Winners and Losers From Cincinnati's 92-56 Victory Over West Virginia
CINCINNATI — Saturday's contest marked the first meeting between Cincinnati and West Virginia at Fifth Third Arena dating back to their time in the Big East conference. A conference matchup that brought out many Cincinnati legends including Hall of Fame head coach Bob Huggins, Kenyon Martin, and Corie Blount.
However, the Mountaineers showed up flat on Saturday, with the Bearcats manhandled Josh Eilert's struggling West Virginia squad 92-56.
Winners
The Big winner for Cincinnati on Saturday was sixth year forward John Newmann III. Newman capped off senior day with a stellar performance finishing with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Newman was an efficient player on the offensive end, where he finished the game 7-of-10 from the field, with all three misses coming from behind the arch.
Not only was Newman a viable force for the Bearcats on the offensive end but also on the defensive end. Newman's elite perimeter defense held West Virginia leading scorer RaeQuan Battle to just nine points on 4-of-11 shooting. Newman made it difficult for the guard to get anything going on offense, which was great to see, especially after Battle had scored 20-plus points over the last four games.
In a game where the Bearcats were without Viktor Lakhin, who is still nursing the sprained ankle he suffered vs Kansas State. However, Jamille Reynolds and Aziz Bandaogo did a tremendous job at containing West Virginia forward Jesse Edwards, who finished with just eight points and four rebounds. For those who remembered the first matchup, Edwards finished with 25/10, so the Bearcats knew they had to find a way to keep Edwards off the boards and did just that.
Reynolds on the other hand, was tremendous on the offensive end finishing with 13 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting. The talented forward was able to dominate Edwards in the paint all afternoon as Eilert and the Mountaineers had no answer. Wes Miller knew they would need a dominant showing from Reynolds with Lakhin out, and they got that and some.
Now for Aziz Bandaogo, his rim presence was a game-changer in this one. The seven-footer made it physically impossible for West Virginia to get downhill and attack as the Bearcats outscored the Mountaineers 48-14 on points in the paint. Bandaogo finished the game with nine points and seven rebounds, as the frontcourt duo combined for a perfect 10-10 on Saturday.
Losers?
Overall, there were no losers on Saturday, as the Bearcats ended the regular season with a blowout victory. A game in which all the walk-ons even saw some action, including Landon Long and Chase Kirkwood, who both etched their names into the stat sheet for the first time all season.
That was something that Cincinnati hasn't been able to do throughout the course of conference play, and it was only fitting that it came on senior day at Fifth Third Arena.
Up Next
Wes Miller and the Bearcats have a quick turnaround ahead of them, as they travel to Kansas City to take on West Virginia in a rubber match to kick off Big 12 tournament play starting on Tuesday.
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