2022–23 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

2022–23 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
NIT, Quarterfinals
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	23–13 (11–7 AAC)
Head coach	Wes Miller (2nd season)
Associate head coach	Chad Dollar (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Andre Morgan (2nd season) Mike Roberts (2nd season)
Home arena	Fifth Third Arena

2022–23 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 Houston	17	–	1		.944			33	–	4		.892
No. 24 Memphis †	13	–	5		.722			26	–	9		.743
Tulane	12	–	6		.667			20	–	11		.645
Cincinnati	11	–	7		.611			23	–	13		.639
Temple	10	–	8		.556			16	–	16		.500
Wichita State	9	–	9		.500			17	–	15		.531
UCF	8	–	10		.444			19	–	15		.559
South Florida	7	–	11		.389			14	–	18		.438
East Carolina	6	–	12		.333			16	–	17		.485
SMU	5	–	13		.278			10	–	22		.313
Tulsa	1	–	17		.056			5	–	25		.167
† 2023 AAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2022–23 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats were led by second-year head coach Wes Miller. The team played their home games at Fifth Third Arena as members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 23–13, 11–7 in AAC play to finish in fourth place. They defeated Temple in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament, before losing to Houston in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament. There they defeated Virginia Tech and Hofstra before losing to Utah Valley in the quarterfinals.

In September 2021, Cincinnati and fellow conference members Houston and UCF accepted invitations to join the Big 12 Conference.^[1] The schools had been contractually required to remain with The American through 2024, but all reached a separation agreement that will allow them to join the Big 12 in 2023. Accordingly, the 2022–23 season was the program's last season as a member of The American.^[2]

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 2021–22 season 17–14, 7–11 in AAC play to finish seventh place. They defeated East Carolina in the AAC tournament before losing to Houston in the quarterfinals.^[3]

Offseason

Player departures

Cincinnati Departing Players

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Abdul Ado	00	F	6' 11"	225	Graduate Student	Lagos, Nigeria	Completed college eligibility[a]
A.J. McGinnis	2	G	6' 3"	180	Sophomore	Huntsville, AL	Transferred to Lipscomb[4]
Mike Saunders Jr.	3	G	6' 0"	185	Sophomore	Indianapolis, IN	Transferred to Utah[5]
Hayden Koval	25	C	7' 1"	225	Graduate Student	Prosper, TX	Completed college eligibility[a]
Sam Martin	31	G	5' 10"	180	Graduate Student	Cincinnati, OH	Walk–on; completed college eligibility
Rob Banks	43	F	6' 5"	210	Junior	Bracknell, England	Walk-on; transferred to Texas A&M-Commerce
Mason Madsen	45	G	6' 4"	200	Sophomore	Rochester, MN	Transferred to Boston College[6]

1. Ado and Koval were both graduate transfers in the 2021–22 season, with Ado having graduated from Mississippi State and Koval from UNC Greensboro.

Incoming transfers

Cincinnati Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Kalu Ezikpe	1	F	6' 8"	240	Graduate Student	Lawrenceville, GA	Transferred from Old Dominion after graduating. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.[7]
Landers Nolley II	2	G	6' 7"	208	Graduate Student	Atlanta, GA	Transferred from Memphis after graduating. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.[8]
Rob Phinisee	10	G	6' 1"	187	Graduate Student	Lafayette, IN	Transferred from Indiana after graduating. Will have one year of remaining eligibility.[9]

Class of 2022

Cincinnati signed a three-man class consisting of Sage Tolentino, Josh Reed and Daniel Skillings.^[10]

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Sage Tolentino C	Honolulu, HI	Hamilton High School (OH)	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jul 15, 2021
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 80
Daniel Skillings SG	Philadelphia, PA	Roman Catholic High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 23, 2021
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 82
Josh Reed SF	Atlanta, GA	Pace Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Oct 1, 2021
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 79
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 36  247Sports: 32
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Cincinnati 2022 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022. "2022 Cincinnati Bearcats Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022. "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.

