Three Man Weave: Cincinnati's Houston Swoon Continues Across 67-59 Loss

Cincinnati has now lost 11 consecutive games to the Cougars.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Feb 27, 2024 9:35 PM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats offense was tough to find in another loss to No. 1 Houston 67-59.

Cincinnati posted its lowest-scoring half of the seasoning in its opening frame with just 17 points as no one could get many shots to fall, open or not. It was a performance that extinguished any hopes of an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The defense showed up for UC to pull off an admirable betting spread cover (13.5 points), but consistent scoring has evaporated over conference play as they dropped their second game against the nation's No. 1 team in the past 20 years.

Offensive Groundhog Day

The Bearcats didn't play with a ton of discipline or controlled energy on the offensive end Tuesday. The team shot one of their lowest percentages from the floor this season (39.6%) as not one player hit five-plus shots on the team.

It was a horrific performance until the final minutes that started with discipline and devolved into a turnover fest over most of the game (19 turnovers).

Cincinnati hasn't gotten good enough guard play to match the rest of the Big 12 this season and the bigs can't impact enough because of it. Wes Miller's crew was great defending the rim and on-ball holding Houston to 38.9% shooting on the other end.

UC's now scored under 70 points in eight of the past 10 games as the offense has never come together this season (83rd nationally in adjusted offense, 10th in Big 12). Viktor Lakhin (11 points, nine rebounds) had his best game in weeks, but the collapse of his play throughout Big 12 action left an already thin offense with no consistency.

Stealing Hope

The Cougars' defense was all over the floor on Tuesday and forced the most steals of any UC opponent this season (15). Cincinnati is 0-4 when giving up 11-plus steals.

The offense can't keep pace with that kind of action and it showed all night as UC gave up their fair share of boneheaded mistakes to add to the psychological effect. Cincinnati hasn't solved this defense at all in the 2020s and it's looming over any potential Big 12 success.

They sparked a few runs across the game, but offensive consistency against the whole conference has to get back with more confident shotmaking and sound ballhandling. The young backcourt could grow into that down the stretch and this offseason.

Lukošius Light

Simas Lukošius (11 points, two rebounds) is proving to be the most consistent perimeter player for Cincinnati this season as he's posted double-digit points in 14-of-26 games this season.

He feels like the only Bearcats that can hit anything night-to-night from outside (3-of-6 from outside, multiple threes each of past six games) and his solid tempo steadies the offense. He should take another leap heading into next year as a growing defender.

The turnovers need to get cleaned up, but more and more experience can't hurt on that front. The Lithuanian's playmaking is also going to be crucial moving forward as well. Cincinnati needs all the clean looks it can get for its bigs, who were the most efficient offensive pieces on the second-worst scoring night of the season.

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