESPNU) before coming home to host USF at 7 p.m. on Saturday (ESPN+) in the final game of the season. Saturday’s matchup with the Bulls will serve as Senior Day for the Bearcats.
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