Class of 2023

College recruiting information (2023)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Rayvon Griffith SG	Cincinnati, OH	AZ Compass Prep	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	May 1, 2022[11]
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 83
Jizzle James PG	Orlando, FL	Olympia High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	October 4, 2022[12]
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 84
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Cincinnati 2023 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022. "2023 Cincinnati Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022. "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022. "Cincinnati 2023 Basketball Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 12, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards^[13]

Coaches Poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Houston	100 (10)
2	Memphis	87 (1)
3	Cincinnati	82
4	Tulane	74
5	Temple	66
6	UCF	51
7	SMU	43
8	Wichita State	35
9	South Florida	33
10	Tulsa	21
11	East Carolina	13

Preseason Awards

• AAC Preseason All-Conference Second Team - David DeJulius

Roster

2022–23 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Daniel Skillings 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Roman Catholic High School Philadelphia, PA F 1 Kalu Ezikpe 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) GS Old Dominion Lawrenceville, GA G 2 Landers Nolley II 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Sr Memphis Atlanta, GA G 3 Mika Adams-Woods 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr New Hampton School Syracuse, NY G 5 David DeJulius 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) GS Michigan Detroit, MI G 10 Rob Phinisee  6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) GS Indiana Lafayette, IN G 11 CJ Anthony (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Putnam Science Academy Columbus, OH G 13 Josh Reed 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Pace Academy Atlanta, GA G/F 15 John Newman III  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) GS Clemson Greensboro, NC G 21 Chase Kirkwood (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Arkansas Phoenix, MD G 24 Jeremiah Davenport 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Hargrave Military Academy Cincinnati, OH F 30 Viktor Lakhin 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS So CSKA–2 Anapa, Russia F 32 Jarrett Hensley 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So UNC Greensboro Merriam, KS F 33 Ody Oguama 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Wake Forest Raleigh, NC C 44 Sage Tolentino   7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Hamilton High School Kane'ohe, HI	Head coach Wes Miller (North Carolina) Assistant coach(es) Andre Morgan (North Georgia) Mike Roberts (Indiana) Chad Dollar (South Florida) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 6 Oct 2022

