By Henry Rawn

3 1 2025

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2025/2/27/2024-25_Game_Notes_at_Houston.pdf

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team, winners of two-straight and five of seven, will travel to Texas for its toughest test yet against No. 4 Houston on Saturday. Tip-off is at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

THE RUNDOWN

• Cincinnati won its second in a row, and fifth of the last seven games, by getting a defensive stop on Baylor’s final possession for a 69-67 win. UC led by 13 at the half, but the Bears clawed back and even took the lead.
• Day Day Thomas, who turned it over out-of-bounds with a 2-point lead and 2:36 left, connected from deep to extend the lead on the next offensive possession. After Aziz Bandaogo’s perfect contest of Baylor’s game-tying layup attempt, Thomas fell on the loose ball with a second left to seal the game.
• Cincinnati made 10 or more 3-pointers for the fourth time in six games, something it had not done since Thanksgiving Eve. Simas Lukosius, who missed the last two games with a shoulder injury, returned with 17 minutes off the bench and making a triple in each half. Thomas is also at 37.2 percent, up from 28.0 last year.
• Jizzle James is averaging 19.7 ppg the last seven games after 8.4 the first 10. Thomas made his first start of the season on Feb. 2 and is averaging 12.6 ppg since after averaging 5.0 prior.
• Josh Reed once again rose to the occasion with 11 points, putting him at 9-of-10 from the field and 2-for-2 from deep the last two games. It was his third-career start, and he played a career-high 33 minutes. Out of 90 games for his career, four of his five double-figure scoring games have come out of the last six contests overall. He played only 2:59 of the first three Big 12 games but has stacked days and become a fan favorite.
• Dillon Mitchell has averaged 11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds over the last three games, including notching his first 3-pointer since Jan. 4. He and Aziz Bandaogo are tied for fifth nationally with 57 dunks.
• The Bearcats have allowed only nine free-throw attempts the last two games. Cincinnati has allowed the fewest foul shots in the league in Big 12 play and is 13th nationally with 13.6 fouls per game. UC is also 25th defensively in KenPom.
• In its first half of Big 12 play, Cincinnati shot 39.0 percent and averaged 59.6 ppg. In the seven games since, it is at 49.5 percent and 76.4 ppg, in addition to 38.4 percent from deep compared to 26.6 previously.
• If Cincinnati can get to 70 points against Houston, it is 11-2 when doing so this year, with its only losses to eventual top-10 Texas Tech and Iowa State.
• Cincinnati is seeking its highest-ranked win since No. 2 Syracuse in the 2012 Big East Tournament, as well as its 48th over a top-10 team all-time. Last year, the Bearcats won at No. 12 BYU and No. 15 Texas Tech, as well as defeating No. 14 Illinois in Kansas City in Wes Miller‘s first season.

JOSH REED: FOLK HERO
MVP chants. T-shirts in the student section featuring just his headshot. Interviews on the ESPN headset postgame.

It seems crazy to imagine this for junior Josh Reed, who averaged 1.7 points over 9.6 minutes per game his first two years at UC. Through the first three Big 12 games this year, he played 2:59.

Over his last six games, Reed is averaging 9.8 ppg on 62.9 percent shooting (59.7 from deep) and 25.2 minutes per game. He earned his first start on Feb. 19 at West Virginia and has carried it forward, even with Lukosius returning on Tuesday.

“If you would have told me three months ago that with three seconds on the shot clock coming out of a timeout, we would be isolating Josh Reed I would have said ‘man, that would be great, but I doubt we would do it.’ He has emerged into this offensive player, but the lesson is he did it by doing the little things. It started with the way he defended. To this point in the year, he has been the guy that has won the most defensive awards, he has the best defensive grades in almost every single game. He does all the little things; he rebounds at a high level so that’s earned more time and as he has gotten more time, he has found a certain rhythm and confidence offensively and that has been really impactful for our team.”

Miller also said that in addition to Reed’s great attitude and work ethic, even through some tough moments, what is really the most exciting part is how his teammates have reacted to the sudden emergence, all because of how good a teammate he is to them.

Jizzle James echoed those sentiments after the Baylor win: “I am really just happy for him because for him he did his time, and it came for him. He’s getting to show the world what he can do, and he is a big factor on this team. So, I am just glad he is getting all the love he deserves.”

FIRST HALF -> SECOND HALF
What a turn of events for Cincinnati in the second half of Big 12 play. It all began with a 93-83 win at UCF, shooting 58.5 percent, after losing to West Virginia, 63-50, at home.

James is also at 19.7 ppg on 48.1 percent shooting after 8.4 on 34.0 percent, with the aforementioned Josh Reed doubling his minutes from 11.6 to 23.1.

Stat    First Half (2-8)    Second Half (5-2)
PPG    59.6    76.4
FG%    39.0    49.5
3FG%    26.6    38.4
FT%    65.9    69.8
Reb Margin    -3.5    -0.9
TO Margin    +1.7    +3.0

From Miller: “Over the last three weeks or so, I think our team hit the reset button in a really healthy way. They have always been working, but they are working with more intention and playing with more confidence and playing more connected on both ends. There is more life in their play collectively, and I think that started with the mindset shift, and we have to continue to do that and build on that. We can’t think we have arrived because we won a handful of games. We have to go back to the gym today and practice. This is the boring stuff but the good stuff in basketball is the boring stuff. That is what the good stuff comes from, and we need to keep embracing the day-to-day approach.”

DAY DAY THOMAS’ MATURITY
Thomas started the first 35 games last year before breaking his foot in the NIT opener. After another foot injury on Oct. 22, he missed the first three and found his way back in the starting lineup on Feb. 2.

While he has done a lot of things, from a second-straight year as an incredible on-ball defender to improving his 3-point shooting from 28 to 37.2 percent, the last few minutes of the Baylor win were what Wes Miller wanted to spotlight.

“The thing I’m most proud of is that it wasn’t going our way there in the second half…Day Day [Thomas] the play he dribbles it off his foot, he was down, and you can see it on his face. He wants it as bad as anybody I’ve coached. He knows that was a big play. Then he comes back the next time and makes the biggest three of the game. Then he gets the deflection and the loose ball.”

SERIES HISTORY

• Cincinnati leads the all-time series 33-16, and the two teams’ 125 AAC wins are tied for the league record.
• The two programs were in the Missouri Valley together from 1956-60, then Conference USA from 1996-05 before becoming charter AAC members from 2013-23.
• The Bearcats also won 27 of the first 28 meetings (1957-2016). These now-Big 12 foes faced each other in three-straight AAC Championship games, with UC coming out on top in 2018 and 2019. The two teams were also the top seeds in 2020, but the tourney never began due to COVID-19. UH won in the 2021 clash.
• Houston left Cincinnati with a 67-62 win on Feb. 10 by way of a 19-3 run early in the second half to overcome a 3-point halftime deficit.
• Thomas and James helped hold Jamal Shead to 6-of-25 shooting, and John Newman III secured his first Cincinnati double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Cincinnati trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, but used stifling defense to limit Houston to just one field goal in its final 13 attempts of the first half to grab a 32-29 lead at the break. It was down 61-59 with 1:41 left but couldn’t close the gap.
• The Bearcats’ Feb. 27 trip to Houston was a tough one. UC committed 19 turnovers to offset Houston’s 30.3 percent shooting in the first half, trailing by nine at the break and unable to fully get back in it.
• Cincinnati was close to knocking off the No. 3 Cougars in their home arena in 2022-23, falling 75-69 after it was tied with 1:21 left. UC reeled off a 16-0 run early in the game to lead 19-6.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS