This evening, Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats (11-2) traveled to Provo, Utah for their first ever Big 12 conference matchup vs #12 ranked BYU in hopes of coming away victorious in their first ever Big 12 matchup. As, for the Bearcats they would have to do so without guard CJ Fredrick, who is still out for the Bearcats after being shut down from basketball activities after suffering a hamstring injury vs Stetson.
Now, positive news, Aziz Bandaogo would make his return for Wes Miller and the Bearcats after missing the last three games with a back injury. A huge much needed boost for the Bearcats as they looked to find a way to contain the Cougars on the glass as they entered this game third in the country in total rebounds.
The Rundown
The Cougars jumped out to an early 8-5 lead at the under 16 media breaks after six quick points from Trevin Knell. The Bearcats on the other hand would start just 1-5 from the field, with their only make coming from Dan Skillings in the opening seconds of the game. Mark Pope and the Cougars would hold the Bearcats to 1-11 shooting (9%) to start this contest.
The Cougars held the Bearcats without a field goal for nearly seven minutes before Wes Miller was forced to call a timeout after BYU’s Aly Khalifa found Jaxson Robinson on the back door cut for the wide-open layup. Miller spoke about the environment at Marriott Center earlier this week and how it was one of the most underrated venues in all of college basketball, and just like the other road games this season, the Bearcats would get off to a very slow start.
The Cougars held a 13-5 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the first half after nine quick points from Knell, but outside of that the Cougars offense has stalled. However, if the Cougars were trying to send a message early, it was that they wanted to shoot the three ball and that was no question. If the Bearcats continued to give the Cougars the opportunity to shoot wide open three’s this game s=could get out of hand quickly as they shot 40% from deep heading into this one.
The Bearcats would find their offensive game out of the timeout as they looked to establish the ball inside sparking a quick five-point spurt to cut the Cougars early lead. Josh Reed would bury a huge three after Jamille Reynolds hauled in the offensive rebound to make this a 13-10 game halfway through the first half.
Cougar center Aly Khalifa really set the tone early for the Cougars as the big man flashed his passing ability in the first half as he had a team high three assists in his first eight minutes of play. Despite the Cougars hot start, once the Bearcats got the ball moving with a purpose their offense was really starting to click as they took their first lead of the night following an 8-0 run following a tough finish through contact from Jizzle James.