• November 15, 2022: John Newman III injured his knee, leading to him missing the rest of the season.^[14]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
November 7, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Chaminade	W 98–55	1–0	24 – DeJulius	6 – Tied	8 – Phinisee	Fifth Third Arena (9,043) Cincinnati, OH
November 10, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		Cleveland State	W 69–58	2–0	18 – DeJulius	12 – Lakhin	6 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (9,227) Cincinnati, OH
November 13, 2022* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Eastern Kentucky	W 87–69	3–0	22 – DeJulius	12 – Ogauma	4 – Adams-Woods	Fifth Third Arena (9,103) Cincinnati, OH
November 16, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Northern Kentucky	L 51–64	3–1	9 – Tied	9 – Lakhin	4 – Phinisee	Truist Arena (8,503) Highland Heights, KY
November 21, 2022* 11:30 p.m., ESPN2		vs. No. 14 Arizona Maui Invitational Tournament quarterfinals	L 93–101	3–2	33 – Nolley II	5 – Tied	5 – DeJulius	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, HI
November 22, 2022* 5:00 p.m., ESPN2		vs. Ohio State Maui Invitational Tournament consolation round	L 53–81	3–3	12 – Lakhin	4 – Tied	1 – Tied	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, HI
November 23, 2022* 7:30 p.m., ESPNU		vs. Louisville Maui Invitational Tournament 7th–place game	W 81–62	4–3	26 – DeJulius	6 – Tied	6 – Davenport	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, HI
November 30, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		NJIT	W 86–60	5–3	22 – DeJulius	10 – Lakhin	2 – Tied	Fifth Third Arena (8,769) Cincinnati, OH
December 4, 2022* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bryant	W 97–71	6–3	16 – Lakhin	13 – Tied	7 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (9,273) Cincinnati, OH
December 10, 2022* 3:00 p.m., ESPN2		Xavier Crosstown Shootout	L 77–80	6–4	22 – DeJulius	8 – Lakhin	6 – Adams-Woods	Fifth Third Arena (12,012) Cincinnati, OH
December 14, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Miami (OH)	W 103–76	7–4	22 – DeJulius	4 – Tied	6 – Adams-Woods	Fifth Third Arena (8,976) Cincinnati, OH
December 17, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		La Salle	W 78–60	8–4	17 – Tied	8 – Davenport	6 – Nolley II	Fifth Third Arena (8,869) Cincinnati, OH
December 21, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Detroit Mercy	W 72–54	9–4	18 – Lakhin	15 – Lakhin	5 – Davenport	Fifth Third Arena (9,519) Cincinnati, OH
AAC Regular Season
December 29, 2022 9:00 p.m., ESPN2		Tulane	W 88–77	10–4 (1–0)	23 – Nolley II	13 – Lakhin	6 – Adams-Woods	Fifth Third Arena (9,484) Cincinnati, OH
January 1, 2023 3:00 p.m., ESPN		at Temple	L 61–70	10–5 (1–1)	15 – Nolley II	5 – Oguama	3 – Nolley II	Liacouras Center (3,224) Philadelphia, PA
January 5, 2023 9:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Wichita State	W 70–61	11–5 (2–1)	22 – Davenport	11 – Nolley II	6 – DeJulius	Charles Koch Arena (6,876) Wichita, KS
January 8, 2023 3:00 p.m., ESPN		No. 2 Houston	L 59–72	11–6 (2–2)	19 – Adams-Woods	6 – Tied	5 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (10,264) Cincinnati, OH
January 11, 2023 9:00 p.m., ESPNU		East Carolina	W 83–55	12–6 (3–2)	20 – Nolley II	10 – Nolley II	12 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (9,118) Cincinnati, OH
January 14, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPNU		at SMU	W 54–52	13–6 (4–2)	16 – Tied	12 – Nolley II	5 – DeJulius	Moody Coliseum (3,817) University Park, TX
January 18, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at South Florida	W 85–69	14–6 (5–2)	21 – Tied	9 – Nolley II	7 – DeJulius	Yuengling Center (3,359) Tampa, FL
January 22, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN2		Memphis Rivalry	L 68–75	14–7 (5–3)	22 – Lakhin	10 – Lakhin	6 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (8,622) Cincinnati, OH
January 28, 2023 2:15 p.m., CBS		at No. 3 Houston	L 69–75	14–8 (5–4)	24 – Nolley II	6 – Tied	9 – DeJulius	Fertitta Center (7,477) Houston, TX
February 1, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tulsa	W 81–55	15–8 (6–4)	20 – Davenport	13 – Nolley II	9 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (9,334) Cincinnati, OH
February 4, 2023 12:00 p.m., ESPNU		UCF	W 73–64	16–8 (7–4)	20 – Lakhin	8 – Lakhin	7 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (10,351) Cincinnati, OH
February 7, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Tulane	L 94–101 ^OT	16–9 (7–5)	26 – Nolley II	13 – Oguama	8 – DeJulius	Devlin Fieldhouse (2,328) New Orleans, LA
February 11, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		South Florida	W 84–65	17–9 (8–5)	18 – Tied	10 – Nolley II	5 – Davenport	Fifth Third Arena (11,046) Cincinnati, OH
February 15, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at East Carolina	L 71–75	17–10 (8–6)	19 – Tied	9 – Oguama	5 – DeJulius	Williams Arena (4,065) Greenville, NC
February 19, 2023 12:00 p.m., ESPNU		at UCF	W 73–71	18–10 (9–6)	18 – Nolley II	6 – Tied	8 – DeJulius	Addition Financial Arena (5,213) Orlando, FL
February 22, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		Temple	W 88–83 ^OT	19–10 (10–6)	20 – 2 tied	6 – 2 tied	7 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (10,059) Cincinnati, OH
February 26, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN2		at Memphis Rivalry	L 73–76	19–11 (10–7)	16 – DeJulius	9 – Lakhin	8 – Adams-Woods	FedExForum (12,211) Memphis, TN
March 5, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		SMU	W 97–74	20–11 (11–7)	30 – DeJulius	6 – Lakhin	6 – 2 tied	Fifth Third Arena (11,068) Cincinnati, OH
AAC Tournament
March 10, 2023 3:00 p.m., ESPN2	(4)	vs. (5) Temple Quarterfinals	W 84–54	21–11	22 – Nolley II	12 – Oguama	5 – Adams-Woods	Dickies Arena  Fort Worth, TX
March 11, 2023 3:00 p.m., ESPN2	(4)	vs. (1) No. 1 Houston Semifinals	L 48–69	21–12	14 – Nolley II	9 – Oguama	5 – DeJulius	Dickies Arena  Fort Worth, TX
NIT
March 15, 2023 9:00 p.m., ESPN2	(4)	Virginia Tech First Round – Rutgers Bracket	W 81–72	22–12	21 – DeJulius	12 – Nolley II	7 – DeJulius	Fifth Third Arena (3,995) Cincinnati, OH
March 18, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	(4)	at Hofstra Second Round – Rutgers Bracket	W 79–65	23–12	20 – Nolley II	11 – Oguama	9 – DeJulius	Mack Sports Complex (2,228) Hampstead, NY
March 22, 2023 9:00 p.m., ESPN2	(4)	at Utah Valley Quarterfinals – Rutgers Bracket	L 68–74	23–13	23 – Nolley II	10 – Lakhin	4 – 2 tied	UCCU Center (5,289) Orem, UT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[15]

