Bearcats Beat: With John Newman III Leading The Way, Momentum (And Character) Building For These Bearcats Following 81-77 OT Thriller Over TCU

CINCINNATI — Well before the Bearcats student section rushed the court following Tuesday’s 81-77 overtime win against TCU, Cincinnati didn’t look like they would be celebrating anything. Instead, it appeared they’d only be stewing over another loss to a Lone Star state team in Big 12 play.

When the Bearcats fell behind 26-16 in the first five minutes of Tuesday’s showdown with No. 19 TCU, UC fans – students and alumni – would have been well within their rights to start wondering if this was going to be one of those nights that naysayers warned them about when they entered the country’s best and deepest basketball conference this season.

If UC was off its game on any particular night and they ran into a hot-shooting Top-20 team, it could be over early on any given night.

The Horned Frogs, fresh from a home win over No. 2 Houston on Saturday, had just drained eight straight baskets and looked prepared to run the Bearcats back into the Run DMC era on 90s Night at Fifth Third.

But this is a Bearcats group that’s not going to be easily scared, and they proved that in the next 10 minutes, fighting and clawing their way back, until a 13-2 run that got the game tied before TCU got the lead before half, 33-32.

UC took its first lead in the early moments of the second half, 36-33, before TCU assumed control again. This time, leading by nine, 56-47, with 10 minutes left.

Guard Day Day Thomas added a career-best 21 points, taking control at the end of regulation, with Daniel Skillings Jr. (13) and Viktor Lakhin (11) also reaching double figures for a Bearcats team that earned their first Big 12 win at home to improve to 13-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

Cincinnati and TCU were tied 75-75 with 90 seconds left in overtime when Newman stole the ball and was fouled attempting a fastbreak layup. He buried both free throws to give Cincinnati a 77-75 lead with 1:18 left. That was a moment of redemption for Newman and it wasn’t lost on the player or his coach.

After a 74-73 loss to Texas a week earlier, Wes Miller took to the podium to defend Newman, knowing how sick he was after missed a pair of free throws that led to the game-winning jumper by Texas guard Max Abmas.

“I don’t always listen to him at the postgame presser,” Newman said. “But I did see like a quote. And you know, it means everything to me to have a coach that has your back. Even like, whenever I lose, we all lose. He loses, too. And he’s a guy that really wants to win, but it just means the most to me that he just has my back and he’s understanding like nobody wants to miss free throws. He knows that because he’s played. He’s played the game he’s played at the highest level. So I think he can kind of have like some I guess, empathy would be the word. That’s my guy and he’s rocking with me, so I’m always rocking with him.”

Wes Miller has played at the highest level, winning a national championship on the 2005 North Carolina team coached by Roy Williams.

It’s at moments like the Texas game or the Baylor game on Saturday in Waco when Day Day Thomas and Simas Lukosius had a chance to tie the game with threes but missed the mark.

Thomas, Newman and Dan Skillings Jr. would all play pivotal roles in how the Bearcats pulled this out in the end.

After TCU guard Jameer Nelson Jr. made a runner with 48 seconds left, Skillings Jr. made driving a layup with 20 seconds left to put Cincinnati back up for good, 79-77.

After Horned Frogs forward Jakobe Coles missed a 3-pointer, Thomas corralled the rebound and drilled two free throws to ice the game and secure the victory moments before the UC student section spilled onto the floor to celebrate.

“I didn’t expect it at all for it’s funny because I was literally just like standing there,” Newman said. “And then next thing I was kind of like zoned out, and it makes no (sense). I got a bunch of people surrounding me. But it was fun. It was fun, and hopefully we can continue to get tough wins like that and create more moments like that.”

“Well, I’m obviously more pleased with this result in the last two games and am really proud of our resilience,” Miller said. “Just trying to continue to stay in a fight back and find a way. That was the real positive tonight. We’ve lost the last two games by one possession. Guys had chances to make the plays to win it, plays that you can expect to convert whether it’s free throws or layups.”

The wildest game of the year was at a tipping point with under 20 seconds left in regulation.

Cincinnati had just scored seven straight points, capped by Day Day Thomas’ corner 3 that gave the Bearcats a 65-64 lead with 40.5 seconds left when TCU guard Trevian Tennyson broke the TCU scoring drought by hitting an off-balance 3 – his fifth of the night – to put the visitors back in front, 67-65, with 18 seconds left.

Thomas tied the game, 67-67, with a driving layup with 10 seconds left.

Skillings had a chance to win the game but missed two free throws with 3.7 seconds left. It became dicier when Aziz Bandaogo was called for fouling Ernest Udeh Jr. with 3.2 seconds remaining on the rebound. Udeh missed the front end and the game went to overtime, but only after Thomas nearly ended it on a half-court buzzer beater that missed when it clanged off the front iron.

“That was wild. That was a wild sequence,” Miller told me. “I mean, it really was like, that’s up there. You know you coach a long time you’ve been through some wild sequences and that’s just coaching. That’s basketball. But that’s on the list. Just the swings. A lot of missed free throws in there, three of them to be exact. That could have won the game for either team.

There were so many reasons the Bearcats could’ve lost the game Tuesday. Consider:

They shot 11-for-21 from the free throw line.

They missed 10 layups.

They were outrebounded (41-35) for the first time this season.

They were 3-for-12 from beyond the arc before making 3-of-4 to end the game.

They committed another 15 turnovers (TCU helped with 19 of their own).

They were outscored 18-11 in second chance points.

But this Bearcats team indeed showed their claws when they needed to fight and did all night long.

They’ve got a coach that believes in them and more importantly, the players believe in their coach, and will fight to the death for him.

“As I (said) after those games, that’s not the reason you lose the game,” Miller said. “The toll that takes on those guys and on the team when you keep losing. You lose a couple in a row that you felt you could have won by just converting, a reasonable play that you can expect to convert. Tonight when Dan misses the two free throws, I think it’s kind of one of those things, you’re going “oh my gosh, no way”. You can feel that from the team and just find a way to get to overtime and they’ll find a way. That’s the kind of resilience that you are really proud of as a coach and it’s something we can really build on moving forward, very proud of that.”

The fight continues Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 15 Oklahoma at Fifth Third.