Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Survives 81-77 Overtime Battle With TCU

Cincinnati is on its longest streak of ranked opponents since 1994.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Jan 16, 2024 9:48 PM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Big 12 battles rage on as Cincinnati won an OT war 81-77 on Tuesday. John Newman III (20 points, seven rebounds) brought the thunder on both ends of the floor with his second career 20-point game, to take out a balanced Horned Frogs team.

Day Day Thomas (21 points, six assists) was up and down throughout the game but answered the bell in the final minute of regulation with a money triple to take a lead that Trey Tennyson (17 points, three rebounds) followed with his own timely triples across a wild sequence.

Close misses at the rim and free throws almost haunted again. TCU pulled off a red-hot offensive start and the second-most threes any opponent has hit on UC this season (11). They also became one of the few teams to outbound Cincinnati this season.

Cincinnati is now 2-2 in the conference and can stack some momentum with another home victory against Oklahoma on Saturday.

Defense Weathers Early Storm

Cincinnati continued playing strong defense on Tuesday night, save for the opening five minutes of the game. TCU started a blistering 9-of-10 from the field, but UC's man-to-man defense didn't waiver and eventually slowed things down against a fast-paced opponent.

It was even more impressive given the amount of fast breaks they had to defend due to turnovers. TCU is one of the 15 best teams in the country at forcing turnovers and came into the game averaging the most fast break points at over 22 per game.

Cincinnati cut that down to just 13 points and Aziz Bandaogo (six points, six rebounds, two blocks) helped tremendously with that effort. His return from a one-game absence proved the deciding factor on a bunch of TCU possessions from a team that loves to attack inside.

From the multi-level movement to fantastic straight-up wins at the rim, Bandaogo (109.7 defensive rating) steadied the defensive ship and helped Cincinnati make a double-digit comeback. Still, it wasn't a winning effort from the big man after he had a season-high three turnovers, fouled out, and was a part of the terrible free-throw shooting.

John Newman III. Nails

Cincinnati's top perimeter defender clamped up TCU's top scorer on Tuesday and brought that physicality with him on the other end as a relentless driver.

The free throw shooting was a problem again on Tuesday night, but other than that Newman played one of his best games as a Bearcat. He shot FGS and had a clear agenda to attack and hunt high-percentage looks.

Defensively, he limited Miller all night and helped add strong initial resistance to one of the best driving teams in the country. Newman finished with the best defensive rating on the team in a game Cincinnati needed him to be this great. Add in the constant pressure around the glass as the top rebounder in this one, and you get a complete performance from the veteran.

Free Throws And Layups

Cincinnati's issues at the charity stripe have arguably kept them from being 4-0 in conference play as opposed to 2-2. It crept up again on Tuesday as Cincinnati went just 11-of-21 from the line.

I mentioned Newman's issues, missing multiple attempts, and overall it's a big issue for a team with small margins for error in America's toughest conference. The free throw issues are also starting to trickle into the three-point tries as they struggle to shoot a bit from deep without CJ Fredrick.

Newman was the only Bearcat to hit multiple threes on a night where the ball was not pinging for open looks well against one of the better defenses in the country. It's very hard to win games in modern college basketball when you get outshot 11-6 from deep, but UC found a way.

Tennyson had a lot to do with those clutch shots as the Horned Frogs showed they are one of the most battle-hardened teams in the conference following wins against Oklahoma, Houston, and Cincinnati.

Add in the fact that UC missed 10-plus layups, and it was a continuation of the issues plaguing this losing streak. A win is a win though, especially in the Big 12 as UC tries to get above .500 on Saturday.

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