CINCINNATI — Wes Miller and his players don’t care about what many in the fanbase think should be an overhaul of the proud basketball program.
The widely held belief is that Miller is finishing out the string in Clifton as head coach, and that a change would be better sooner than later. That belief was driven home by a brutal home loss to West Virginia on Feb. 5, the fifth such regrettable and avoidable loss this season. Eastern Michigan was the first. Then there was the loss at Xavier on Dec. 5. The setbacks to Central Florida and West Virginia were on the road but easily could’ve been wins, and the home loss to the Mountaineers seem to only reinforce what everyone on the outside believe to be the case – that Miller’s fifth season in Clifton will be his last.
But there are still five games in the regular season remaining before the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. There is plenty of opportunity for the Bearcats to improve upon their NET ranking in the NCAA, where they are currently 63.
They have road games this Saturday at No. 8 Kansas and at No. 15 Texas Tech next Tuesday. They win one of those and then win the three others against Oklahoma State, BYU and at TCU, they could be on the brink of a tournament berth heading into Kansas City. A big if but, as they say, the opportunity for a talented team is there. The Bearcats are 1-9 in Quad 1 games in the NET. Winning one would be helpful. Winning both would boost the Bearcats up into the Top 40 and give them a five-game winning streak at the best possible time.
The problem with the Bearcats this season is putting that talent together and getting a cohesive, consistent product out on the other end. That inconsistency is what nearly resulted in a disastrous loss to a Utah team that is now 1-11 in the conference. It took Baba Miller slamming home a dunk with 36.9 seconds remaining and grabbed a key rebound moments for Cincinnati to wipe out a five-point hole in the final two minutes and rally for a 69-65 win over visiting Utes in Big 12 play Sunday.
“There were some good things, but the best thing is that we won a game down the stretch when things weren’t going our way, and I think that’s
something we can continue to build off. I’m really proud that we’re figuring that out,” Miller said. “We didn’t play our best basketball at all, but I’m really proud of how we finished. That’s a character win for us. We’ve been in that position a number of times, and we found a way, 9-0 run to win the game. I’m extremely proud of our players today.”
The Bearcats have one of the most dynamic players in the sport in Baba Miller, averaging 13.7 points and 10.5 rebounds. They have a versatile backcourt in Day Thomas and Jizzle James, both averaging in double figures. They have a big man in Moustapha Thiam, who is a match-up problem for opponents, especially on the defensive side. And now they have a couple of players coming into their own in Jalen Celestine and Keyshuan Tillery. If Shon Abaev and Kerr Kriisa can make it back,
“There’s a couple things, Jizzle comes in (Saturday) with a 102 temperature, tries to practice with it, doesn’t tell anybody. As we’re going through our film session, our walk through, (Trainer) Bob Mangine comes up and says, ‘Hey, he’s got a 102 fever.’ I said, ‘was that even safe?’ And he said, ‘not really.’ He was going to practice. We didn’t see him till this morning. He was in the hotel sleeping and all that. He did not play well. He played very poorly. How about a kid that plays with that going on, that doesn’t happen a whole lot. We have to celebrate that, the toughness to play through something like that. I don’t think that’s happening a lot across the country anymore.”
Miller is clearly referring to NIL’s impact on the dedication and passion of paid college athletes who think of themselves before the team. And while certainly no one would blame James for sitting this one out, he instead wanted to play, even if he had just four points and one assist in 29 minutes.
“I’m really proud of that. Now, he didn’t play good basketball, but I think he’s got a little bit of an out there. I thought Jalen Celestine didn’t play one of his better games. I didn’t think he looked good moving. How about the play, the plays he makes down the stretch to win the game in the last two minutes? I was really proud of that. Baba, I didn’t think played one of his better games. I think he’d say that he’s disappointed. He was disappointed in the technical, because he knows we actually had the conversation two days ago. He’s too good of a player for that kind of stuff to happen, and it’s happened a couple times this year, but then he came back. He didn’t get frustrated and upset. He came back and he missed that free throw, which bothered him.”
But Miller made both ends of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 66 seconds left as part of the 9-0 spurt that continued UC’s run. But a forgotten man all season has been freshman Keyshuan Tillery, a true ‘X’ factor that could make a difference down the stretch for the Bearcats as a shot-maker. The Bearcats have a number of those on their bench, like Tyler McKinley, Buck Harris (who played only five minutes due to a “coach’s decision”) and James, of course, who didn’t even start the season on the roster.
If there’s a case to be made for the Bearcats making an improbable run to the NCAAs it’s this: the Bearcats are the healthiest they’ve been and have the most functional rotation they’ve had all season. Yes, they won’t get Jalen Haynes back and Kerr Kriisa and Shon Abaev are nursing nagging injuries, but with true freshman Tillery, the Bearcats have another player who can come off the bench and provide instant offense like he did Sunday, including a pair of back-to-back threes that provided spark in the first half.
“(It’s) the confidence that I try to have daily I try to keep it high because that impacts the way I play,” Tillery said. “Having confidence and getting confidence from my coaches and my teammates. That helps. Wes tells me all the time he is going to be hard on me. The other coaches tell me they are going to be hard on me. It just betters me. I definitely see myself playing at the big stage later down the line
“Keyshuan Tillery gave us a huge lift of energy,” Miller said after Sunday’s game. “And I thought he was very, very impactful. Freshman point guards and head coaches, that isn’t easy, and I’ve been hard on this one because I think so much of him, he’s a terrific, terrific player. He’s going to be a world class player. I thought he was crazy impactful to winning. I’m really proud of that. Day Day Thomas was awesome tonight. He had it from start to finish; the play he dives on the floor changes the entire game. He was awesome.”
The Bearcats found a way to score the last nine points on Sunday with a starting guard that was playing hours after nursing a 102-degree fever and a freshman guard thrown fully into Big 12 competition.
