Cincinnati will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season when it hosts the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Monday night.
The Bearcats (4-1) are coming off a 74-64 defeat to No. 6 Louisville on Friday. Host Cincinnati led 32-28 at the half and held a strong advantage in both interior scoring and rebounding. But Louisville made adjustments and took the lead for good midway through the second half.
Cincinnati star big man Baba Miller went down with a hip injury with just over 10 minutes remaining, and the Bearcats wore down in the stretch.
“They beat us to some loose balls to start the second half,” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. “They beat us on the backboards in the second half. Our offense got stagnant in the second half, and when we did call some action, we had some real breakdowns. We struggled to get the ball inside when we were having an advantage down there and really being able to play out of the post, and those things were frustrating, and that allowed Louisville to get the momentum in the game.
“But those things are very controllable and things that we can get to work on. So if we choose to tighten up, I think we can keep improving.”
The Highlanders (3-3) enter Monday’s matchup following two straight losses, most recently 86-70 at Navy on Saturday.
NJIT suffered from early foul trouble and turnovers that led to a 15-point halftime deficit.
The Highlanders had five players finish in double digits in scoring. Leading the way was Jeremy Clayville with 16 points on 4-for-8 shooting from behind the arc. Ari Fulton recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Sebastian Robinson scored a season-high 12 points.
David Bolden leads the Highlanders in scoring with an average of 13.0 points per game, while Fulton averages 12.5.
