Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats travel to Houston, Texas to take on the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars with hopes of upsetting the number one team in college basketball for the first time since December 31st, 2004.
Notable Stats
Viktor Lakhin had his best performance over the last month finishing with a team high 11 points and nine rebounds, while shooting a near perfect (5-6) from the field. That was a great sight to see for the Bearcats especially vs a talented Cougars squad who had their way with the Russian forward in the team’s first matchup this season. Could this be the moment that Lakhin regains his confidence after seeing his role slightly decrease over the last month?
LJ Cryer finished with a game high 22 points for the Cougars, as the veteran point guard came back for revenge vs the Bearcats. Cryer, finished with just eight points in the first match up this season, but on a night where it looked like a lid was on both baskets, Cryer found a way to have one of his most efficient shooting performances of the season.
How it Happened
The Cougars jumped out to an early 14-2 run in the opening segment following a huge seven-point run forcing an early Cincinnati timeout. A timeout that Wes Miller was dealt with to potentially avoid the Cougars putting this game in danger zone early in the first half, like the Cougars did nearly two weeks ago at Fifth Third Arena.
Cincinnati would find themselves in an early rut, starting the game just 1-10 from the field, with the only made basket coming off a dunk from Aziz Bandaogo. Now, for the Bearcats, they were playing to their advantage early as they were making a strong effort on the glass despite the Cougars early lead. For those who remember, the Cougars had nine rebounds before the Bearcats recorded their first rebound in the team’s first match up earlier this season, that was something that couldn’t be repeated tonight if they wanted to win this game.
It appeared that both baskets had a lid on it, unless your name was LJ Cryer, as the senior willed the Cougars in the first half. Cincinnati was doing a great job at containing Jamal Shead as the veteran point guard was unable to get anything going on offense after missing his first seven field goal attempts to start the game. That was a great sight for the Bearcats as Shead, was struggling to get anything to fall around the rim, which meant someone else would have to knock down some shots for the Cougars.
The Bearcats would then cut the Cougars lead to five, trailing 16-11 following an 7-0 run after a huge three from Lukosius. However, the Cougars would see forward J’Wan Roberts pick up his second foul with nearly six minutes remaining in the first half. Cryer would silence the Cincinnati run with a huge floater of his own as the veteran guard was getting anything he wanted it appeared in the first half.
Houston would extend their lead to 23-15 before Cincinnati forward Jamille Reynolds used his big physical frame to really make it an effort to get the Cougars in foul trouble and be active around the rim. Reynolds presence early was a great sight to see for Bearcats fans, as the Temple transfer was a huge matchup problem for the Cougars early. Reynolds finished the first half with four points, but five crucial rebounds, as the Bearcats out rebounded the Cougars 24-19 in the first half.
Houston’s Emmanuel Sharp would knock down a dagger three as time expired to give the Cougars a 26-17 lead at the break. Now for the Cougars, they saw a huge first half from Ja’vier Francis who really altered this game in many different ways in the first half, but most importantly around the rim. Francis, stepped in and played huge minutes with Roberts in foul trouble and it seemed like Houston didn’t miss a beat with Roberts out of the game.
Both teams shot just around 30% from the field in the first half, as both teams scored seasons lows through the first twenty minutes of play. Houston struggled to get anything going offensively outside of Cryer, who had a game high 15 points in the first half, on (5-10 FG). The rest of the Cougars shot just 5-23 from the field in the first half, which is something that hasn’t happened much all season. The Bearcats did a great job containing Jamal Shead, who finished 0-7 from the field, despite having a game high six assists.
The Bearcats would come out of the break in hopes of cutting the Cougars lead early in the second half. Houston had different thoughts however, after Bandaogo was called for a flagrant foul on the rebound attempt following the Lukosius made three, momentum quickly started to shift in favor of the Cougars. Houston responded with eight unanswered after consecutive triples from Sharp to take a 38-21 lead forcing a Cincinnati timeout, as Miller and the Bearcats looked to regroup.
Despite trailing by as much as sixteen, Jizzle James was looking to be that impact player yet again in the second half for the Bearcats after seven quick points. James first made three of the night sparked a six-point run as the Cincinnati cut the Cougars lead to single digits. As the Bearcats began searching for some sort of offensive production with just over eight minutes to play, it was none other than the freshman to come in and flip the script in hopes of closing the gap on the Cougars.
For Cincinnati, their offense would go cold, as they were held without a field goal for nearly four minutes after cutting the Cougars lead to single digits. Houston continued to make it difficult for Cincinnati to get any sort of momentum as turnovers continued to pile on in a time where the Bearcats desperately needed a bucket, the Cougars physicality was unmatched to say the least.
Cincinnati would score their first field goal in roughly six minutes after Skillings came away with the rebound following the James floater, finishing a huge and-1 opportunity to trim the Cougars lead to nine, trailing 59-50 with two minutes remaining. Skillings would then force a turnover by Shead and go coast-to-coast for the layup making this a 60-54 game with just over a minute left to play.
The Bearcats late momentum was not enough on Tuesday night as they fell to Cougars 67-59 despite holding the Cougars without a field goal the final five minutes. A night in where the Bearcats dominated the rebounding margin (42-30), they were unable to come away victorious despite outperforming the Cougars on that aspect. A completely different performance tonight for the Bearcats compared to the first matchup, which was a great sight to see as Cincinnati got back to doing what they do so well and that was rebound the basketball.
Now for Kelvin Sampsons Cougars, they continue to prove why they are the No.1 team in all of college basketball following their performance this evening. Especially in a game where Shead struggles, Cincinnati had plenty of opportunities to claw back into this one, but ultimately the Cougars prevail following their victory on Tuesday night.
Up Next
The Bearcats (16-12, 5-10 Big 12) will return to action this Saturday at 7pm vs Kansas State (17-11, 7-8 Big 12) as Wes Miller and the Bearcats look to get back in the win column heading into the final week of the season.
