Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball 2025-26 Storylines: West Virginia Mountaineers

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bearcats basketball takes on the West Virginia Mountaineers for the second time this season Thursday at 7 p.m. ET inside Fifth Third Arena.

UC lost a 62-60 heartbreaker in Morgantown on January 6, and both teams are outside of Big 12 contention this season, with records of 11-11 and 14-8. Cincinnati enters the game with a 57.9% chance to win the game on ESPN's Matchup Predictor. They are ranked 62nd on KenPom, while WVU is 68th entering the matchup.

Wes Miller's team is searching for its third Quad 2 win of the season (Colorado is currently ranked 75th in the NET, so that win bumped from Q3 to Q2). UC is 3-10 in Q1/Q2 games this season.

The series is tied 11-11 since the start of the 1949-50 season.

Fastbreak Storyline: Keep Huff Held Down In Grinding Game

Don't expect either of these teams to hit the 70-point mark on Thursday night. The matchup pits two of the Big 12's four-best scoring defenses against one another, and Cincinnati is pretty banged up entering this one.

Moustapha Thiam and Shon Abaev will likely both be questionable for Cincinnati entering Thursday morning. Neither has wowed much this season, but they are both key parts of the rotation and helped with the minuscule offensive success Cincinnati has found this season.

"Buck (Sencire Harris) was down for seven straight days. I mean, can't get out of bed with the flu, so he was back on the practice court yesterday for the first time in a week. So that's, to me, a really good sign," Miller said about the injuries/illnesses. "Moustafa is day-to-day, so we don't really know yet about his status, but we have other guys that have been dealing with flu-type stuff too. It's that time of year. All the travel made that hard.

"Shon's ankle. We didn't take him on the trip because we just wanted to get the swelling down, and having him on an airplane twice in 24 hours didn't seem intelligent, but he's heading in the right direction. It's a high ankle sprain. So I don't know if he'll be available this week, but hopefully we'll get him back sooner rather than later."

Harris should be back from the illness to try to keep Honor Huff (15.8 points, 2.3 rebounds) cold in conference play. WVU's lead guard is posting just 13.4 points per game against Big 12 teams and is shooting an abysmal 30.8% from the floor (30.1% from deep).

Buck and the rest of UC's guards need to make his life rough for 40 minutes and force other parts of the rotation to make up the difference. Cincinnati has to pick the low-hanging offensive fruit as much as it can on the other end. Baba Miller (two points against Houston, four points in the first WVU matchup) cannot no-show in this game if Cincinnati wants its best chance to win.

He has to eat inside and maximize the low possession total Cincinnati will have in this game. They haven't dictated pace much at all this season, and WVU plays as slow as any other opponent on UC's schedule (361st in adjusted tempo). Teams are only taking 57 shots per game against WVU (second best in the Big 12). UC cannot continue to shoot 40.9% overall in conference play (last in the Big 12) and expect to win this game.

WVU is allowing 69 PPG in conference play with teams hitting 35.6% from deep (10th) and 43.9% overall (fifth-best). Unfortunately, UC has shown zero ability to power wins with its outside shooting (28% in conference play, last in the Big 12). The guards making more outside shots and taking better care of the ball is imperative.

UC coughed it up 19 times against Houston and now faces a great defense that isn't remotely reliant on turnovers, but can sweep teams away by tidal wave if they start slipping there (8.4 TOs forced per game in conference play, 15th).

West Virginia is 6-1 this season when forcing at least 13 turnovers, and the 63-53 loss to Baylor saw them shoot an abysmal 36% in that lone defeat.

Cincinnati will fall below .500 for the first time this century if it doesn't withstand WVU's turnover pursuits at 7 p.m. ET Thursday on ESPN2.

Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, breakdowns, and so much more. Check out our YouTube page as well, starting with the video below.

Also, don't miss the podcast, Bearcat Blitz, wherever you get your shows!

Apple: http://apple.co/4fI26zj

Spotify: http://bit.ly/3OqvD4l

YouTube: http://bit.ly/414XiQ6

-----

Be sure to keep it locked in on Bearcats Talk, as we cover the trials and tribulations of the Big 12!

Follow Bearcats Talk on Twitter: @BearcatsTalk

Like Bearcats Talk on Facebook: Bearcats Talk