Awards and honors

American Athletic Conference honors

All-AAC First Team

• Landers Nolley II

All-AAC Third Team

• David DeJulius

Player of the Week

• Week 1: David DeJulius

Weekly Honor Roll

• Week 4: Viktor Lakhin
• Week 5: David DeJulius
• Week 6: David DeJulius
• Week 9: Viktor Lakhin
• Week 10: Landers Nolley II
• Week 11: Landers Nolley II
• Week 12: Landers Nolley II
• Week 13: David DeJulius
• Week 15: David DeJulius
• Week 17: David DeJulius

AAC All-Tournament Team

• Landers Nolley II

References

1. "Big 12 Conference Adds Four New Members". Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. September 10, 2021.
2. "American Announces Agreements With UCF, Cincinnati and Houston on Departure" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
3. "Cincinnati Falls in AAC Championship Quarterfinals". gobearcats.com. UC Athletics. March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
4. @theajm2 (April 17, 2022). "I worked on Friday, prayed and rested on Saturday, on Sunday He rose and I committed. #hornsup #happyeaster @LipscombBisons @LipscombMBB" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. @icemikeg3 (April 2, 2022). "#GoUtes" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. @masmadsen (April 12, 2022). "BOSTON… LETS GET IT!! #ForBoston @BCMBB" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. Ezikpe, Kalu [@EzikpeKalu14] (April 15, 2022). "CINCINNATI — IM ALL IN!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. Nolley, Landers [@NolleyLanders] (April 27, 2022). "Ready to do what they said I couldn't 🌹🐾 #COMMITTED" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. Phinisee, Rob [@robphinisee1] (April 20, 2022). "Let's Work" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. "Cincinnati MBB Signing Day: Bearcats Build for 2022-23". GoBearcats.com. University of Cincinnati Athletics. November 10, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
11. Cobb, David (May 1, 2022). "College basketball recruiting: Four-star SG Rayvon Griffith commits to Cincinnati in 2023 class". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
12. Boone, Kyle (October 4, 2022). "College basketball recruiting: Jizzle James, son of former NFL star Edgerrin James, commits to Cincinnati". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
13. "Houston Picked as 2022-23 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Favorite". theAmerican.org. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
14. Russ Heltman (November 15, 2022). "Report: UC Guard John Newman III to Miss Multiple Months Following Knee Surgery". www.si.com. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
15. "2022–23 Men's Basketball Schedule". gobearcats.com. Retrieved October 15, 2021.