Preview Paw Prints: UCF Knights

The Bearcats got a Quad 2 win added to their NCAA Tournament profile last week, but it's far from impressive. Wichita State (No. 131 in NET Rankings) has cracked the top-135, making UC's road victory over the Shockers a Q2 win.

Now the NET's 78th-ranked team gets another Q2 opportunity against the 66th-ranked team.

According to TeamRankings, Cincinnati held a 3% chance at an at-large bid three weeks ago and now sits at 0%. Only a win against Houston would've kept those dreams alive. Still, UC needs to prove it can win these games and keep climbing the standings.

The program is 1-12 in Q1 games since Wes Miller became head coach and 3-5 in Q2 games. All seven teams manning the league's top seeds are either in Q1 or Q2. It's likely going to take at least three of those wins to capture the AAC Tournament crown come March.

David DeJulius and Landers Nolley II have steadily improved throughout this season. 

Wednesday was a nice showcase for that development. 

Nolley notched a career-high 13 rebounds to boost a whopping 7.4 boards per game in conference play. Miller harps on rebounding all the time, and Nolley's unearthed a skill because of it.

"Every time I get on him about something he listens and he works at it and then he can go do it very well," Miller said after the win over Tulsa. "It’s pretty fun to coach somebody when you can get on him and he can do it. We got on his behind about rebounding and the next thing you know, he’s a double-double guy. Landers’ ability as a player, we haven’t seen anything yet. There is so much more in there. I believe he is capable of being one of the best players in the world. I think he is that gifted. It’s very cool to see his improvement and there is a lot of room to grow."

Nolley realized he can use his frame for more than the scoreboard while talking some locker-room trash to his teammates along the way.

"Coach just told me I needed to use my size for something other than scoring and defending," Nolley said. "My goal tonight was 15, I'm not going to lie. It's a good thing I got a career-high (13) in rebounds, I played terrible. I just talk junk to them in the locker room because they're (UC's front court) so much bigger than me, It's a mentality. I just pick at them, calling them soft. Now they're trying to steal all my rebounds, that's why I couldn't get 15 tonight."

DeJulius has made a similar leap passing the ball this season. He went from go-to scorer last year and early this campaign, to UC's top playmaker.

DDJ is posting a career-high 4.7 assists this season (69th nationally) and has jumped that to a stellar 6.6 assists in conference play. That would rank fifth nationally over a full season.

"It's about as good as it gets," Miller said about the guard's passing recently. "You're seeing that there's a lot more like, again, some of our older players are developing later in their career, he's got a lot of great basketball ahead of him not just this year."

UCF looked like the surprise of the season in the AAC, and then reality hit hard over the last few weeks. The team has lost four games in a row since toppling Memphis in an epic 107-104 game.

Freshman forward Taylor Hendricks (14.0 Pts, 7.2 Reb, 1.6 Ast) is wasting no time impacting the league. The top 50 2022 recruit has lived up to every expectation thus far. He will be a big challenge for Viktor Lakhin and the entire defense.

Hendricks can score from all over the floor. He's shooting 53% from inside the arc and 37.9% from deep on over 4 shots per game. He's also a great defender, leading UCF in defensive box plus/minus and slotting fourth in defensive rating.

In the backcourt, Cincinnati has to deal with guard Darius Johnson (11.6 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 4.2 Ast).

He is the Golden Knights' top assist man. He would rank in the top seven among the best AAC assisters this season had he not missed a chunk of January with injury.

UC can give the 6-foot-1 guard a green light. He is a poor shooter (27.1% from deep, 45.2% inside the arc) and should get invited to chuck shots as opposed to letting his natural facilitation ooze out.

Saturday's theme is forcing contested two-point shots. UCF ranks 301st nationally in two-point % and 76th in three-point %. Keeping them inside the arc and cold from outside should be a winning formula at Fifth Third Arena.