Wes Miller Discusses Schedule Changes, Second-Half Offense, and Preparing for Houston

The Bearcats now get a few extra days to prepare for the toughest test on the AAC schedule.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Feb 3, 2022 1:08 PM EST

CINCINNATI — Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats now get a full week to prepare for the biggest game of the conference schedule thus far. Houston is coming to town on Sunday night and represents the only Q1 opponent on Cincinnati's remaining schedule and one of a few Q1/Q2 games.

Wes Miller met with the media before Thursday's practice and discussed the whirlwind of scheduling, packing Fifth Third Arena On Sunday and more.

"I think this would've been more difficult to deal with two or three years ago," Miller told All Bearcats about the Memphis game getting rescheduled. "After the COVID year, you kind of get used to things being changed on the fly. I've always said if we know before we start practice that day, it really helps because we can adjust what we get done in practice."

Miller dove deeper into the second-half offensive issues his team has had lately.

"After the game, we grade every possession," Miller said. "Every player, every possession. Yeah, I don't think there's any serious problems we are having offensively. There's been some possessions in both second halves we've gotten really quality shots and just haven't made them. We've gotten really quality shots around the basket and haven't made them. We've missed some free throws; not a whole lot you can do about that.

"If we just play the next play and keep trusting and working with our guys. Can we tighten up our execution? Yes. Can we get guys in better spots and get a little more attentive offensively late in games? Yes. We've been working on that all year, and we'll continue to work on that."

The Bearcats leader recognizes the challenge and opportunity facing his team on Sunday.

"The thing that is exciting about playing a team like Houston is they were in the Final Four last year," Miller said. "They've been in the top-10 for as long as I've been paying attention over the last couple of years, and they are currently in the top-10 in the country. So I do think if you can get through a game like that, you can really kind of gauge where you are relative to that."

"Sustained success," Miller said when asked about Houston not losing a step despite major injury issues. "I always think that's how you measure real success, is can you sustain. They've sustained it over a long period of time. Whether it's guys graduating—or even during this season—losing some of their best players on their team and not missing a beat and keeping going. I think it says a lot about who they are and what they've built."

Sunday is a chance for the Bearcat faithful to show their impact in Fifth Third Arena, and Miller wants to see a packed house.

"I think just you get a feeling," Miller said about the potential crowd. "I think we would've had some incredible crowds here over the last month, but with the COVID situation, we extended the school opening by a couple weeks. So we are playing some of those early conference games in January without our students. You know then you're on the road a little bit, so I think you kind of felt like if we can get a conference game in here at home.

"You know, not a 9 o'clock at night, get all of our season ticket holders in here at the same time as we have all of our students on campus, we can converge on a pretty big crowd and a pretty special environment at Fifth Third. And let's be honest, we haven't had that since back in November. So, I'm looking forward to that...It's been obvious to me that our crowd is worth possessions.

The Bearcats could use a packed house against the clear-cut best team in the AAC on Sunday night. The game tips off at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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