Recap: West Virginia 63 Cincinnati 50

Effort, physicality, and toughness have never been questioned when it comes to Cincinnati basketball. It is a standard and expectation when you put on the C-paw. 

 

Playing in front of former UC head coach Bob Huggins, who helped establish that Bearcat brand and identity, Sunday's match up between West Virginia and Cincinnati was a game between two teams desperate for a win. 

 

(Photos: Taylor Keeton / RiverfrontU )

 

Both teams came in riding three-game losing streaks and were coming off losses in which they were physically dominated. West Virginia was out-rebounded by Houston by 14, while Cincinnati was out-rebounded by Utah by 18. 

 

For Cincinnati, it was the seventh consecutive game that they were beaten on the boards.

 

Desperate for a win, Cincinnati was once again unable to overcome a slow offensive start as the Bearcats fell to 2-8 in Big 12 play following a 63-50 loss to West Virginia.

 

"I'm very disappointed and disgusted with the way that we're playing," Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said following the game. "At the end of the day, I'm in charge here, I'm the leader of our program, and it falls on me."

 

The Bearcats trailed by as many as 22 points during the second half which led to boos and fans filing out of the arena for an early exit. 

 

" If I'm somebody that supports this program, I'd be frustrated. I'd be pissed at what I was watching. You should be. I am too and I take full responsibility. It's on me."

 

Cincinnati turned the ball over 14 times in the loss and made just 25% of their first half field goal attempts. Overall, UC finished 31% from the field and 5-of-16 from three.

 

Day Day Thomas started in place of Dan Skillings and scored 10 points to lead all Bearcat scorers. Thomas also had four steals and four assists.

 

 

West Virginia entered Sunday in a shooting slump, making just 12-of-67 attempts from three during their three-game losing streak, but consistently got easy buckets at the rim, while also getting open looks from deep.

 

The result?

 

The Mountaineers made 9-of-18 3-point attempts and 49% of their field goal attempts. 

 

"We've had a tough stretch here with some tough losses, but defensively at time's we've been pretty good. I thought that led to some opportunities for us, especially in that first half," West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries explained.

 

West Va made 55% of their first half field goal attempts, on their way to a 40-25 halftime lead. 

 

Javon Small entered Sunday as the leading scorer in the Big 12 and proved to be as good as advertised, leading the Mountaineers with 19 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three. 

 

" You know he's going to score a little bit, cause you know he's a terrific player," Miller said. " They do a lot of really neat things to put him in action, get him off his left hand. You get the ball out of his hands, get it back in his hands, and again we didn't do a good enough job. He gets his average tonight."

 

Small also dished out nine assists, consistently attacking the basket and either finishing at the rim or kicking out to an open teammate. 

 

Joseph Yesufu keyed the WVU hot shooting, making all six of his field goal attempts, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range, on his way to a 16-point showing. It was just the third time this season that Yesufu had reach double-figures.

 

West Virginia lost the rebounding battle, 33-31, but outscored UC 20-13 in points off turnovers and 30-22 in points in the paint. 

 

"I thought if we won the rebounding battle, that'd be a good sign for us to win the game going into it. I think it's an important stat for our team," Miller said. 

 

So where does Cincinnati go from here?

 

Wes Miller took a different approach with his team in the practices leading up to Sunday's loss, becoming more assertive and combative, while also challenging them to try to get that edge and toughness out of his team, but his team did not respond the way he needed them to. 

 

 

"I'm responsible so I've got to look at the mirror about what I'm doing and if that's the wrong way to approach them, I'll look and try to evaluate it," Miller said.

 

"I'm just trying to get an edge and a competitive spirit that we've shown the ability to have this year, and again, if it's not happening, that falls on me."

 

 

At 2-8 in league play and 12-9 overall, the Bearcats are completely out of the NCAA Tournament picture, have lost the identity that so many former Bearcats worked hard to establish, and are now at a point where it's fair to question if Wes Miller is the right guy to lead this program if things don't start trending in a different direction.

 

"I know what I signed up for. I love coaching in Cincinnati but I understand there's standards and expectations and we're not meeting them right now and that falls on me solely," Miller stated.

 

" I feel terrible for the people that support our program. They deserve better and the only thing I can tell you is that it's not like I'm going to accept it. Back to work."

 

UC will have to turn the page quickly with a road trip to UCF on deck Wednesday night before returning home for a two game home stand against BYU and Utah. 

 

Game Notes:

First half:

15:16 - Cincinnati started the game 1-for-7 from the field but were tied at the first media stop, 6-6. Day Day Thomas' three at 17:15 got the Bearcats on the board following three straight misses from the field by the Bearcats to begin the game. Simas Lukosius also converted three free throws following a foul call on Jonathon Powell.

