Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
Two American Athletic Conference rivals meet on the court Saturday when the Cincinnati Bearcats (12-6, 3-2 AAC) visit the SMU Mustangs (6-11, 1-3 AAC) at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. Cincinnati defeated East Carolina 83-55 on Wednesday with Landers Nolley II scoring a team high 20 points. Cincinnati is 2-2 over the last four. SMU was defeated by Tulane 97-88 on Wednesday and the Mustangs have lost three straight and four of the last five. John Newman III and Rob Phinisee are out for Cincinnati. Zhuric Phelps is questionable.
Cincinnati is scoring an average of 78.1 points per game which is 57th in the nation. Cincinnati strength on offense is its three-point shooting, hitting 36.6% of their attempts from long range which is 73rd in the country. Overall Cincinnati has a 45.6% field goal shooting percentage. Cincinnati's defense is holding opponents to an average of 68.1 points per game. The Bearcats are allowing a field goal shooting percentage of 41.7% and a three-point shooting percentage of only 31.8%, with both in the top 115 in the nation.
Landers Nolley II is scoring a team high 15.0 points per game, while shooting 47.3% overall and 44.2% from long range. David DeJulius is the second leading scorer with an average of 14.7 points per game and is shooting 43.9% overall and 38.0% from long distance. Five players for the Bearcats are av eraging double figures in scoring. DeJulius is the dish leader with an average of 3.9 assists per game. Cincinnati averages 15.6 assists and 11.0 turnovers per game. Cincinnati is averaging 37.7 rebounds per game with Viktor Lakhin the king of the boards with an average of 7.6 rebounds per game and Lakhin is the leader in blocked shots with an average of 1.0 swats per game. DeJulius is the leader in steals with an average of 1.2 per game.