Cincinnati Basketball: Bearcats struggle to keep pace in first conference slip up at Temple

Despite entering the new year riding a 4-game win streak, the Bearcats weren’t able to keep up in a 70-61 loss at Temple on Sunday afternoon as the offense struggled to create quality looks.

Cincinnati took a 27-20 lead in the first half before Temple went on a 15-0 run to grab a 37-29 lead at halftime. The Bearcats never led again and trailed by as much as 13 points in the loss.

After getting off to quick start, sophomore big man Viktor Lakhin was called for his second foul and was sidelined as Temple preceded to go on a game-changing run to regain the lead.

Lakhin re-entered late in the first half but quickly picked up his third foul and was forced back to the bench. Cincinnati continued to compete but seemingly never recovered from the first half run.

Cincinnati Basketball: Bearcats struggle to keep pace in first conference slip up at Temple

Landers Nolley II scored a team-best 15 points and four rebounds, while David DeJulius added 13 points in the loss. Lakhin reached double figures with 11 points for the 11th straight game.

In addition to shooting just 38.3% from the field, Cincinnati was outscored off the bench (20-2) and outrebounded (46-28) in the loss at Temple after coming into the matchup as slight favorites.

The Bearcats fell to 10-5 with the conference loss and will look to bounce back at Wichita State on Thursday. Miller reacted to the loss at Temple in a press conference via Cincinnati Athletics.

"“We’ll look at the tape. We got beat 46-28 on the boards and we talked about that. Viktor’s foul trouble was a factor in the game and that’s an important part. That stretch where they went on the 15-0 run, he’s sitting on the bench and you try to put him back in to get yourselves back in the game, and he picks up a third foul late in the half. If you give up 15-0 runs on the road, you’re going to be in a big hole and it’ll be harder than it needs to be.”"