CINCINNATI — When the Bearcats led 38-31 three minutes into the second half Saturday, there was reason to believe the Bearcats were about to record their biggest win of the season and cement a spot in the Top 25.
Then, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson called a timeout and his Cougars scored the next nine points to spark a 19-3 spurt, putting control of the game back in the hands of the fifth-ranked team in the land.
Houston would go onto win the game, 67-62, before a renovated Fifth Third Arena record crowd of 12,175.
UC overcame a 14-point hole out of the gate to take a 32-29 lead at the half. They showed character in overcoming a massive punch from big, bad Houston at the start of the game.
But in the end, the Bearcats just couldn’t finish, getting clobbered on the offensive glass, 17-9, and getting outscored in the paint, 38-22.
If the Bearcats (15-8 and 4-6 in Big 12 play) are serious about making a run to Madness in March, they need to find a way to be the bigger, badder team against the Big 12 big boys.
“I am certainly disappointed in the result,” Bearcats coach Wes Miller said. “I thought we had a real opportunity there against a top five team in the country. The environment was as good as you can have in college basketball. We all really appreciate everyone coming out and supporting us like that. It matters so much, and I am sorry we couldn’t get over the hump tonight. We are going to need that same energy from the crowd on Tuesday night because we have another huge game but that’s how this league is. I am proud of some of the moments when we came back and figured out how to get in the game, especially how we finished the first half. When they have 17 offensive rebounds, it is hard to overcome, and we pride ourselves on being a rebounding team. They set the tone right from the start and we only had nine offensive rebounds and we were out rebounded 41-34.”
Trailing 58-48 with 3:51 left, Simas Lukosius drained a three that started UC on a 7-0 spurt in 45 seconds and closed Cincinnati within 58-55 with 2:36 left.
Two free throws from Jamille Reynolds with 1:41 left made it a two-point game, 61-59. LJ Cryer hit a runner with 1:13 left and Ja’Vier Francis slammed home a miss with 40 seconds left for a 65-59 Houston lead.
“We are trying to establish an identity on the board and it’s frustrating and it’s hard to overcome the 17 offensive rebounds,” Miller said. “We almost had a chance though but give LJ (Cryer) credit coming out of that timeout. His shot was a big-time shot by a big-time player, and we guarded it well. He was jumping off one leg away from the basket, one of the hardest shots in college basketball.
“We had it down to a four-point game after the shot from LJ and we got them to shoot quickly and miss but unfortunately, we couldn’t box out and get the rebound. The thing I was most disappointed about in the game was the rebounds. We have to learn from this quickly and bounce back because we have another great team coming in here on Tuesday night.”
Now, it’s onto No. 14 Iowa State Tuesday night at Fifth Third. And just like the start of the Big 12 slate when they had six ranked opponents in a row to start the conference schedule, they have no time for moral victories or rest on a near-miss against a Top 5 team.
“I told the guys in the locker room like I’m disappointed there didn’t you know there’s there’s nowhere to run and hide in this league every night,” Miller said. “I told the guys I’m disappointed. They’re disappointed. We right there. It’s a major opportunity, but we can be pissed off that’s fine because I’m pissed off. But we better not have the hangover effect because what we have coming in here Tuesday night.
“So, we better get our minds around what we have to do to prepare. This (Iowa State) team is tough and they’re capable (present) another opportunity Tuesday night. We’re going to need Fifth Third to be electric again.”
To point guard Day Day Thomas and the Bearcats, not falling behind 17-3 to start the game would be a good starting point.
“Every game is a big game to us,” said Thomas. “We have to come at the beginning of the game playing hard. We need to be the type of team that rebounds the ball like coach said, we gotta keep playing at a high level for Cincinnati basketball, we need to make sure we work on rebounding the ball, and make sure we transition.”
J’Wan Roberts finished with 20 points and eight rebounds Jamal Shead added 16 to rally the No. 5 Houston Cougars past the host Cincinnati Bearcats, 67-62, Saturday in a Big 12 contest.
The Cougars (21-3, 8-3) dominated in the paint, outscoring the Bearcats, 38-22.
Dan Skillings Jr. had 13 points and John Newman III chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Cincinnati (15-8, 4-6), which couldn’t find a way to hold onto a seven-point lead early in the second half.
The Cougars were dominating the Bearcats for most of the first half. And when they weren’t outplaying the Bearcats, they were getting remarkably fortunate breaks.
With the shot clock winding down, Cryer drove the lane and lost his footing with the dribble. He pushed the ball out to the corner to Shead, who swished a rushed three as the buzzer went off for a 23-10 lead with 8:25 left in the first half.
Houston’s greatest area of dominance in the opening 10 minutes of the game came on the boards, grabbing the game’s first eight rebounds and holding a 15-4 advantage at one point, including 5-0 on the offensive glass.
With Houston leading 25-15, UC got a massive boost when Dan Skillings Jr. missed a pull-up three and Jamille Reynolds threw down the putback for a thunderous dunk that electrified the sellout crowd and sparked a 19-4 Cincinnati run to end the half.
Helping Cincinnati’s cause was Houston’s ice-cold shooting, including a stretch of 12 straight misses from the field and 18-of-20 shots in one stretch before a J’Wan Roberts layup with three seconds left in the half to make it 32-29 Cincinnati at the break.
The Bearcats used the first half momentum to build a 38-31 lead on a John Newman III layup with 17:19 left.
