Scouting report: 3 keys for Cincinnati Bearcats basketball to grab home win vs. Baylor

The Baylor Bears will make their first-ever trip to Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday night when they take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Big 12 return game.

UC was whipped by 20 in Waco in early January and lost twice to Scott Drew’s squad last season, the final time being in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City last March.

Should Baylor continue to be a top 30 team according to the NCAA.NET rankings, this could represent another Quadrant 1 win opportunity for the Bearcats. As of Sunday, Baylor was No. 30, but that could be in jeopardy after the Bears dropped a road game at Colorado Saturday, 76-74.

Keeping Baylor in the mix is that they played a challenging non-conference schedule in addition to the Big 12 slate. The Bears have played 10 ranked teams, while UC has played just three.

Saturday, the Bearcats kept the NCAA tournament respirator going with a 75-63 win over TCU, a team that had just knocked off 9th-ranked Texas Tech. UC never trailed in the game and began the contest with a 13-0 run.

Plenty of incentives for UC Bearcats to beat Baylor

In their last meeting, Baylor jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead and cruised to a 20-point victory in Waco, where the Bearcats are 0-2. That was during UC’s first four-game skid between Dec. 30-Jan. 11. They had a second slump of four games from Jan. 21-Feb. 2.

Baylor is minus 6-foot-10 Josh Ojianuwana who had 10 points and seven rebounds in their opening game Jan. 7. Ojianwuna suffered a season-ending knee injury Feb. 8 vs. UCF. Minus the big man and without key reserve Jayden Nunn who was ill, Baylor lost in Boulder Saturday afternoon against last-place Colorado.

UC, Baylor, NCAA tournament talk

The teams have identical records, with Baylor owning two more conference wins than UC. Many prognosticators have Baylor “on the bubble” with UC on the fringe needing some help. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Big 12 qualifying eight teams and right now UC is not in that group.

“I don’t need to make a case for the talking heads that want clicks,” UC coach Wes Miller said. “The committee will meet in a couple weeks. You’ve got to make a case for yourself to those people, the people that sit on the selection committee. We’re not there yet. We’ve got a lot of basketball left. Let’s go play on Tuesday and focus on being a great team on Tuesday.”

Another part of this puzzle is also where UC would play if they missed the NCAA tournament again. The College Basketball Crown is a new tournament in Las Vegas the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East have a relationship with that will be televised on Fox Sports and FS1. Each conference sends two automatic qualifiers, meaning the next two teams that failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. There are also at-large selections to fill up the 16-team field. The College Basketball Crown runs March 31-April 6.

“The Big 12 Conference is thrilled to be a part of the College Basketball Crown,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said. “College basketball’s popularity is on the rise, and we look forward to being a part of another meaningful postseason moment for our student-athletes.”

That tournament would run a full two weeks after the Phillips 66 Big 12 tournament March 11-15. If UC wasn’t one of the College Basketball Crown qualifiers, the NIT runs March 18-April 3.

3 keys for Cincinnati Bearcats basketball vs. Baylor Bears

1. UC must take advantage of Baylor’s short bench

With Ojianwuna out, Baylor played just seven guys in their Feb. 17 loss against then-No. 17 Arizona in Waco. Before the recent shoulder injury to Simas Lukošius, UC had been playing a rotation of 11. While that can work if all are effective, Baylor has been bringing Jeremy Roach and Jayden Nunn off the bench. Both started against UC. They combine to average over 19 points per game. Plus, Scott Drew has said Big 12 timeouts are lengthy due to TV allowing his key Bears to get a breather and stay in the game.

Nunn was out with an illness and didn’t play at Colorado, further damaging Baylor’s depth.

2. UC must find a way to combat bulky Norchard Omier

At 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, Omier is the player that UC doesn’t have. In Baylor’s 76-74 loss at Colorado, he had 18 points and 13 rebounds. The Bearcats don’t currently feature the broad, bulky guy that many teams send into the paint. Omier has 15 double-doubles for Baylor and had 17 last season for the Miami Hurricanes. He’s had 83 over his career.

By comparison, Aziz Bandaogo had 17 at Utah Valley State before becoming a Bearcats but has had just five in two seasons here and Dillon Mitchell had eight last year for Texas, but just four so far this season in red and black. Bandaogo weighs 235 pounds on his 7-foot frame with Mitchell at 6-foot-8 weights 210 pounds. Mitchell did tie his career-high in rebounds Saturday vs. TCU with 13 to go along with his dozen points.

3. UC must keep Baylor from running away

The Bears have surpassed 90 points seven times, but in six of their 11 losses, they were held under 70 points (Gonzaga, Tennessee, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Houston and Arizona). The lone game they won scoring under 70 was beating the Bearcats Jan. 7, 68-48.

“We’ll get prepared, see what our weaknesses were in that game and try to correct it,” UC’s Mitchell said.

Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Baylor Bears

Tip: 7 p.m. Tuesday (Fifth Third Arena, 12,012)

TV/Radio: ESPN2/700WLW

Series: Baylor leads 3-0 (Bears won in Waco Jan. 7, 68-48)

Baylor Bears scouting report

Record: 16-11 (8-8 Big 12)

Coach: Scott Drew (22nd year, 462-255)

Offense: 78.5 ppg

Defense: 70.3 ppg

Projected starting lineup

(Position, Height, Stats)

V.J. Edgecombe (G, 6’5″, 14.7 ppg)

Norchad Omier (F, 6’7″, 15.8 ppg)

Langston Love (G, 6’5″, 9.7 ppg)

Jalen Celestine (G, 6’7″, 7.9 ppg)

Robert O. Wright III (G, 6’1″, 12.1 ppg)

Cincinnati Bearcats scouting report

Record: 16-11 (6-10 Big 12)

Coach: Wes Miller (fourth season, 79-54, overall 264-189)

Offense: 71.7 ppg

Defense: 64.9 ppg

Projected starting lineup

(Position, Height, Stats)

Josh Reed (F, 6’7″, 4 ppg)

Jizzle James (G, 6’3″, 12.4 ppg)

Dillon Mitchell (F, 6’8″, 10 ppg)

Day Day Thomas (G, 6’1″, 8.8 ppg)

Aziz Bandaogo (C, 7′, 7.9 ppg)

Players to watch

Baylor’s Omier had 18 points and 10 rebounds against UC in Waco and has had season-highs of 24 in each category. Edgecombe also lit the Bearcats up for 18. Omier and Edgecombe are Baylor’s top two scorers.

Dan Skillings Jr. has had games of 24, 15 and 18 points against Baylor since the teams began playing in the Big 12. If Skillings is plugged in and on, he’s a threat to anybody. In Saturday’s win over TCU Skillings had seven points, four rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist in 21 minutes.

Rankings

KenPom.com: Baylor is No. 30, Cincinnati is No. 52

NCAA.NET: Baylor is No. 30, Cincinnati No. 44

Former Cincinnati Bearcats post player Steve Toyloy dies

UC has announced the death of Steve Toyloy at age 37. Toyloy played for Mick Cronin averaging 3.6 points and 3.5 rebounds from 2008-2010. Toyloy was the starting center at 6-foot-8 and 255 pounds in 2008-09 averaging 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds on a team that went 18-14. He came off the bench in 2009-10 when UC was 19-16 averaging 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. His best game was Dec. 22, 2008 when he scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati Bearcats basketball can beat Baylor at home Tuesday