It turns out this won’t be such a bad Winter after all. The Cincinnati Bearcats are going to make this a very fun two months if they play the way they played Saturday night at BYU.
The Bearcats welcome in Texas for their first Big 12 home game Tuesday night. Texas enters 11-3, but they’re coming off a 78-67 loss to Texas Tech Saturday night. My Front Office News colleague Neil Meyer has everything you need to know in his game preview aka The Bearcat Tip Off Talk Pod, and here are my players to watch for in Tuesday night’s game.
1. #3 Max Abmas, G, 6’0″, 175 lbs., Graduate Student, Rockwall, Texas Oral Roberts Transfer
17.2 ppg, 45.7 FG%, 39.6 3-PT FG%, 33-36 FT 62 ast.-33 TO, 34.2 mpg
If Abmas’s name sounds familiar, you might remember him from starring on Oral Roberts’ Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 in 2021. But he’s more than just that. In fact, Abmas came into this season as the NCAA’s active leader in total points and career scoring average. So far this season, Abmas has scored in double figures in all 14 of Texas’s games including 20 or more points in four games.
2. #4 Tyrese Hunter, G, 6’0″, 175 lbs., Jr., Racine, Wisconsin
13.2 ppg, 49.2 FG%, 14-40 3-PT FG, 74.4 FT%, 57 ast.-38 TO
Hunter started his college basketball career at Iowa State, where he was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2022. He had a solid first season at Texas last year, ranking in the top five on the team in four statistical categories. Hunter is strong on both ends of the floor. He was a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Award for the nation’s top defender in 2022 and has been a sharp shooter over his last five games, shooting over 50 percent in four of them.
3. #23 Dillon Mitchell, F, 6’8″, 205 lbs., So., Tampa, Florida.
11.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 59.6 FG%, 58% FT, 19 blk
Mitchell has had a solid start to his Texas career, living up to the hype he had coming in as a recruit. The former McDonald’s All-American and top five recruit by ESPN and 247Sports, Mitchell set a record for most games played and started for a Texas player with 38, while also leading the team in field goal percentage last year as a freshman. This season, Mitchell has eight games with 10 or more rebounds and has shot below 50 percent in just two games this season.
