Recap: West Virginia 62 Cincinnati 59

Cincinnati's roller coaster season continued Wednesday night as the Bearcats lost their second straight, falling to West Virginia (16-10, 7-8 Big 12) by a final score of 62-59. 

"We're frustrated. We've been playing so much better the last couple of weeks. We played well at Iowa State and had some good moments here, including a lead in the latter part of the game. It went sideways on us a little bit in a lot of different ways," Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said following the game. 

Playing without Simas Lukosius, who was out due to a shoulder injury, the Bearcats (15-11, 5-10 Big 12) led 47-41 with 9:44 remaining, following a dunk by Dillon Mitchell.

With 7:44 on the clock, Mitchell went to the line and missed both free throw attempts. After WVU cut the lead to 4, Day Day Thomas went to the line and missed the front end of a 1-and-1, leading to a three-pointer by Jonathon Powell at the other end. 

Over the next 6:34, UC managed just six points as West Virginia turned a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead with 0:34 seconds remaining. 

"We had some opportunities at the free-throw line and didn't convert," Miller said.  "Their pressure really impacted us with turnovers in bad situations, and we hadn't turned it over all game. We couldn't get into actions because of that pressure, and we got on our heels and they made some good shots to get that lead late."

UC was out-rebounded 13-5 over the final 7:44 and 40-32 overall for the game. 

Amani Hansberry led West Virginia with 17 points, 13 rebounds while Big 12 Conference leading scorer Javon Small tallied 16 points to help key the WVU win. 

(Photo: West Virginia Athletics / WVU Basketball Twitter)

Jonathan Powell contributed 12 points, while pulling down nine rebounds. 

West Virginia shot 40% from the field and made 6-of-18 attempts from three, but finished 12-of-14 from the free throw line.

UC made 2-of-7 free throws, finishing 41% from the field.

One of the top 3-point defenses in the country, West Virginia limited the Bearcats to a 7-of-23 showing from deep.

Jizzle James once again battled foul trouble but found a way to lead Cincinnati in scoring with 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting. James was 1-for-8 from three. 

Day Day Thomas finished tied for the team high in scoring with 13 points, while Dillon Mitchell and Dan Skillings both scored 10 points in the loss as well. Skillings scored six of his 10 points during a :04 second stretch during the final :10 seconds where he made a three, got a steal, then banked in another three to cut a nine-point deficit to three with :03 seconds remaining.

(Photo: Cincinnati Athletics / Gobearcatsmbb twitter )

Tyler Betsey got a good look on his final attempt of the game after a WVU turnover, but the attempt was just short, ending the UC comeback attempt. 

UC scored 11 points off ten Mountaineer turnovers, but were outscored 8-3 in second chance points as West Virginia owned the glass down the stretch and converted and extended possessions when it mattered most. 

"We've been playing better, and we had a bad stretch the last six or seven minutes, but we can't let it affect us and have to move forward," Miller said.

Bandaogo led the Bearcats with 10 rebounds.

With the win, West Virginia earns the regular season sweep of UC and now lead the all-time series 13-12. 

Cincinnati will now try to end a two-game losing streak on Saturday with TCU visiting Fifth Third Arena for a noon tip-off.

"There's a lot of basketball left. There's some bad leagues. I ain't calling out other leagues. There's some bad leagues where you don't have the chances to build resumes and make statements," Miller concluded. " There's not a bad game in this entire league. Everybody in this league's really good. Every win is a good win so we got another opporunity against a good team on Saturday."

Game Notes:

First Half:

15:26- West Va jumps out to an early 10-6 lead at the first media timeout following a 7-0 run over 1:20 after Josh Reed scored the game's first basket. Amani Hansberry scored five of the Mountaineers first 10 points. 

11:40- West Virginia extends their lead to 18-12 on a layup by Toby Okani forcing Wes Miller to call a timeout. The Mountaineers had made 4 of last 5 and were 7-of-11 from the field. 

7:50- Jizzle James, who was leading UC with six points, picks up his second foul with West Va leading 25-16....UC hasn't scored in 2:03 and have missed five straight field goal attempts. WVU also leading on the boards, 12-5.

4:17- Dan Skillings' basket extends a UC run to 7-0 over 2:55 to cut the West Va lead to 25-23. Day Day Thomas scored five straight during the run on a mid range jumper and 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock. West Va hasn't scored in 4:06 and have missed six straight from the field.

:01- Dillon Mitchell scores on an out-of-bounds lob from Josh Reed to end a 3:33 scoring drought to cut the West Va lead to 29-27 at the half. WVU didn't score over the final 2:01 and made 1 of last 9 field goal attempts. 

Second half:

16:45- Day Day Thomas makes a deep 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Dillon Mitchell to give the Bearcats a 36-33 lead. UC made four of their first seven field goal attempts to open the second half, while also out-rebounding WVU 5-1.

14:25- UC leads 38-37 following a layup by Dillon Mitchell to end a two-minute scoring drought.

11:26- Skillings picks up his third foul. Dillon Mitchell put the Bearcats in front 43-39 on a dunk off a lob from Thomas on the previous possession. WVU is 1 of last 9 after Javon Small ended a stretch of eight consecutive misses by the Mountaineers. 

8:31-  Jizzle James picks up his fourth foul, :05 seconds after Josh Reed picked up his third foul. James is tied for the team lead with 10 points.

7:44- Eduardo Andre picks up his fourth foul sending Dillon Mitchell to the line with UC leading 47-41. WVU hasn't scored in 3:42 and 1 of last 12 from the field. Dillon Mitchell missed both free throws out of the media timeout. 

6:06- Jonathan Powell makes a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound and kickout to cut the UC lead to 47-46. Bearcats haven't scored in 3:48.

5:41- Javon Small makes two free throws to cap a 7-0 run over 1:47 to give the Mountaineers a one-point advantage.

2:49- Jonathan Powell makes a three to extend the WVU lead to 56-50 after Hansberry made a three on the prior possession to answer a Jizzle James' 3-pointer. UC is 1 of last 7 and have been outscored 15-3 over the last 4:39.

0:34- Two free throws by Javon Small extends the West Va lead to 62-53.

0:05- Dan Skillings cuts the WVU lead to three, making his second 3-pointer in :04 seconds.

0:03- Jizzle James knocks the ball out of bounds off West Va setting up a game-tying 3-point attempt by Tyler Betsey. Betsey's attempt is just short, ending the Bearcat comeback attempt.  

Postgame Video (from gobearcats): Wes Miller, Dan Skillings

Final Thoughts:

It was already an uphill climb for UC to get back in the conversation of the NCAA Tournament and this loss likely ended any chance of Wes Miller ending the streak of seasons without a tournament appearance.

With five games remaining in the regular season, UC will now likely have to go 5-0, while also winning a game in the Big 12 Tournament. Their resume simply isn't good. In 11 Quad 1 opportunities, UC is 1-10. 

You have to be able to score 70 points consistently in this league to have success and this team simply hasn't been able to do it consistently enough against other teams that will be playing when March Madness rolls around.