 

11:21- Javon Small made a three to put the Mountaineers up 11-8, but freshman Tyler Betsey answered with a three on the next UC possession to tie the game at 12:47. West Virginia followed the Betsey make with a quick 5-0 run on a three by Jonathan Powell and second chance basket by Amani Hansberry.

 

 

6:51 - Things continued to get worse for UC as West Virginia extended their lead to 29-16 following a straight line drive to basket by Javon Small. With 8:14 remaining, WVU had put together a 14-2 run over 3:46 to extend their lead to 25-13. Simas Lukosius' three at 7:26 cut the lead the nine, but West Va got two easy baskets at the rim on their next two possessions, prompting Wes Miller to call a timeout.

 

 

3:28- West Virginia led 31-21, outscoring UC 8-2 in points off turnovers and 12-4 in points in the paint. With 5:45 remaining, West Va had outscored UC 20-5 over the last 6:15 and led 31-16. Day Day Thomas knocked down a three at 5:24 and Dillon Mitchell scored on a putback on the next possession for a quick 5-0 run to cut in to the deficit just before the final media timeout of the half.

 

 

1:19 - West Virginia extended their lead to 37-21 following a 6-0 run over 1:30 that included easy layups at the rim for Javon Small and Amani Hansberry. West Va made their final four attempts of the half from the field while Cincinnati didn't convert a field goal over the final 3:55, missing all five of their attempts. Joseph Yesufu's made three with :04 seconds remaining in the half extended the WVU lead to 40-25 at the half. 

 

Second Half:

 

15:35- West Virginia led 43-29 following a step back three by Javon Small over Day Day Thomas and a Josh Reed basket for UC. Cincinnati opened the second half 2-of-6 from the field, while West Va missed five of their first six field goal attempts. A foul call on West Va's Hansberry off the ball on Reed's basket gave UC an additional possession out of the media timeout. 

 

11:17 - Cincinnati trailed 49-35 as the Bearcats were 4-of-12 from the field and struggling to get anything going offensively. Tyler Betsey's dunk in transition ended an almost three-minute scoring drought. 

 

9:38- Day Day Thomas turnover leads to a West Virginia dunk in transition, giving the visitors a 53-35 lead. The turnover was the 13th of the game by UC and highlighted a scoring drought that was sitting at 2:02 and counting. UC had made just 1 of their last 7 field goal attempts. 

 

7:45 - Joseph Yesufu makes 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to extend the West Va lead to 59-37 with 7:45 left. The Mountaineers' had made 9-of-16 attempts from deep at this point. Yesufu was a perfect 4-for-4 from three.

 

6:00- UC scores six straight, including baskets by Skillings on consecutive possessions to cut the lead deficit to 59-43.

 

 

3:05- Rayvon Griffith knocks down a corner three to extend the UC run to 13-2 over the previous 4:19. West Virginia had four turnovers during the UC run but still led 61-50.

 

Cincinnati did not score over the final 3:05.

 

Final Score: West Virginia 63 Cincinnati 50

 

Notable Stats:

 

• Rayvon Griffith has struggled to see the floor this season after redshirting last season. The Cincinnati native looked the part of someone willing to fight and play hard for this program, scoring 7 points in 12 minutes of action. 
• Dillon Mitchell scored six points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Mitchell consistently attacked the rim at both ends, helping limit West Va to just five offensive rebounds.
• Simas Lukosius scored 8 points but struggled from the field, making just 1 of his 7 field goal attempts. Lukosius made 5-of-6 free throws as the Bearcats finished 11-of-12 from the line as a team
• Amani Hansberry finished just shy of a double double, scoring 8 points and pulling down 11 rebounds for the Mountaineers. 
• Dan Skillings and Josh Reed both scored six points. 
• Jizzle James had played well over the past few games but was held without a point in 18 minutes, missing all eight field goal attempts.

 

Final thoughts:

 

It's hard to say where Cincinnati goes from here and what they need to do. They simply aren't a good shooting team and don't play with enough consistent defensive effort to overcome shooting slumps.

 

Miller stated in the postgame that in his 14 years as a head coach, he's never had a team at this point in the year where he felt the lack of effort collectively. For whatever reason, both Miller and his staff are having trouble pulling out what they need from their players to be successful. 

 

Miller tried playing different combinations of players tonight and while it worked during stretches, it wasn't enough to overcome all of the mental errors and turnovers that his team committed during key stretches. 

 

With each loss, Miller loses the fanbase more and more. While he can't control missed shots and turnovers, it is up to him to figure out how to best utilize his roster to put guys in positions to be successful.

 

 

Postgame Videos: