The Cincinnati Bearcats (13-4, 2-2 Big 12) secured their first home Big 12 victory this evening after defeating #19 TCU (13-4, 2-2 Big 12) 81-77 in overtime. A back-and-forth battle that came to the very end, literally.
“Well, I’m obviously more pleased with this result in the last two games and am really proud of our resilience,” said Wes Miller. “Just trying to continue to stay in a fight back and find a way. That was the real positive tonight.”
Bearcat veteran John Newman finished with 20 points and seven rebounds on a very efficient night on both ends of the court, shooting 66% from the field, (8-12). A game where Newmans’s physicality took over on both ends of the court as the sixth-year guard imposed his will on the Horned Frogs on multiple occasions.
“I thought John Newman was just incredible tonight on both ends, ” Miller said. “At the end of regulation, I subbed him out, offense for defense, and I caught myself thinking, what the heck am I doing. He was great on offense, he made so many defensive plays tonight, the steal on the right sideline from Emmanual Miller. He was just terrific, and to see him step up and make huge free throws was really cool to see too.”
Day-Day Thomas finished with a team high 21 points and six assists after burying a huge three to send this game to overtime. The junior point guard was terrific down the stretch when the Bearcats needed it the most, in a night where Thomas was due for a huge night.
“I thought Day-Day had his best game in league play.” Miller said. “I thought he looked confident, aggressive. He is continuing to grow defensively. I was really pleased with Thomas and Newman tonight.”
The Rundown
The Horned Frogs would jump out to an early 23-13 as they started the game with an absolute shooting clinic, as they would make nine of their first ten field goal attempts of the night. The Horned Frogs weren’t messing around as they showcased their depth early as six players scored in the opening minutes, led by Mikah Peavy with seven points, as the Horned Frogs led 26-16.
A great sign for the Bearcats was John Newman, as the senior wing started the game 3-3 from the field, with seven points, and was doing a great job getting to the rim early. However, the Bearcats were going to have to play from behind here as Jaime Dixon and the Horned Frogs set the tone early as they looked to pour it on the Bearcats early.
Turnovers continued to haunt the Bearcats, as the key to this game was to keep the turnovers under ten like they did vs Baylor. Well, that wasn’t the case here tonight for the Bearcats racked up seven turnovers in the first ten minutes of action. Just like that, the high-powered TCU offense capitalized off the Bearcats early miscues and they were quickly forced to play catch up.
Mikah Peavy, and Emmanul Miller had thirteen of the TCU’s first 26 points in the first ten minutes of play, as the backcourt duo was looking to cause a frenzy early. The Horned Frogs offense would go ice cold shortly after as the Bearcats held them scoreless for nearly six minutes, before Trevian Tennyson silenced the run to give the Horned Frogs a 29-20 lead. A lead that would be cut shortly after, as the Bearcats responded with a consecutive defensive stand, sparking a six point in favor of the Bearcats.
Jizzle James would find Dan Skillings in the far corner for a wide open three, capping off a seven-point run, as the Bearcats tied the game at 31 with 1:45 remaining in the first half. The Bearcats continued to sit down on defense, and really force the Horned Frogs to play from the perimeter as Bandaogo, and Lakhin made it impossible to get anything in the paint.
At the half, TCU led the Bearcats 33-31, after the Bearcats sat down and put on a defensive clinic to stop the early bleeding. Aziz Bandaogo altered this game in many ways as his rim protection abilities made it difficult to find their offensive groove once again after finishing 3-19 to end the half, following their hot start.
The Bearcats were able to capitalize on the Horned Frogs turnovers as John Newman changed the narrative on both ends of the court again this evening. Newman finished the first half with a team high nine points on a very efficient 4-4 shooting. The Bearcats finished the first half shooting 50% from the field, while TCU finished shooting just 42%. A huge bounce back for the Bearcats as this was a game that was quickly approaching danger zone after the Horned Frog’s tremendous start. That was an important sequence to end the first half as they tried to build some momentum heading into the break.
Viktor Lakin would score the Bearcats first four points of the second half as the Russian was starting to find his groove after behind held to just two points in the first half. The Bearcats would strike again, as Newman slashed the lane through contact for the huge and-1 opportunity to give the Bearcats a 38-36 lead.
