Three Man Weave: TCU Rolls Cincinnati 75-57

Cincinnati's NCAA Tournament hopes are slipping away.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Feb 24, 2024 5:14 PM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The TCU Horned Frogs stuck a fork in Cincinnati's pursuit of an at-large NCAA Tournament bid on Saturday across a 75-57 win.

The margin marked Cincinnati's worst loss in the Big 12 and back-to-back brutal defeats ahead of a trip to Houston this week. TCU's offense shot over 40% from deep and became just the third team this season to outrebound Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's now lost four of their past five games as it looks less and less like this team's best basketball is ahead of it.

Offense Stays In Clifton

The Bearcats couldn't find a solid shooting stroke around the rim on Saturday as they split the season series with TCU. Dan Skillings Jr. (nine points, four rebounds) struggled with a 4-of-13 shooting mark as he forced a few shots, and the rest of the lineup couldn't get going overall.

TCU's ball pressure was solid and it helped them spark energy on the boards to seal off many second-chance point opportunities (five points). Ball pressure doesn't have anything to do with free throws though, and Cincinnati was awful on that front again (8-of-14).

Something has to change with how this program practices and treats free throws after terrible showings every year under Wes Miller.

Overall, Cincinnati just hasn't been a good enough offense to survive in the Big 12 and Saturday was another example of no one mixing enough efficiency and volume to push the offense over the top. The Bearcats were facing the worst defense in the Big 12, without its top rim protector, and still couldn't work around the basket.

The offense has completely flipped in a big way over these final few weeks or Cincinnati doesn't like like it's going dancing.

Coles Cruises

The Horned Frogs got a huge performance out of forward Ja'Kobe Coles (18 points, two rebounds), scoring 16-plus points for the first time since Dec. 2. Coles was cooking from the three-point line after some great half-court sets by his teammates.

The big fella took the ball to the rack and shot the jumper off the dribble. He did it all as an offensive hub. It was a highly impressive jump-shooting performance.

Cincinnati couldn't match up with his funky style and it helped open up hyper-efficient sequences with him on the floor (128.9 offensive rating). The Bearcats got dominated on the road Saturday for their worst loss since conference play began.

Coles was the biggest catalyst for that. Emanuel Miller (18 points, six assists) was key as well, facilitating some great looks and finding his shot much more efficiently than he did in the first matchup.

Day Day Likes TCU

Bearcats point guard Day Da Thomas (13 points, three rebounds, two assists) played a decent game on Saturday, the best of any UC player, as he scored 13-plus points for the first time since UC beat TCU last month.

Thomas was one of the only Bearcats that could hit his free throws (5-of-6) and didn't shoot lights out but was able to create his shot at times. His continued development could be big for UC's trajectory in 2024-25 and beyond as they try to get out of the Big 12 basement next season.

Cincinnati is now just one game back of last place in the conference with just four games left in the season. They essentially have to win the Big 12 Tournament to punch their NCAA Tournament ticket. A scenario they've been in every year this decade.

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