CINCINNATI — Don’t look now but the Bearcats are finding ways to win games. Five out of seven in the Big 12? That’s really good. The question; is it too late? Is it too late for the Bearcats to be making this run to try and get back on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament?
“If there was something I could say to get us to play the way we did those two last four-minute stretches, I would have said it a long damn time ago,” Bearcats head coach Wes Miller said. “Our coaching staff has been pretty damn consistent in timeouts about the things we’re emphasizing.”
Miller was referring to what was said during the timeout he called with the Bearcats trailing 19-14 with just under 12 minutes left in the first half. Baylor’s Jeremy Roach had just hit three straight field goals to give the Bears a five-point lead. Memories of the last time the Bearcats played Baylor- a 20-point loss in Waco on January 7th- were beginning to resurface. Was Baylor about to, again, break the game open against the Bearcats?
Not this time. This time, it was the Bearcats that broke the game open in the last nearly 12 minutes of the first half, outscoring Baylor 25-7 to take a 39-26 lead into the locker room.
“We want every game,” Bearcats senior point guard Day Day Thomas said. “We’re going to play hard so we can win every game.”
It was the Bearcats first win against Baylor in four tries since joining the Big 12, including two tightly-contested games against the Bears last year.
Even after Baylor made a ferocious comeback in the second half, shooting 8-15 from beyond the arc, the Bearcats rose up defensively and got stops when it mattered to close out the game.
Aziz Bandaogo made the two biggest defensive plays of the night, rising straight up to contest VJ Edgecombe’s game-tying shot attempt with six seconds remaining then tipping a Bearcats missed free throw to let the final 1.2 seconds run off and preserve the Bearcats win.
“I think the confidence is high,” Bearcats shooting guard Jizzle James said about where this team’s confidence is after winning five of their last seven. “We’re just stacking games, stacking days in practice, and it leads into wins on the court. We’re glad to see it all paying off and we’re having fun. We’re having fun playing basketball as a team and seeing everybody get the love they deserve. We’re showing everybody like we belong here.”
It was a win on Tuesday night that took everybody in a Bearcats uniform that played in the game. Simas Lukosius, returning after missing the previous two games with a shoulder injury, nailed a crucial three-pointer to give the Bearcats a 66-59 lead with 5:15 remaining in the second half.
Josh Reed, who has become a Fifth Third favorite this month, energized the Bearcats on both ends of the floor in the last 12 minutes of the first half. Reed played an efficient 11 minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-5 shooting and pulling down four rebounds.
“It’s just one of the great things in coaching when you get to watch somebody break through when you’ve been with him for three years,” Miller said about Josh Reed having a breakout month of February. “The neat thing is watch how excited Josh Reed’s teammates are for him. He’s such a good teammate, had such a good attitude that we’re really excited for his success.”
Dillon Mitchell nearly had a double-double, and he had a key block in the final minute of the game that sent Fifth Third Arena nearly off its rocker.
Jizzle James showed his fearlessness driving to the rim and his shooting range to help give the Bearcats a big enough lead that they were able to preserve in the second half. James finished with a team-high 18 points and three three-pointers in the win.
Dan Skillings Jr., who has become a maligned player in the eyes of Bearcats fans on social media, only scored four points on Tuesday night. But every one of his four points was crucial in the Bearcats two-point win.
Tyler Betsey only took one shot, a three-pointer, and made it.
In a game that was evenly-matched and the stats were eerily similar, the Bearcats found a way to scrap out a two-point win against a team they hadn’t yet won against since they joined the Big 12.
“It just comes from the preparation,” James said. Just standing down the shot fakes, just watching the ball fakes, being solid on defense and it just contributed to tonight. It was good to keep them off the line.”
Baylor attempted just five free throws in Tuesday night’s game, whereas the Bearcats had 14 attempts from the charity stripe. This is just one game after TCU only attempted four free-throws against the Bearcats last Saturday afternoon. Playing defense without fouling; that’s been a hallmark trait of Bearcats Basketball for 35 years.
There is, however, still work to do. Saturday afternoon at Houston will be a measuring stick, to say the least.
“I’ll keep it really simple,” Miller said when informed the Cougars have already clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title. “That tells you enough about the team they are. They’re already champions in what I think is a ridiculously challenging league. What an awesome opportunity. It’s really that simple.”
But when you have a player like Jizzle James, whose father played in many big games in his Hall of Fame NFL career, you’ve got a big-game player on your side going into Saturday’s showdown.
“Just like every game, just follow the gameplan and go through what we go through and prepare throughout the week,” James said. “Just be ready.”
