Cincinnati dominates West Virginia in regular season finale, 92-56
After losing a heart breaker to Oklahoma in overtime on Tuesday to essentially end their at large bid NCAA Tournament hopes, Cincinnati put together their best performance of the season in the season finale against West Virginia.
Cincinnati outscored West Virginia 48-14 in the paint and held a 37-23 rebound advantage on their way to a 92-56 senior day victory over the Mountaineers.
(Photo: Ryan Luster / @champagnelusti )
"To have a night that you're able to push out a lead in the second half, I think that was good to see," Miller told the media following the game.
"I believe we'll have a lot more nights like that at Cincinnati in the future."
Dan Skillings led four double figure scorers and finished with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting to lead the Bearcats. John Newman finished with 14 points in his last game in front of the Cincinnati fans inside Fifth Third Arena, while Jamille Reynolds added 13 points, followed by Simas Lukosius with 13 points.
West Virginia big man Jesse Edwards finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds in the first meeting between the two, but the duo of Aziz Bandaogo and Jamille Reynolds limited Edwards to eight points, four rebounds in the rematch.
Edwards was coming off a 36 point, 13 rebound game against TCU.
"Our team did a nice job of defending him tonight," Wes Miller told reporters following the game. "Aziz and Jamille did a nice job in the individual match up but our guys did a nice job of trying to make things difficult to get him the ball."
(Photo: Ryan Luster / @champagnelusti )
Cincinnati shot 59 percent from the field for the game and forced 16 West Virginia turnovers, while limiting their turnovers to just nine. West Virginia's turnovers led to 27 points for the Bearcats as well as 17 fastbreak points.
With the win, Cincinnati finishes the regular season 18-13, 7-11 Big 12.
The Bearcats will get a rematch with the Mountaineers (9-22, 4-14 Big 12) Tuesday in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament at 3 pm at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
Recap
Cincinnati missed their first four shots to start the game but would respond by putting together a 9-0 run over the next 1:25.
With 15:36 remaining in the first half, the Bearcats had built a 9-2 lead and made four consecutive field goal attempts.
Aziz Bandaogo had four points during the Bearcats' run.
(Photo: Ryan Luster / @champagnelusti )
Raequan Battle ended West Virginia's four minute 42 second scoring drought with a jumper to kickstart a 10-2 run by the Mountaineers.
Simas Lukosius answered the Mountaineers' run with consecutive three's to give the Bearcats a 17-14 lead at the 10:06 mark of the first half.
Lukosius made three of his first six attempts from deep as he had 9 points to lead the Cats early.
With the score tied at 19 following two Kobe Johnson free throws, the Bearcats would outscore the Mountaineers 15-3 over the next 4:05.
(Photo: Ryan Luster / @champagnelusti )
Both Kerr Krissa and West Virginia head coach Josh Eilert were called for technical fouls during the Bearcats' run.
The Mountaineers missed six of seven field goal attempts during the UC run.
John Newman extended the UC lead to 36-22 with 2:07 remaining in the half but West Virginia answered with a 7-0 run over the final 1:43 to cut Cincinnati's lead to 36-29 at the half.
Raequan Battle scored five straight and Kobe Johnson scored on a defensive breakdown at the rim with :03 seconds left to key the Mountaineer run.
Battle scored the first basket of the second half but the Bearcats answered with a 6-0 run over the next 1:07 to push the lead back to double digits, 42-31.
John Newman's steal and lay up with 17:02 left forced Josh Eilert to call a timeout as CIncinnati extended their lead to 44-33 following a Jesse Edwards lay up.
Newman scored six points through the first 2:58 of the second half.
Dan Skillings knocked down a corner three to key a 6-0 run over 1:35 as UC extended their lead to 50-35 with 14:46 on the clock.
Skillings stayed hot in the second half with a dunk in transition to extend the UC lead to 60-42 with 10:05 remaining.
Skillings was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field for 11 points through the first 10 minutes of the second half.
At the under 8 media timeout, UC led 66-47.
A 7-0 run over 1:31, capped off by a Reynolds three, extended the UC lead to 73-49 with 5:34 remaining in the game.
(Photo: Ryan Luster / @champagnelusti )
Day Day Thomas' one hand oop dunk in transition would be the exclamation point to an already impressive showing by the Bearcats on senior day in front of a crowd decked out in red Cincinnati gear.
Both senior walk ons, Landon Long and Chase Kirkwood, scored to cap of the Cincinnati scoring.
Final Score: Cincinnati 92 West Virginia 56
Key Stats/Notes:
- Cincinnati has struggled to put teams away at times this season, which is the primary reason for nine losses by five or less points. UC turned an 8 point halftime lead in to a 36 point blow out. 18 second chance points on 11 offensive rebounds.
- The Bearcats really showed their depth today with 48 points off the bench. Ody Oguama got the start on senior day but Dan Skillings scored 17 off the bench and Jamille Reynolds had 13 on a perfect 6-of-6 showing from the field. Jizzle James made 4-of-7 field goal attempts for 8 points off the bench but more importantly, had zero turnovers.
- Both Kenyon Martin and Bob Huggins were honored during the game for being back in Fifth Third Arena. The support of former players has been impactful for Wes Miller and this program since he has arrived and he made sure to express his gratitude for the support he has received from former players and coaches.
Wes Miller on Kenyon Martin and Bob Huggins being in the arena today supporting the Bearcats:
— Ryan Roberts (@Ryan_Ky0203) March 9, 2024
"The former player support since we've been here has been so impactful, it's meant a lot to us. There's so much history here and so much tradition with the guys that have played here." pic.twitter.com/Yvqgm99Sqo
- Day Day Thomas finished with 7 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds in the win. He was +33 while on the floor and provided the highlight of the game with the one hand dunk off an oop from Skillings in transition. Thomas has had his struggles this season but has really elevated his play recently. The speed and vision of him and James, while on the floor together, has given the Bearcats a different dynamic heading in to the post season.
- Aziz Bandaogo did a great job defensively against Jesse Edwards, but also pulled down seven rebounds to go with nine points. Bandaogo and Reynolds were a perfect 10-for-10 from the field, combined.
Final Thoughts
It has been a difficult season for Cincinnati fans, players, and coaches but they finally got the type of performance that most knew this team was capable of.
Ody Oguama and John Newman have been through a lot during their three seasons with Wes Miller at Cincinnati, so it was only fitting they get the type of send off that we witnessed this afternoon inside Fifth Third Arena. Newman mentioned following Wes to UC for a reason and wanting to leave a legacy. The sixth year senior has been a big piece to this team this year and received the type of love and support that he deserved after sitting out last season due to a season ending injury.
Cincinnati didn't get the Iowa State win over Kansas State that they needed to avoid a Tuesday start in the Big 12 Tournament , but this is a team has plenty of examples of why they are battle tested and capable of making a run in Kansas City.
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