It’s been a little less than a year since Cincinnati Bearcats men’s basketball was in Orlando nailing down a quad 1 win. Wednesday night, UC and Wes Miller return to Addition Financial Arena hoping to snare their first such victory of this season.
The Knights’ NCAA NET ranking and the fact that it’s a road game for UC make it another quad 1 opportunity, the most valued win by the NCAA selection committee. The Bearcats failed in their most recent attempts for a quad 1 win against Texas Tech at home and BYU in Provo.
The Bearcats are coming off a Sunday afternoon contest to forget against West Virginia. They led for just 45 seconds and seemed in disarray as the Mountaineers nailed 9-of-18 3-pointers and forced 14 turnovers in the 63-50 victory. UC got 10 points from Day Day Thomas and eight from Simas Lukošius. Last March 12, those same two combined for 50 points while beating WVU in the Big 12 tournament. Sunday, that was all UC could muster in 40 minutes.
“If I’m somebody that supports this program, I’d be frustrated, I’d be pissed at what I was watching,” UC coach Wes Miller said. “I take full responsibility. It’s on me. We’ve got a lot of basketball left. We need to figure out a way to play a style and a level of basketball that makes people proud about the way that we wear the jersey. Right now, we’re not doing that. There’s nothing I can say that hurts more to say.”
UCF was home Saturday against BYU, which visits Fifth Third Arena next Saturday night. The Cougars handed the Knights just their third home loss, 81-75.
The Bearcats will be trying to avoid a fourth consecutive loss, which they have already accomplished in their first four Big 12 games of the season.
This will be a second “North Carolina vs. Duke” coaching matchup as UCF’s Johnny Dawkins is a Blue Devils legend, while Miller played for Roy Williams in Chapel Hill. UC and Miller defeated Arizona State and former Duke point guard Bobby Hurley back on Jan. 18.
Remaining quad 1 opportunities for Cincinnati Bearcats
In addition to their battle with UCF’s Knights, UC will have other quality win opportunities at Iowa State Feb. 15, at West Virginia Feb. 19, home vs. Baylor Feb. 25 and at Houston March 1. Last year’s team finished with four quad 1 triumphs (at BYU, at Texas Tech, at UCF and vs. Kansas in the Big 12 tournament).
3 keys for Cincinnati Bearcats to win at UCF Knights
1. Clamp down on UCF early
UC led last year by seven at halftime and by as many as 14 in the second half before a frenzied UCF comeback tied the game late. Four players who started that game are still Bearcats, along with three others who came off the bench. The Bearcats had double figures from Dan Skillings Jr. (15), Aziz Bandaogo (13) and Simas Lukošius (12). Obviously, they will need to be more productive than they were Sunday when they combined for 16 total points.
“It’s hard to make sense of it, that’s why it’s so frustrating,” Lukošius said. “You can think of many reasons but if we knew the reason, we would try and change it.”
Logically, they should be able to perform, although UCF does have new additions at Addition Arena. The best way to improve on a 1-4 Big 12 record on the road is to silence the crowd.
“If it’s not happening, it falls on me,” Miller said. “I know what I signed up for. I love coaching. I love coaching in Cincinnati. I understand there’s standards and expectations and we’re not meeting them right now. I feel terrible for the people that support our program, they deserve better. The only thing I can tell you is it’s not like I’m going to accept it.”
The Knights have been blown out by Kansas 99-48 on their home floor, but also gave the highly ranked Houston Cougars a game, falling just 69-68. In their return game at Kansas Jan. 28, the Knights lost only by four.
2. Can UC’s Jizzle James enjoy ‘home cooking’?
James was a highly sought-after prospect two years ago when David DeJulius beat the Knights in his hometown of Orlando on a runner. Last season, James came off the bench with seven points in 14 minutes. A double-digit performance by James would be most welcome as the Knights can score if it gets to an up-and-down game.
James is coming off just his second scoreless game of his college career and first this season. Another 0-for-8 game with three turnovers would be atypical. If the box score contains another list of the listless, it will have been a long night.
3. Hope Addition Financial Arena continues to be lucky spot for Cincinnati Bearcats
The DeJulius buzzer-beater in 2023 and holding off the Knights last year on a Lukošius lay-in gave the Bearcats much-needed quad 1 wins. Should the Bearcats prevail again Wednesday it would be three straight seasons of grabbing a Q1 victory in Orlando. And, Wednesdays have been the most successful game days of the Wes Miller era as UC is 17-6 on “hump day.” At this point of the most curious season, luck might be needed to get UC over the hump.
“This group’s got fight, it’s got heart, they’ve got character,” Miller said. “We’ve got to get it out of them. That starts with me.”
Cincinnati Bearcats at UCF Knights scouting report
Tip: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Addition Financial Arena (10,000)
TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network/700WLW
Series: Cincinnati leads 12-11, (UC won last year on Feb. 17, 76-74 in Orlando)
UCF Knights scouting report
Record: 13-8 (4-6 Big 12)
Coach: Johnny Dawkins (ninth season, 161-111)
Offense: 79.6 ppg
Defense: 78.1 ppg
Projected starting lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Keyshawn Hall (G-F, 6’7″, 18.1 ppg)
Darius Johnson (G, 6’1″, 14.8 ppg)
Moustapha Thiam (C, 7’2″, 9.6 ppg)
Jordan Ivy-Curry (G, 6’3″, 14.5 ppg)
Dallan Coleman (G, 6’6, 6.4 ppg)
Cincinnati Bearcats scouting report
Record: 12-9 (2-8 Big 12)
Coach: Wes Miller (fourth season, 75-52, overall 260-187)
Offense: 70 ppg
Defense: 63 ppg
Projected starting lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Simas Lukošius (G-F, 6’8″, 12 ppg)
Dan Skillings Jr. (G-F, 6’6″, 10.5 ppg)
Dillon Mitchell (F, 6’8″, 10.3 ppg)
Jizzle James (G, 6’3″, 10.3 ppg)
Aziz Bandaogo (C, 7′, 7.5 ppg)
Players to watch
UCF’s Keyshaun Hall tops the Knights in points and rebounding and came from George Mason. Previously, he played at UNLV. The 6-foot-7, 235-pound junior averaged over 18 points per game in the Atlantic-10 last season and has been doing the same for UCF in the Big 12.
Hall has only been below double figures three times and has a high game of 40 points against Arizona State. At Kansas, he scored 34 against the Jayhawks.
Jizzle James’s return to his hometown should be interesting. He’s started every game for UC but is still looking for his breakout game of the season. Wednesday would be a delightful opportunity.
Rankings
KenPom.com: UCF is No. 58, Cincinnati No. 61
NCAA NET: Cincinnati is No. 53, UCF No. 64.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Can Cincinnati Bearcats basketball get their 1st quad 1 win at UCF?
