Cincinnati Players To Watch: TCU Horned Frogs
CINCINNATI — Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) continue their gauntlet of a schedule as they prepare to take on arguably the hottest team in college basketball to date, TCU. The Horned Frogs (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) are coming off a huge week after defeating No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 2 Houston earning a spot in the latest AP Poll coming in at No. 19.
The Bearcats, on the other hand, are coming off a grueling week after losses to #9 Baylor and Texas. Two games for the Bearcats that were wins until the final seconds and ultimately decided by a combined 5 points. Which proved the Bearcats can compete with anyone in the Big 12 conference.
Players to watch for the Horned Frogs
Emmanuel Miller: The 6-foot-7 forward has done it all for Coach Dixon this season as he leads the team in minutes (488), Scoring (16.7), and rebounding (5.9). Miller is what makes the Horned Frogs' offense go, as he is putting up 50/40/84 percent shooting splits to start the season. Miller is coming off a 13-point performance vs Houston—despite struggling on the offensive end—Miller came up big when most needed after flushing home the game-winning layup as time expired to upset the Cougars.
Miller presents a lot of problems on both ends of the floor as this is yet another huge opportunity for Bearcats forward John Newman III in a defensive chess match. Newman has taken on the challenge of guarding opposing teams' best players.
Jameer Nelson Jr: The 6-foot-2 point guard runs the Horned Frogs offense and has been a key addition for Dixon this season after having a career year at Delaware. Nelson is the son of former NBA star Jameer Nelson, and just like his father, he loves to get downhill and attack. The shifty point guard averages nearly 11 points on 40% shooting.
The senior struggles to shoot the ball from behind the arch (just 25% on the season). The tandem of Nelson and Miller have combined for 137 of the Horned Frogs' 367 free throw attempts. That is something that has given the Bearcats some trouble throughout the season in terms of allowing teams to live at the free-throw line.
Players to watch for the Bearcats
Viktor Lakhin: This is a huge opportunity for the Russian forward after having a quiet night vs Baylor on Saturday, finishing with just seven points. That was the lowest number of points scored for Lakhin since their loss to Dayton back on Dec. 16th.
Lakhin has to stay calm and poised for the Bearcats after letting his emotions get the best of him early in the Baylor game, which ultimately hurt the Bearcats down the stretch after fouling out with two minutes remaining. Everyone knows how much of an impact Lakhin provides on both ends of the court, but this is a huge matchup where the Bearcats can exploit a hot, high-powered TCU team if firing on all cylinders.
Lakhin has been that steady, consistent player for the Bearcats all season and has a huge opportunity looming ahead of him, as the status of Aziz Bandaogo is still up in the air for tomorrow's contest. Lakhin can take over this game as the Horned Frogs only have one player standing taller than 6'10".
An opportunity where he can respond with a 15 and 7 kind of night, we have seen all season. We'll find out if the talented Russian can bounce back with a nice performance after a quiet night vs Baylor.
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