There was a time where it looked like the Bearcats March Madness dreams were being packed away. They were living in a shell, or as Wes Miller said in his postgame press conference, the Bearcats looked stagnant and tight on both sides of the ball at the start of the second half. Myself, and other Bearcats fans, thought they had reached the end. The season would be over with no shot at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
But that was early in the second half. The Bearcats, maybe, are made of more than their heartbreaking Big 12 losses of yesterday. This is their now, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament after beating Kansas by TWENTY Wednesday night. Since their last heartbreaking loss, in overtime at Oklahoma last Tuesday, the Bearcats have won three straight games over a five-day span with the latest a 72-52 win over No. 6 seed Kansas Wednesday night. Here are my 12 Big Things from Wednesday night’s win.
12 Big Things
1. I know Kansas was without their two leading scorers in Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson. But still, games aren’t played on paper. The Bearcats went out and controlled the majority of the game, only trailing for 23 seconds Wednesday night. Wes Miller credited his team’s intensity with their preparation despite McCullar and Dickinson not playing, and he said the Bearcats played with an edge and togetherness.
2. You want to talk about culture? Wes Miller is building one. And if you had any doubts about that, I hope this run so far in the Big 12 Tournament is making you see he really is building a culture that could be special. The Bearcats just beat Kansas, who is still the hallmark program of Big 12 Basketball, by TWENTY points in their own backyard in Kansas City. And they did it with toughness, physicality and imposing their will.
3. The Bearcats won the rebounding battle 49-38. When I was the team manager of our 8th grade basketball team, our head coach said that you don’t read about rebounding in the paper. Maybe not, but in Cincinnati rebounding matters. That’s a hallmark of Bearcats Basketball. In two games against Kansas this season, the Bearcats out-rebounded the Jayhawks by 11 in both of them. The Bearcats more than belong in the Big 12 because of their ability to rebound and control the glass.
4. John Newman III led the Bearcats in rebounding with 10 boards, and Wes Miller said after the game he thought Newman got back to being Newman Wednesday night. If there was anyone who needed a bounce-back game, it was the Bearcats defensive leader. Newman only had three points and four rebounds against West Virginia, eventually fouling out. But he redeemed himself in a big way Wednesday night against Kansas.
