Bearcats Beat: Will Jizzle James, Baba Miller Give Bearcats A Fighter’s Chance In Big 12 Starting With Houston Saturday?

CINCINNATI — It’s time for the Bearcats to shed their very wobbly non-conference training wheels and get ready for the part of the schedule that will go a long way to determining Wes Miller’s future in Cincinnati.

The Bearcats have been madly inconsistent at times throughout the first 13 games, winning eight while losing five. The five losses are the games that have alarmed the fan base and sparked calls for Cincinnati administrators to fire both the head coach and the athletic director.

These are tense times in Clifton. This is year five with Miller in charge of the program. The Bearcats have shown glimpses of the team they can be but have never demonstrated the kind of consistency that’s necessary to compete in the upper reaches of the Big 12, which begins Saturday afternoon with a home game against Houston.

Countless times it seems Miller and the Bearcats have had opportunities to put forward a “defining” win over a traditional power. Each time they have come up short.

They had their shot against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament two seasons ago, when they reached the quarterfinals after wins over West Virginia and a short-handed Kansas team. They have had chances against Houston several times in their first two seasons in the Big 12. They had Arizona on the ropes at home before the Wildcats rallied at Fifth Third. This is a program that has been on the verge for three seasons now and all the Bearcats have to show for it is some near-misses and a run to the NIT in each of the last three seasons under Miller.

This season, it’s been even worse. A home loss to Eastern Michigan and a road setback at crosstown rival Xavier set off alarms in the five-alarm blaze that is Bearcats football and basketball, with calls for athletic director John Cunningham to quit. The smoke turned to real fire when the Bearcats were outscored by 30 by Georgia after racing out to a 11-point lead midway through the first half. They lost 84-65. They fell behind 38-11 to Clemson and rallied to make it aesthetically more pleasing in a 68-65 loss. They led Louisville at halftime and then couldn’t solve the defensive riddle and fell 74-64 at Heritage Bank Center in downtown.

To be fair to Miller, he has been without several players he was counting on at the end of last season. Jizzle James was removed from the roster over the summer as he dealt with personal issues before returning against Alabama State. In the three games in his return, the Bearcats do look more functional on offense, with someone capable of breaking down defenses. Bigs Jalen Haynes and Tyler McKinley have been nursing injuries and could be returning soon, with McKinley possibly rejoining in time for Houston this Saturday.

But the success of this Bearcats team hinges on two players, James and senior forward Baba Miller.

With 11 points, 21 rebounds and seven assists in Monday’s 89-62 win over Lipscomb, Miller became just the 16th player in all of college basketball – and third from a power conference school – to go for at least 10 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists in a game dating back to the 1996-97 season. The native of Mallorca, Spain, pulled down career highs in offensive (six), defensive (15) and total rebounds (21) en route to the first 20-rebound game by a Big 12 player this season and the most for a Bearcat since Tre Scott grabbed 21 in double-overtime contest vs. UCF Feb. 19, 2020.

The rebound total also tied Scott for the second-most boards by UC player dating back to the 1996-97 season. Kenyon Martin grabbed 23 vs. DePaul Feb. 21, 1998. But in addition to that, Miller dished out a season-high seven assists, while notching his seventh double-double of the season and 13th of his career.

Miller is averaging 13.6 points and 11.5 rebounds in 11 contests this season. He’s also second on the team with 18 blocks and third with 29 assists and 12 steals. Miller is tied for the Big 12 lead and 10th nationally with seven double-doubles. His 8.82 defensive rebounds per game lead the country and his 11.5 rebounds per game lead the Big 12 and rank fourth nationally.

Miller’s 21 rebounds marked the most by a Bearcat since Tre Scott grabbed 21 against UCF on Feb. 19, 2020, and represented the first 20-rebound game by a Big 12 player this season.

Cincinnati closed out non-conference play with four players scoring in double figures, led by sophomore center Moustapha Thiam’s team-high 18 points. Thiam poured in 16 of those in the second half, connecting on an efficient 8-of-10 from the floor. James matched his season high with 16 points and added a season-best five assists, while graduate guard Kerr Kriisa impressed in his first game off the bench, knocking down 5-of-8 3-pointers en route to 15 points.

With Miller on the inside and James on the outside, the Bearcats on offense suddenly look like a much more difficult team to defend. The shooting will come and go but with Miller and James, the Bearcats have game-changers on the court. .

“I think he’s back,” Miller said of James. “We had the chance to practice with him in the summer, so we already know him pretty well, and that’s what I said last time. He hasn’t missed a beat, he’s in shape, he knows all the systems, all the plays, all the habits we have to have on defense or oLense. It feels like he’s just one more, like he’s been here the whole season.”

Kriisa’s performance could be a good sign for this Bearcats team in desperate need of some good juju going into conference play. His attitude about being removed from the starting lineup for Jizzle James could be an even better one.

“See, this is an American thing, the starting lineup stuff,” said Kriisa, a veteran of Estonian basketball in Europe via the Kentucky Wildcats. “Watch some European basketball. You have your league. You have 25 different starting lineups each game, you can ask Baba. This, I’m not into starting lineup stuff. My minutes are around the same. I think that’s the beauty of basketball, that you can put so many different starting lineups there depends on who you play against. So me, personally, I think college should do even do it more just on based on matchups we play against. We used to start, but for some reason in college, it’s like, you usually go with the same five and, like, it’s a big thing. And so I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t have a big, big conversation with him. Obviously, we needed to change something.

“Something didn’t work. So, I’m a pro. My approach was the same the next day, and I always play to win. So I’m, you know, I’m just trying to do the best I can.”

His head coach agreed.

“I was extremely impressed with Kerr.” Miller said after his 15-point effort against Lipscomb Monday. “I thought it’s the best game he’s played since he’s been here. When your mindset is the right mindset, you give yourself a better chance to play. He had left the building before I had a chance to pull him aside after practice (Sunday) to tell him that he wasn’t going to start. It was the easiest, shortest phone call of all time. I called him. I said, ‘Hey, I just wanted to tell you so you’re not surprised. I’m not going to start you.’ It was almost like, why’d you call me, you know? And I said, I don’t think it’s going to affect your playing time or anything like that. At least that’s not the plan. And it was almost like a waste of a phone call, because he’s a pro. He’s a winner, and I thought he played really, really well (Monday). It didn’t matter to him whether he started or came off the bench.”

Lipscomb opened the contest with a 7-1 run as Cincinnati missed its first five shots, but the Bearcats quickly seized control. Cincinnati responded by hitting seven of its next nine attempts, including three triples from Kriisa during a 17-5 surge that gave the Bearcats an 18-12 lead at the 12:15 mark. Cincinnati would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the contest.

The Bearcats dominated across the stat sheet, holding decisive advantages in rebounding (45-31), fast-break points (17-4), points off turnovers (19-7) and points in the paint (46-20).

Miller set the tone in the opening half as Cincinnati carried a 44-24 advantage into the break. He pulled down 13 rebounds and dished out a season-high seven assists, while also contributing a block and a steal. Kriisa and James added nine points apiece, as the Bearcats shot 50% from beyond the arc (8-of-16) and limited Lipscomb to 28.6% shooting from three (4-of-14).

The pieces are there. Starting Saturday against Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars, it’ll be Miller’s job to put the puzzle together for 18 Big 12 games like his job depends on it.