What we learned as Cincinnati Bearcats basketball lost to Kansas Saturday in Big 12 play

Posted by author January 11, 2025 Basketball

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Desperate for a Big 12 win, the Cincinnati Bearcats held the lead until midway through the second half but couldn’t knock off No. 11 Kansas Saturday afternoon. The Jayhawks completed the comeback winning going away, 54-40.

UC’s persistent Big 12 shooting inaccuracy helped Kansas in the final 6:47 as the Bearcats couldn’t score a basket, finishing the game making only one of their last 11 shots.

“It’s been a disappointing couple weeks,” UC coach Wes Miller said.

In a game that saw both teams have woeful shooting days, Kansas shot 35% to UC’s 31% but made a 16-3 run in the final minutes for the victory. Hunter Dickinson led the Jayhawks with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Kansas made just 2-of-21 3-pointers, with UC just 3-of-22.

“We had better looks today than what we shot,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I don’t know what they (UC) did. I think we did a great job. I think their misses were more contested than ours.”

Said UC’s Miller, “There’s a lid on it for us right now. We’re not making shots, we’re not converting when we get easy shots. It’ll come off. We’ll find our offensive swagger again. I’m completely confident of that.”

Miller said the four-game skid wouldn’t define the UC season. He said how they deal with it can define the season.

“We can say thank you to two groups of people out there when all of this is done,” Miller said. “We can thank the people who stuck with us and supported us and we can say thank you to the people that didn’t because one of the greatest things in the world is proving people wrong.”

He did acknowledge the boo-birds at the end who departed displeased.

‘Cats collapse late

UC led 33-32 with 10:38 remaining on a Day Day Thomas lay-in, then couldn’t finish. UC trailed 38-37 with 7:33 left after Mitchell’s last basket then was outscored 16-3. Mitchell was the only UC player in double figures with 10 with Dan Skillings Jr. and Arrinten Page scoring nine each. UC lost the battle of the boards 44-42. Aziz Bandaogo led with eight but didn’t score in the game.

Kansas evens the series 5-5 and goes to 12-3 (3-1 Big 12). UC drops to 10-5 (0-4 Big 12). It’s their fourth straight loss. UC hadn’t dropped more than three in a row since Wes Miller’s first season when the Bearcats ended the season dropping five straight American Athletic Conference games. The 40 points is a season-low for UC and the 54 points by Kansas was their worst offensive game.

UC did lead 25-24 at halftime, making it the first time they lost a game all season when leading at the break. UC’s only win over a ranked team this season remains the victory over then-No. 22 Dayton. It was the fifth time this season Kansas was down at the half. They have won the last two that way.

As they did in at the end of the game, the Bearcats finished the first half scoreless over the final 3:46. That’s over 10 and a half scoreless minutes in crucial parts of the game. UC actually led for 18:57 of the game compared to 17:46 for Kansas, but not when it mattered.

“We didn’t make enough plays in the second half to get over the hump,” Miller said. “It certainly was frustrating because some of the mistakes we made felt very controllable.”

The win was No. 600 in the career of Bill Self at Kansas. He has 808 in his career.

Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Kansas Jayhawks

1. Was Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson held in check?

The 7-foot-2 pivot had six points and six rebounds at the halfway point, but no fouls. He finished with his ninth double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Eight of his rebounds came on the offensive end and he had just one foul in the final box score. In terms of free throws, the officials pretty much let both teams play as Kansas was 4-for-5 and UC was 1-for-2 with James the only player to visit the line.

2. Did slumping Cincinnati Bearcats improve?

After going scoreless against Baylor in 31 minutes, Mitchell came out strong with eight points and a block. But Simas Lukošius and Jizzle James came out slow again. Thankfully UC’s first substitutions were effective in this game. Josh Reed played solid minutes and Arrinten Page had a productive half. Page had nine points and seven rebounds in just over 14 minutes.

However, of James, Lukošius and Day Day Thomas, UC only got seven points. They combined to shoot 3-for-24. Lukošius had a season-low two points by going 1-for-10 and hasn’t been in double figures since the Dayton game at Heritage Bank Center.

Changes don’t appear imminent in the lineup even though James was effective off the bench last season and Thomas was mainly a starter and still seems to get to the rim better.

“I think both are going to play significant minutes,” Miller said. “They’re both currently playing significant minutes and they’re going to continue to play significant minutes. They’re both incredibly important to our team. Whether or not they run through the little tunnel when their name’s called, that’s irrelevant to me. We’re just going to try to find the right combinations and those guys are going to be a part of those combinations.”

3. Did ‘White Out’ work?

Well, it was a nice idea and a nice start, but games aren’t won on marketing gimmicks. The atmosphere was there, but in the end, when points are needed, the fans can’t score. Attendance was 12,003.

Miller liked the energy and hopes for continued support.

“We need people not to give up on us,” he said.

The 40 points is the lowest output in Fifth Third Arena history. When it was the Shoemaker Center in Jan. 1993, the No. 9 Bearcats won a game vs. UAB 40-38 when Nick Van Exel made a 3-pointer and ran right off the court. In 1993, there was no shot clock and UAB’s Gene Bartow had held the ball most of the game.

Next on Big 12 menu

UC goes to Mountain Time to take on the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder Wednesday night at 9 p.m. (Eastern) on ESPN+. Colorado has been a tough out at home losing only to No. 3 Iowa State. They also had a win over then-No. 2 Connecticut in Maui this past November. The Bearcats were last in Boulder in 1982 when Ed Badger’s crew lost to the Buffaloes 79-65.

“These are the best leagues in the country,” Miller said describing the Big 12. “Teams have won national championships and gone through bad stretches in these leagues. Everybody goes through bad stretches in these leagues. It’s part of the deal. If you want to play at this level, it comes with it sometimes. We’ve got to respond to it and I believe my team will.”

Said UC forward Mitchell, “There’s still a lot of season left. We’ve got to stay together, continue to work hard in practice, then translate. Bring what we do in practice to the game. We trust the coaches. We trust each other. We know shots are going to fall. We’ve got to keep fighting We’re going to respond, I know it.”

Some good news Saturday

The UC women’s basketball team won at UCF 64-58 to improve their record to 10-5 (2-3 Big 12). Tineya Hilton paced the Bearcats with 17 points and seven rebounds.