Forgive me for not posting after the NKU loss. That was a soul-crushing second half. Words couldn’t do scoring eleven points in a half any justice.

Ironically enough, Cincinnati scored 63 points in the second half and still lost to Arizona 101-93 Monday night (morning)? I’m crazy enough to stay up into the wee hours of the morning to type out my thoughts.

That game was…. something. It was wild. It was frenetic. It was chaotic.

The good news for Cincinnati is that the offense was obviously fantastic. They ran the make shots offense, shooting 47 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. The Bad News: Arizona shot 63 percent from the field, including 79 percent in the second half.

Quite simply, Cincinnati had a difficult time with Arizona’s pace and their big men. Azoulas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo were a nightmare inside, combining for 51 points and 21 rebounds. It also didn’t help that Kerr Kriisa went 3-5 from beyond the arc.

It’s not a sin to get torched by Arizona. They’re going to do that to quite a few teams, but the lack of rim protection on this team is just jarring. The Bearcats will continue to have their hands full if they face front courts that have anything close to the size that Arizona has. Luckily, I don’t think they will face a better group of bigs the rest of the way.

Welcome to Cincinnati, Landers Nolley. That was the guy that UC fans were elated to get when he committed here. A 33 point performance and 9-of-14 from three? It doesn’t get much better than that.

Viktor Lakhin was really good in the second half. He had a tough assignment with Ballo and Tubelis, but he dropped 17 points and added five rebounds. He’s been impressive so far this year, but Vik will need to get a little stronger, which shouldn’t be a problem with how good the strength staff is.

Mika Adams-Woods was solid second half as well. He made a couple of big threes to keep UC hanging around. I still think he’s been the better of the two point guards, but he did have three turnovers to just three assists.

Not a great game from David DeJulius, but it’s hard to be down on him. He’s going to be just fine. He did have a team-high five assists.

It was a quiet night from Jeremiah Davenport offensively, as he went just 2-6 from the field. This team needs him to hit those open triples with his feet set. I thought his effort was great, but he was out-manned on defense. 

It’s been a tough start for Kalu Ezikpe. I still hope he can become at least a good rebounder, but it’s been a tough go offensively. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a big shoutout to Josh Reed. He was a bright spot at NKU, and he drained two more threes tonight. He shouldn’t be lacking confidence through his first two games as a Bearcat.

This game was so weird so I don’t know how to feel. I was disappointed defensively but Arizona is great and Tommy Lloyd is a good coach. We’re going to find out how they respond in a hurry as Ohio State at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

I need some sleep.

Game Ball:

Landers Nolley (1)