Bearcats Beat: What’s wrong, what can be fixed, what to look for Saturday vs. Kansas

CINCINNATI — It’s wakeup time for the Bearcats.

If the Bearcats truly want to salvage their season and turn into a legitimate NCAA Tournament team, this Saturday would be a great time to stop hitting the snooze button and wake from its Big 12 slumber.

When Wes Miller was introduced as the Bearcats head coach on April 16, 2021, he explained everything about this program that made him fired up to lead it. At the top of the list, he mentioned pride and competing at the highest level. That pride and competition have been sorely lacking, with the latest example on display on Tuesday night at Baylor. Right now, this Bearcats team doesn’t look like a team that can compete in the Big 12.

Last year the Bearcats lost just one Big 12 game in the regular season by double-digit points. That was in the 14th game of Big 12 play last year. We’re just three games into Big 12 play this season, and the Bearcats already have a 20-point loss. And not only that, but the Bearcats have fallen behind by as many as 19 points (vs. Arizona) and 23 points (at Baylor) in their last two games. That’s not competing at the highest level, in the Big 12. Rather, that’s looking like a team that’s overmatched and unprepared to play games in the Big 12. We saw the Bearcats toughness and physicality give them a chance to win 17 of 18 Big 12 games last year. Those elements have not been prevalent on this team through three Big 12 games this year.

But let’s look, particularly, at the Baylor game. Baylor is a really good offensive team. The Bears average 82.9 points and 17.1 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor and 36.7 percent from three-point range. So what did Cincinnati need to do on Tuesday night to beat Baylor? Be efficient on offense, for starters. The Bearcats were 17-49 from the field and 8-23 from three-point range on Tuesday night. Cincinnati also needed to take care of the basketball and not give Baylor any extra possessions. The Bearcats had 15 turnovers on Tuesday night- their second Big 12 game with 15 turnovers.

Again, what is this team’s identity? What’s their gameplan in these Big 12 games? Right now, it looks like they’re tight when they work the ball around the perimeter, only for that to result in a low-percentage three-point shot attempt or a turnover. They’re letting their opponents dictate the game, when the Bearcats should be taking it to their opponents.

There is too much talent on this team for them to be playing like this. For the Bearcats to come out and look non-competitive Tuesday night at Baylor is unacceptable with the talent and hard-nosed players that they have. After this lackluster performance, I truly don’t know where this team goes from here.

Simas Luksoisus is a great three-point shooter. Have you seen him make a difference from beyond the arc yet in Big 12 play? Through three Big 12 games, Lukosius is 2-10 from three-point range. He said at Big 12 Media Days he wanted to get downhill more. It just doesn’t feel like he’s relentlessly attacking the rim right now. Lukosius’s scoring average has dropped nearly two points per game through three Big 12 games, and he’s had four straight games below double-digit points.

Jizzle James is the engine of this team. But he’s not driving this team right now like he was in non-conference play. James has three turnovers in three consecutive games. For perspective, James had three turnovers just one time in non-conference play. James began the year with seven straight games scoring in double figures. He has just two such games over the Bearcats previous seven games.

Where is Day Day Thomas? Just one game with double-digit points? One. The Bearcats are sorely missing that burst he gave the Bearcats so many times last year, like the seven threes he hit against West Virginia in the First Round of the Big 12 Tournament. I think it’s fair to wonder if he is 100% right now coming back from the broken foot he sustained in last year’s NIT.

Dan Skillings Jr. has been talked about as an NBA-caliber player. He’s been good, and that’s with coming back from a knee injury in December that he sustained in the season-opener back in November. The thing is, though, Skillings may have to be great every night for the Bearcats to have chances to win these Big 12 games.

Where is Aziz Bandaogo‘s presence in the post right now? It’s seemingly every possession he’s on the perimeter not knowing if he should set a screen or just stand there. Why isn’t he establishing position in the paint? Bandaogo being on the perimeter more often than he should be is stagnating this Bearcats offense. Instead of firing entry passes into the paint to try and score, the Bearcats are cluelessly just working the ball around the perimeter to try and create offense that usually ends with a low-percentage shot from three-point range or a turnover trying to enter the ball into the paint. A guy like Bandaogo should be attempting eight to 12 shots per game. Bandaogo has attempted eight-plus shots just twice this season.

The Bearcats are in a bad stretch, a severe slump. It’s because a lot of key players are in slumps. You can see it, both in their confidence and body language. Is it fixable?

Better gameplans and a more streamlined identity can help fix what’s wrong with the Bearcats. What kind of team do they want to be? How are they going to attack their opponents? Answering those questions can help turn this season around while the Bearcats are still being viewed as an NCAA Tournament team.

The optimism the Bearcats built up in Year 1 in the Big 12 is gradually dissipating. If this Bearcats team doesn’t start to consistently win games, the conversation is going to turn to directions and place we don’t want them to go to but, inevitably, will go to. Kansas comes to Fifth Third Arena on Saturday afternoon. It’s only the fourth game of Big 12 play, but it feels like the season is already on the line.

What to Look for Saturday afternoon against Kansas
Everything about the Kansas Jayhawks begins and ends with Hunter Dickinson. A behemoth of a big man, Dickinson is currently averaging a double-double with 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Dickinson is shooting 53.5 percent from the floor this season, and he shoots 75 percent from the free-throw line.

Another player, though, that gives me worries going into this game is Dajuan Harris Jr. An experienced guard on both ends of the floor, Harris ranks in the top 10 in Kansas history in assists (4th, 676) and steals (6th, 215). This is a player with at 200+ assists in each of the last two seasons and 50+ steals in each of the last three seasons. The Bearcats can’t afford to be erratic in this game against Harris and a Jayhawks team that is great with the ball on both ends of the floor.

The Bearcats are 13-48 from three-point range in their last two games. Two things: One, that’s just not good. Two, that’s way too many attempts from beyond the arc, displaying the lack of a clear gameplan and ability to attack the opposition. The Bearcats can’t keep shooting themselves out of these Big 12 games, especially against an efficient Jayhawks team on offense and one that will emphasize Cincinnati getting high percentage shots to go toe-to-toe with them.

And for the love of Skyline Chili, can this team hit a free throw? Free throws can win and lose games. Right now, they’re losing games for the Bearcats. That can’t keep continuing, especially if this offense is going to struggle to score. Free throws are what helps offset offensive scoring struggles. For Cincinnati, they’re currently adding to the offensive struggles.

This team’s confidence has been diminished severely. But a home game against the Big 12’s signature program, who Cincinnati beat by 20 in the Big 12 Tournament last year and nearly beat in Lawrence, Kansas in January last year. Win this game, and the confidence gets restored. The alternative? I don’t want to think about it.

Score Prediction: Bearcats 74 – Kansas 71