“I could not be more proud of Ody Oguama,” Miller said. “All he has done is come into the gym and have a great attitude and keep working. I thought his minutes and ability to match up when they went small were really important for us having success tonight.”
It’s performances like Oguama that have kept the Bearcats afloat in the best college basketball conference in the country through the first month of conference play. Cincinnati has been able to stay firmly on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament conversation even as they have been without their best shooter, CJ Frederick Jr, and have had their best big man, Aziz Bandaogo, battle a back injury since December.
But make no mistake about it, the Big 12 is REALLY good. How good? Central Florida head coach Johnny Dawkins said after Saturday night’s game that this conference reminds him of the ACC in the 80s when Dawkins starred at Duke. He also referred back to the old Big East. That’s what this league is drawing comparisons to, and the Bearcats are holding their own in it in their first season. For what it’s worth, the Bearcats have two of their three wins in the Big 12 by double-digit points. And they haven’t lost a game by more than five points.
The Bearcats also have come back from double-digit deficits in each of their three wins. That fight and resiliency were on full display Saturday night with the Bearcats down 12 at halftime and fans booing the team as they ran off the court after the first 20 minutes.
“Everything with Wes [Miller] is that he wants us to be aggressive,” Bearcats graduate student John Newman III said. “He gives us the confidence to go in and be aggressive and then he puts us in a position to win.”
It’s that confidence that has enabled the Bearcats to show they belong in the Big 12. They’re a factor, and nobody is going to want to play them in February and March if they show this kind of fight every single time they take the floor. With their season potentially on the line, the Bearcats weren’t about to let any positives they had built up in their opening six-game gauntlet dissipate. They’re right where they need to be, winning the games they’re supposed to while also competing against the top teams in the league and stealing some wins against other really good teams. It takes resiliency to compete and win in the Big 12. The Bearcats showed that resiliency Saturday night in a win to save their season.
