Winner and Losers From Cincinnati's Overtime Victory Over #19 TCU

Bearcats fans rushed the court after Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats defeated #19 TCU 81-77 in overtime.

Author:
Neil Meyer
Jan 18, 2024 7:40 AM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (13-4, 2-2 Big 12) defeated Texas Christian University 81-77 in a wild, back-and-forth game that came down to the final moments of overtime on Tuesday night.

Winners

John Newman III: Newman has put himself in contention for a potential Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honor for his performance over the last three games. Newman had a huge challenge ahead of him in TCU leading scorer Emmanuel Miller, who finished with just 14 points on 5-of-14 Shooting. Fans are starting to get a great glimpse as to why Newman is such a key piece to this team, and they desperately missed his presence last season.

Newman not only put on an absolute defensive clinic, but he also put up 20 points, and seven rebounds on a 66% clip. Newman set the tone early for the Bearcats on the offensive end as he continued to be aggressive, using his long frame and physical play to get in the paint and draw contact early. That was the performance the Bearcats needed in a game like this one, and man has Newman, been fun to watch since returning from a knee injury that kept him out of last season.

"I thought John Newman was just incredible tonight on both ends, " Miller said. "At the end of regulation, I subbed him out, offense for defense, and I caught myself thinking, what the heck am I doing? He was great on offense, he made so many defensive plays tonight, including the steal on the right sideline from Emmanual Miller. He was just terrific, and to see him step up and make huge free throws was really cool to see too."

Day Day Thomas: The junior point guard had his best performance of the season, finishing with a team and career-high 21 points, four rebounds, and six assists. Despite missing some easy layups on Tuesday night, Thomas was fantastic and played his best game as a Bearcats. This a huge turning point for Thomas, who was just 13-of-54 from behind the arc heading into this contest as the junior point guard was calm, cool, and collected in this one, after burying a huge three in the final seconds of regulation to keep the Bearcats afloat.

Thomas impacted both ends of the court, especially down the stretch of regulation. Thomas had consecutive steals, sparking a huge four-point swing in favor of the Bearcats. That was the kind of performance Bearcats fans were hoping to see out of Thomas after struggling mightily to kick off conference play.

Wes Miller: Bearcats fans can quickly stop the narrative of how the Bearcats haven't won the big game. Miller and the Bearcats now have their second top-25 victory of the season, with plenty more opportunities looming ahead of them against Oklahoma and Kansas in the next five days.

That was the first victory against a top-25 team at Fifth Third Arena dating back to the 20-17-2018 season.

Losers

Ody Oguama- The big man only played two minutes, both of which came in the first half, but it was a rough two minutes. Oguama has quickly seen his minutes decrease since Jamille Reynolds became eligible. The veteran has quickly become the odd man out in a very talented frontcourt. Despite only playing two minutes, Oguama picked up two personal fouls and a huge turnover, and that was just something that wasn't ideal for the 6'10" forward.

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