Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Posts Biggest Blowout Big 12 Win Of Season Against KSU

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati posted a road win for the first time this season across their 91-62 ripping of the Kansas State Wildcats.

Wes Miller's team continued its red-hot shooting, powered by Jizzle James (24 points, 6-8 from deep) and Baba Miller (16 points, 12 rebounds), to take out arguably the worst team in the Big 12. UC is now back above. 500 at 13-12, and it was their first win outside of Clifton this season (1-9).

UC rolled in a season-high 16 3-pointers, shooting 57.1% (16-of-28) from deep and mixed it into their biggest win by margin in the Big 12 this season.

KSU got 24 points out of lead guard PJ Haggerty, but shot 40.3% overall, and he was the only Wildcat to make more than three field goals. Cincinnati is picking up some momentum as the regular season begins winding down, with six games left.

"I'm pleased with the way we came out of the gates on both ends of the floor," Miller said after the blowout win. "I thought we were really engaged defensively and offensively. We shot it. We've always felt we had this great offensive roster we put together. We've never felt like we had it together at any point. Seeing guys the last couple games start to find their offensive rhythm at the same time, it's been nice."

Complete Showing On The Road

Cincinnati didn't have Moustapha Thiam in this game due to injury, but the rest of the lineup more than made up for his absence. James was fantastic with the long ball in this game and is clearly finding a rhythm from outside as the season gets closer to ending.

He's shot a whopping 68.4% from three, 6.3 attempts per game, over the last three contests. His ability to work through half-court offense and add more potency when things slow down has been key to these back-to-back wins. Keyshuan Tillery (two points, four turnovers) struggled to keep possession in this game, but the lead guards in James (one TO) and Day Day Thomas (10 points, seven assists, one TO) never flinched in the face of KSU's defense.

Cincinnati was going to have to turn the ball over consistently and get its thin backcourt into foul trouble for this game to be an issue. That clearly did not happen as UC's backcourt played its most disciplined road outing yet this season.

Thomas's season-high seven assists were a good chunk of their 21 total, which is tied for the third most by UC this season. The open jump shots have fallen more consistently in the past five days, leading to a much better-looking offense. UC posted a healthy 62.9% effective field goal rate Wednesday and a 127.4 offensive rating (306th in offensive rating overall this season, 103.5).

Miller posted his 11th double-double of the season to help that efficiency, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds while adding six assists and tying a career-high with four blocks. He was all over the floor and used his consistent size advantage to punish KSU's lowly defense.

The Wildcats are the worst rebounding team in the conference, and it showed all night. UC beat them on the defensive and offensive glass while amassing a 20-13 second-chance points advantage.

Bearcats Player Of The Game: Jizzle James

If James can keep shooting like this, UC will make its best push possible to save this rough 2025-26 season. The veteran looks like his shot is really starting to find its form 15 games into his season.

"I got in a rhythm, and I kept trusting my work," James said about the threes. "I'm glad they were able to go down. That's something I've been working on consistently. We'll just build on it (the win), and now we're just looking forward to our next game."

James has shot with quickness and confidence over the past three games, and it helped him finish with a plus-24 plus/minus mark on Wednesday night. He didn't hog the ball to fuel the performance either. James slinked in and out of the offense for a 15.3% usage rate, while shooting 28% of the shots when he was on the floor.

He knew his scoring role on Wednesday and played more than efficiently enough to have his best game of the season. Jalen Celestine's 96% eFG rate was the only mark higher than James' 86%, and the latter took six more shots than the former.

It's been cool to see James come back to this program and contribute at a high level as he and the team head home for a Sunday matchup against Utah, tipping off at noon ET.

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