Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats (13-5, 2-3 Big 12) fell to #15 Oklahoma (14-3, 3-2 Big 12) this afternoon in a hard fought back and forth battle in front of a sold out Fifth Third Arena.
“That was a phenomenal environment this afternoon,” said Porter Moser. “I felt like those fans were in it the whole time right from the jump. Great atmosphere, it seemed like there were students everywhere. That was a big-time atmosphere.”
The Bearcats were outrebounded 41-34 on the afternoon as the Sooners physicality was too much for the Bearcats this afternoon. Safe to say, that was something not many expected as the Bearcats had the clear size advantage with seven footers Aziz Bandaogo and Viktor Lakhin. However, the size mismatch didn’t play into their favor this afternoon, as the smaller Sooner squad dominated the boards, especially on the defensive end.
“Oklahoma kicked our butts on the boards. That is now two times we have got beat on the boards and I am frustrated with that,” said Wes Miller. “I think that is something we should be doing to other people. They kick our tails today, and I am not pleased with that.”
The other difference maker in this contest was that the Sooners shot 89% (16-18) from the foul line, while the Bearcats on the other hand shot just 64% (14-22). Cincinnati continues to struggle from the free throw line, and it has since then costed them quite frequently through the team’s first five big 12 conference games.
“Nobody is trying to miss free throws, but obviously free throws have been something that has been a challenge for us more recently,” John Newman said. “If we were able to capitalize on them, we’d be feeling a lot differently. You just have to get back in the gym and work on them.”
“I don’t think we played our best basketball, and I am disappointed since we almost found a way to win the game,” Miller said. “For some reason we have had better attitude, approach, effort all year than what we had today.”
Final Stats
Simas Lukosius led all scorers with 17 points and six rebounds, as the junior guard was doing it all for the Bearcats this afternoon. Thirteen of those, came in the first half, as the Sooners did a great job eliminating Lukosius from the equation in the second half, holding him to just 1-5 shooting in the final twenty minutes.
John Newman put up 14 points and five rebounds after a strong second half as he provided the huge spark the Bearcats needed but it just wasn’t enough for the Bearcats. “He finished with 14 points five rebounds. I remember the two big threes. He was terrific in the second half,” said Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser.
