Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Basketball Falls to BYU on the Road

The Bearcats are now 0-6 in Quad 1 games this season.

Cincinnati Bearcats players walk off the court after being defeated by the Texas Tech Red Raiders 81-71, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. / Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats dropped another conference conference game on Saturday night 80-52 to BYU.

The Cougars stifled Cincinnati's offensive sets all game and used hot three-point shooting (15-24) to cruise to what tied for the worst losing margin of the Wes Miller era. It was a nuclear three-point bomb through Cincinnati's season. UC has to rip off at least five wins in a row to get back into NCAA Tournament contention after a 2-6 start in conference play.

The Bearcats hadn't allowed double-digit threes all season and that's hit in consecutive games. BYU moved to 3-2 in the all-time series with this win. 

"I thought we played well in the first half, didn't shoot it well, didn't get to the free throw line because I thought we were a little jumpy around the basket, but I thought our pop was there," Wes Miller said on 700 WLW after the game. "Our edge was there in the first half. That's what we spent the last two days in practice trying to we out rebounded, and we got 10 offensive rebounds.

"We made a couple errors defensively, just not being focused. But I was okay with our first half. I just wish we made a couple shots or been a little better with the ball downhill, made a couple better decisions, got to the free throw line. That said the second half, they shot the eyes out of it. We did not. We helped. So give them credit. They made some really tough ones. We also made some errors and helped them out. Got our asses kicked, and that's what it is. I don't know what else to say about it. We got our asses kicked in the second half (52-29 BYU)."

Cougars Cruise

Cincinnati continued its sub-30% three-point showing in conference play at an inopportune time. BYU cooked from deep in this game with a dazzling 18 assists and 15 threes.

Richie Saunders (21 points, 5-7 from deep) was a three-point demon on Saturday, launching from all over the floor with home-court accuracy. Cincinnati played okay coverage on the outside but it wasn't sharp enough for a great Big 12 shooter like Saunders.

He helped with the season-high three-point allowance by Cincinnati as did Egor Demin (15 points, seven rebounds, five assists). The long-future NBA player dished the ball with ease against Cincinnati's half-court defense in the best offensive display any individual playmaker's had against them this season. The 6-9 forward is the type of offensive initiator UC is lacking.

Add in a sixth consecutive game where Cincinnati lost the rebounding battle (34-28) and you get a massive mismatch on the scoreboard. 

Offensive Wilderness

The forest is enveloping Cincinnati's offense in the Big 12 map of madness. Wes Miller's squad is now firmly under 40% from the field since that part of the schedule started and there is no sign of consistency coming.

BYU threw a few different defensive looks at Cincinnati and it couldn't create open options out of it. The zone was a big problem, and the baseline offense from the past two games didn't travel to the mountains.

A few designed lobs worked out but that doesn't make an offense. Physicality and creativity around the rim are massive issues at every position. Dan Skillings Jr. (six points, one rebound, one assist) got scratched in the eye early on and didn't attempt a free throw after a career-high against Texas Tech. Cincinnati hit six total threes and free throws combined—It's nearly impossible to win that way.

One player hit more than a single triple for UC (Simas Lukošius went 4-8 from deep), against a barrage of sharpshooters from BYU (four different players with multiple triples). Jizzle James (STATS) dished the rock with some success but went back to his poor shooting all over the floor (0-5 from deep).

"I don't know. We got to shoot it better," Miller said about the struggles. "We got to shoot it better. You guys know me, guys, I ain't gonna sit up here and talk sh*t about my players. I don't do that. I got something to say. We'll say it to them in the damn locker room. I don't say it publicly, but we got to shoot it better, period. The End, gotta play better and give them credit, they shot it at an incredible rate in the second half.

College basketball is dominated by great lead guards, and Cincinnati doesn't have one right now.

Running Out of Chances

Cincinnati is now 0-6 in Quad 1 games with their extra opportunities on the road against Iowa State and West Virginia, two teams no one should expect to drop those outings.

UC has given no one any reason to believe in them outside of the 68-65 triumph over Xavier in December. Even then, UC got a little lucky to capture that victory. They entered Saturday on just nine of 80 official projections on the Bracket Matrix. Barely on the bubble with everything to prove.

Proven.

It's a word escaping every part of a team that had so much promise entering the season. Wes Miller doesn't know why his team isn't shooting better, but they have to figure out why the three-ball has dropped over 10% since beating Grambling 84-49.

The last time they scored over 71 points. Whether it's light non-conference schedules not preparing them or just a flat-out rough shooting patch all over the roster, you are what you put on the floor, and UC isn't close to good enough between the lines right now. 

"You have to prepare to try to win a game on Tuesday night," Miller said. "We can't change what happened tonight. It's college basketball, and people get their butts kicked. You have to respond. We have a group of kids that aren't gonna give in."

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