Can Bearcats get again on observe in postseason?

After finishing their first season in certainly one of school basketball’s hardest conferences, the Huge 12, the Cincinnati Bearcats at the moment are gearing up for his or her first Huge 12 convention event this week.

Wes Miller’s Bearcats opened the season 12-2, together with a win of their first Huge 12 recreation over BYU, however have slid significantly within the standings all through the winter.

Having misplaced six of their previous 9 video games coming into postseason play, can Cincinnati discover the spark that guided them to a stellar non-conference efficiency?

Beneath is every part you must know concerning the Huge 12 Event and what to search for when watching the Bearcats.

How lengthy is the event?

The 2024 Huge 12 Event will tip off with first-round video games on Tuesday, March 12, on the T-Cellular Heart in Kansas Metropolis.

By getting the No. 11 seed with a 7-11 convention document, the Bearcats are in motion on the event’s first day, taking up the convention’s No. 14 seed, West Virginia. The sport may be seen on ESPN Plus at 3:30 p.m. ET.

With a win in that recreation, the Bearcats would advance to the second spherical towards the No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks at 9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.

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Elsewhere within the bracket, the No. 1 group within the Related Press Prime 25 ballot, Houston, will look to take the crown of their first Huge 12 season, whereas Iowa State, Baylor and BYU are all in play to earn top-5 seeds within the NCAA Event.

The Huge 12 championship recreation will probably be performed Saturday, March 16, at 6 p.m. ET, at some point earlier than Choice Sunday.

What to find out about Cincinnati

Led by three gamers who stand at the least 6-foot-11, the Bearcats rank among the many nation’s greatest rebounding groups coming into the convention event.

Junior Viktor Lakhin and sophomores Aziz Bandaogo and Jamille Reynolds every common over 4 rebounds per recreation, with Bandaogo main the way in which with 7.6 per contest.

As a group, UC is high 10 within the nation in offensive rebound share and top-50 within the nation in defensive rebound share, in response to Kenpom.com, protecting their opponents off the glass on each ends of the ground.

Of the above trio, Lakhin stands out as the very best offensive menace, averaging 9.8 factors per recreation, whereas Bandaogo has seen his offensive manufacturing steadily climb since being cleared to play in December, averaging 7.2 factors per recreation.

As for Reynolds, the switch from Temple has acclimated effectively to his first season in Cincinnati, averaging 6.1 factors and 4.1 boards per contest.

Three gamers enter the Huge 12 event averaging double figures in scoring for the Bearcats, paced by sophomore guard Dan Skillings Jr., who’s having fun with a breakout season.

The Blackwood, New Jersey native leads the group with 12.1 factors per recreation, simply forward of guards Day Day Thomas and Simas Lukosius, every with 10.2 factors per recreation.

Freshman guard Jizzle James, son of NFL Corridor of Famer Edgerrin James, has been a prompt the bench for UC at occasions, contributing 7.8 factors and a couple of.1 assists per recreation, whereas his pace and explosiveness have performed a key function for the Bearcats on the defensive finish.

Veteran guard C.J. Fredrick has been restricted to fifteen video games this season attributable to harm however has been a constant menace from 3-point vary when wholesome, taking pictures over 40 p.c.

Maybe the last word glue man for the Bearcats is sixth-year guard John Newman III. The previous Clemson guard averages 9.7 factors on the offensive finish and is a key presence on protection with 1.3 steals per recreation.

Whereas rebounding and inside protection have been two strengths for Miller’s Bearcats this season, UC has struggled at occasions this season from past the arc and on the free-throw line, with below-average marks from every of these spots this season.

What occurred final event?

With this being their inaugural Huge 12 season, the Bearcats weren’t round final yr when the Texas Longhorns rolled previous Kansas to safe their second Huge 12 event championship within the final three seasons.

Final season’s Huge 12 event featured 5 groups ranked contained in the Related Press Prime 25 at first of play, in addition to seven NCAA Event groups.

As for UC, the Bearcats entered the American Athletic Convention Event with 20 wins, together with 11 in convention play, to earn the No. 4 seed final March.

After cruising previous the league’s No. 5 seed Temple, Cincinnati bumped into the convention’s greatest squad and eventual NCAA Event No. 1 seed Houston, who simply dispatched the Bearcats within the semifinals earlier than falling to Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers within the championship recreation.

Together with Cincinnati, Houston is certainly one of 4 groups set to play of their first Huge 12 event this week, with BYU and UCF because the others.

Miller’s résumé

Now in his third season as the top coach at Cincinnati, Wes Miller is attempting to get the Bearcats again within the Huge Dance for the primary time since 2019.

First employed by UNC Greensboro forward of the 2011-12 season, Miller’s first 5 seasons guiding the Spartans featured extra lows than highs, with the group unable to complete over .500 till 2017.

Nonetheless, a 25-win season that yr vaulted UNC Greensboro to the game’s elite mid-major groups for a multi-year stretch.

From 2018-21, Miller’s Spartans reached the NCAA Event twice, each occasions as a No. 13 seed, whereas additionally successful at the least 21 video games every season throughout that timeframe.

Miller parlayed that success into the top teaching function at Cincinnati, the place his groups are 59-41 since his arrival.