Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Waxes BYU 90-68, Continue Big 12 Hot Streak With NCAA Tournament Sights

CINCINNATI — The evolved Bearcats continued shedding into shooting skins on Wednesday night with another blowout Big 12 win, 90-68 over BYU.

Cincinnati had all five starters in double figures and played great defense (43% shooting allowed, 15 turnovers forced) to continue their rise from the dead in pursuit of their first NCAA Tournament appearance this decade. A 36-34 rebounding advantage didn't hurt UC either.

Jalen Celestine (18 points, three rebounds) and Jizzle James (18 points, two assists) led the UC scoring numbers, and Baba Miller (15 points, 12 rebounds, five assists) continues to play All-Big 12 ball.

The win moved Cincinnati into seventh place in the Big 12, a spot they want to keep to avoid a first-round game in the conference tournament next week.

"We talked about it after the Kansas game," UC head coach Wes Miller said about his team's NCAA Tournament hopes. "I knew that would create some tournament talk. Our team agreed. I am not going to participate in the chatter. We are going to focus on the next game. However, I do believe that we will be playing in the NCAA Tournament."

Cincinnati Bearcats center Moustapha Thiam (52) dunks in the second half of the NCAA Basketball game at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Rise Continues

According to Bart Torvik, Cincinnati has now played as the fifth-best team in the country over the past month of the season. The top 20 talent that so many of us bought into to start the rough early part of this campaign has settled in completely and found a great lineup combination along the way.

All five UC starters were in double scoring figures last night, a unit that is currently +17 overall in 148 minutes this season. Day Day Thomas, Celestine, James, Miller, and Moustapha Thiam have formed a Marvel Infinity Gauntlet that's trying to blow other teams off the NCAA Tournament bubble.

The defense has been great all year, like it was again on Tuesday night, but the offense has fully formed of late, with UC shedding its horrible outside shooting skin. Since the start of February, UC is shooting a nasty 41.8% from deep and 74.4% from the free throw line, while allowing opponents to shoot just 42.2% overall.

BYU's only high-scoring outings Tuesday night came from projected top-five NBA Draft pick A.J. Dybantsa (23 points on 7-21 shooting) and guard Robert Wright (21 points on 8-16 shooting). UC overwhelmed everyone else with its on-ball defense.

That kind of consistency is just what this program needed, and it's coming at a desperate time. The roster rallied around Wes Miller when his coaching seat was hottest, and now they are likely three wins away from making the first NCAA Tournament of his tenure and officially saving his job.

What a comeback that would be, Cincy style.

Bearcats Player of the Game: Baba Miller

Night in, night out.

Baba Miller has been an all-around force the likes of Cincinnati hasn't seen in nearly 70 years. According to UC radio voice Dan Hoard, Miller leads UC in scoring (13.8), rebounding (10.0), and assists per game (3.6). The last Bearcat to lead the team in those three categories was Oscar Robertson in 1960 (33.8/15.2/7.1).

Miller is cementing himself more and more as a clear NBA draft pick this coming June. His playmaking and feel for the game continue to grow through great passing (5.1 assists per game since Feb. 1), and it helps unlock his jumper (57.1% from deep in the past five games).

He posted another nasty 25 efficiency score to lead UC on that front Tuesday night.

If Miller caps his regular season playing like this Saturday, it will be hard to keep him off the first team All-Big 12 squad. The Bearcats' next massive game comes on the road Saturday against fellow bubble team TCU at 2 p.m. ET on TNT.

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