Rivalry renewed: Cincinnati edges RedHawks 59-58 in first meeting in a decade

OXFORD – The University of Cincinnati and Miami University men's basketball teams squared off for the first time in a decade, and it was the Bearcats who left the RedHawks' Millett Hall with bragging rights.

Abdul Ado had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Jeremiah Davenport added 14 points and Cincinnati edged Miami 59-58 Wednesday night in the first meeting between the teams since Nov. 29, 2011.

With the win, the Bearcats (6-2) improved to 95-53 all time against the RedHawks (5-2) and avoided losing their third straight game.

"There's so many tough moments in college basketball," first-year Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. "The last five or six days haven't felt really good. So I think you've got to enjoy the good ones. My mentor, my college coach (Roy Williams), the one thing he told me when I got into coaching was, 'Don't make the mistake that I made. Make sure you at least enjoy the good nights when you win for a couple hours.' So I've tried to take that to heart. I'll enjoy this bus ride back, but then it'll be back to work here in a couple hours when we get back in the film room and start breaking down the game."

Miami senior guard Mekhi Lairy knocked down a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to cut it to 59-58. After Ado missed the front end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line with 23 seconds remaining, Davenport pulled down the offensive rebound.

After another missed Cincinnati free throw, this time by Mika Adams-Woods, with 11 seconds on the clock, Miami fifth-year senior Dalonte Brown collected the loose ball and the RedHawks dribbled the length of the court. Brown's game-winning shot attempt banged off the rim, Precious Ayah's follow for Miami was no good and the Bearcats escaped.

David DeJulius chipped in with 12 points for Cincinnati, which won despite shooting 24-for-66 (36%) from the field, 9-for-33 (27%) from 3-point range and 2-for-10 (20%) from the free-throw line.

Mekhi Lairy scored a game-high 20 points for the RedHawks, who lost their second straight game after opening the season on a five-game winning streak.

UC led 30-29 at halftime after a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Davenport.

Up next: Cincinnati returns home to host Bryant on Sunday at Fifth Third Arena. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. It will be the final tune-up for the Bearcats before the Crosstown Shootout on Dec. 11.

Here's what we learned from Wednesday's win:

Cincinnati fell right into Miami's trap

The tallest player in the RedHawks' starting lineup is the 6-foot-7-inch Brown. Ayah handles a lot of the inside work. He's 6 feet, 6 inches and 240 pounds. Lairy is all of 5 feet, 8 inches and 140 pounds.

Conversely and comparatively, Cincinnati is huge, with all of its guards standing at least 6 feet, the 6-foot-11 Ado starting in the paint and 6-foot-11, 245-pound Viktor Lakhin and 7-foot-1, 225-pound Hayden Koval coming off the bench.

To neutralize the Bearcats' decisive size advantage, Miami coach Jack Owens' strategy was to clog up the inside and force Cincinnati to make its jump shots.

"Our game plan was to keep them in front and make them score over the top, but a lot of times that's our game plan," Owens said. "But they average about six 3s a game, and they hit that in the first half. Davenport getting loose there at the end of the half to hit that 3 was big for them."

Cincinnati shot 6-of-20 from behind the arc in the opening frame. They shot 3-for-13 from deep the rest of the way. Instead of imposing their will and forcing their way inside, the Bearcats just kept shooting 3-pointers.

It nearly cost them, but the RedHawks couldn't buy a basket. Miami went through a stretch in the second half where it missed 14 straight shots.

"I want our guys to play confidently offensively and I want guys to shoot it with confidence," Miller said. "I think you saw at the start of the game, we shot it in rhythm, we shot it with confidence and the ball was going through the net. Sometimes that's difficult because it almost felt a little too easy early. And then I thought we took some quicker ones than we should have or pressed at times when we should have. I think we're going to continue to get better with that as the season goes on.

"We've got to get better with shot selection, we've got to get better with offensive execution, but I do want guys to play with confidence and I think when you coach that way, especially early here in my tenure as the head coach, I haven't coached any of these guys for more than six or seven months, it is going to be a little bit of a process, because I'd rather take some bad ones and guys are out there playing with confidence than pass up shots."

Ado has largest offensive output at UC

One of beneficiary of Miami's lack of size was Ado. The Mississippi State graduate transfer finished with 14 points after matching his season-high of six in the first half. He also had a season-high 11 rebounds.

Ado's numbers could've been even better had the Bearcats made more of a concerted effort to find him down low and exploit their size advantage. But Cincinnati won and that's what's most important to Ado.

"My purpose of playing is to win. It doesn't matter how I do it," he said. "It's maybe getting rebounds, blocked shots, play defense or do something on offense. My motive is whatever it takes to win. As long as I'm winning, I don't care. If the team's winning, I'm winning."

Ado's double-double was the first by a Bearcats player this season. Former UC forward Tari Eason had the last one for Cincinnati against Tulane on Feb. 26.

The Bearcats outrebounded Miami 48-36 and pulled down 22 offensive rebounds. Ado had seven of those.

This rivalry means a lot

Regardless of the game's outcome, one thing was obvious Wednesday night: This rivalry is important and should be played annually.

Traffic around the arena was backed up. From before the opening tip, the scene inside Millett Hall was special. Everyone felt it, including Miller.

"That was an awesome atmosphere," he said. "I mean, college basketball is so much fun. That was a great college basketball game. You couldn't hear yourself. I mean, we're trying to call out ball screens and call out actions to each other on the court and guys can't hear themselves. I think we all enjoy those type of moments. Whether they're cheering for you or cheering against you, I think that's cool stuff."

The attendance of 7,285 included 2,683 students that had several choice words for Miller and the UC players. But that's to be expected.

It was the loudest and largest crowd inside Millett Hall since 1999 (8,436 fans), when Wally Szczerbiak was a National Player of the Year candidate and leading the RedHawks to the Sweet 16.

Owens said he hopes this game, played by two teams separated by about 40 miles, will go back to being a mainstay on both teams' schedules.

"I think this is what it's about, right? You're talkin about two teams, quality programs, going at it," Owens said. "When coach (Miller) got the job, made a call and we talked and we talked. Our staffs continued to communicate and our administrations continued to communicate with each other and was able to work out a game, a two-year deal. This is something I hope we can have Xavier, Dayton, everyone latch onto because I think fan bases can relate to this. It would be a great thing to have it done every year."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati basketball: Bearcats edge Miami RedHawks 59-58 to end skid