It's inexplicable, really.
Playing its first game in 25 days due to COVID-19 issues, the University of Cincinnati men's basketball team had a freshman making his first career start, a walk-on starting in what was his first game of the season, and the Bearcats shot less than 39% from the field and 48% from the free throw line.
And they won.
Cincinnati (4-7, 2-4 American Athletic Conference) escaped Temple with a 63-60 victory Thursday night, extending its winning streak against the Owls to seven games.
It was the Bearcats' first victory since Jan. 7 at SMU.
"Obviously, we're really proud of our young men," UC coach John Brannen said. "The adversity that they've gone through here in the course of the last month, I don't think people really, really have any idea. Including today, when you're just trying to get to the game and you have to stay outside of Philadelphia because of protocols. It took us an hour to get to the game."
Up next: Cincinnati heads to New Orleans to face Tulane on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for noon on ESPN+.
What we learned from Thursday's win:
David DeJulius has arrived
The junior Michigan transfer scored a career-high 26 points on a night where he was forced to shoulder much of the offensive load.
DeJulius scored the Bearcats' first eight points, leading a starting lineup that included freshman Mike Saunders Jr. and sophomore walk-on Rob Banks.
"We've been through a lot these past three weeks," DeJulius said. "COVID really took a toll on our team. But I was able to stay in the gym. Unfortunately, I caught it over the summertime and I tested for the antibodies, so I was still able to get in the gym, fine-tune some things with Coach Brannen."
DeJulius entered the night ranked second in the AAC in assists per game (5.3) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9-to-1), but his shooting has been abysmal.
The 6-foot guard, who has started every game for the Bearcats this season, was shooting less than 36% from the field and making just 17% (7-for-41) of his 3-point attempts.
Despite that, Brannen said he hasn't lost confidence in the Detroit native.
"I believe in him," the second-year UC coach said. "I've seen him. We recruited that area hard when I was at Northern Kentucky. Coming over here (UC), we've always recruited Detroit hard. So I've seen him for a long time. I just believe in him. ... I knew it was just a matter of time."
With sophomore guard Zach Harvey and junior forward Mamoudou Diarra back home in Cincinnati, and regular starters Keith Williams, Mika Adams-Woods and Tari Eason starting the game on the bench, DeJulius' light had never been more green. He made 10 of his 18 shot attempts, including four 3-pointers.
"I haven't been shooting the ball well this year, but coach has just stayed confident in me," DeJulius said. "It was kind of weird a little bit because normally you wouldn't get that. ... But he was still running plays for me. ... When you have a coach that believes in you like that, and you have teammates like that that believe in you, all you gotta do is keep working and everything else will take care of itself."
Defense and toughness led the way
Brannen has said on numerous occasions this season that his team, which is comprised of several freshmen and other new faces, has trouble dealing with the physicality of the AAC.
That wasn't the case on Thursday.
Maybe it was the fact the Bearcats had been cooped up in their dorm rooms and apartments over the past three weeks, itching for the opportunity to get back on the court. Whatever it was, they were ready to be the aggressor against Temple (4-6, 3-6 AAC), historically one of the more aggressive programs in the country, first under the late John Chaney and now coach Aaron McKie.
The Owls committed six turnovers in their first nine possessions and had eight turnovers before scoring their ninth point.
"It really started with defense tonight," Brannen said. "We really got after them defensively. All we preached was toughness, toughness, toughness."
Cincinnati forced 19 total turnovers and took advantage of Jake Forrester, one of the Owls' top players, being off the floor and on the bench in foul trouble for most of the game.
"That's the toughness that I expect and that's the toughness that certainly our fans expect," Brannen said. "That's the toughness that we're about. I see it in practice every day. We now need to start seeing it in games."
The Bearcats are weathering the COVID-19 storm
DeJulius and Brannen both spoke openly about how difficult the past few weeks have been, having six games postponed and barely being able to practice or spend any time together as a team.
Brannen and his wife, Lisa, have been delivering meals to players who are stuck in quarantine.
DeJulius talked about this "tough" stretch that includes spending all of his time either on the court or at home. That's it.
Despite that, the junior point guard said the team had its best pregame shoot-around of the season.
"Everyone was energized," he said. "The vibe was there. Everyone was ready to go. Everyone had each other's back. We came out there and performed.
"Things are going to happen in life. Obstacles are going to happen. But you've got to kind of turn it into a positive, and that's what we did."