Winners And Losers From The Cincinnati Bearcats 68-57 Victory Over UCF

The Cincinnati Bearcats squashed the Central Florida Knights 68-57 on Saturday night behind a huge second half effort.

Author:
Neil Meyer
Jan 28, 2024 11:11 AM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Wes Miller and the Bearcats silenced the UCF Knights 68-57 behind a dominant second half where they outscored the old AAC rival 41-18.

"This was a huge win for us. We had to get our confidence and swagger back as a team,' said UC wing Dan Skillings. "We haven't been playing as hard and together as we can. Tonight, we were down by 12 at one point, coming back to win after being down by that is hard in this league."

Winners

Dan Skillings Jr.

Sophomore guard Dan Skillings Jr led the team with 21 points and seven rebounds, as the sophomore guard continues to be a huge part of the Bearcats' success. Skillings came out guns a-blazing on his 21st birthday after scoring eight quick points in the opening minutes of this one before the Knights took him out of the equation shortly after. Skillings then went on to propel the Bearcats in the second half with 13 huge second-half points, along with five rebounds, including a crucial offensive rebound following the Day-Day Thomas missed free throw to spark a 7-0 run late in the second half.

Skillings has quickly turned a lot of heads over the past month as the sophomore guard is starting to show people, that he is here to stay in the Big 12. "Give Dan and the people around him credit," said Wes Miller. He has the right mentality, he hasn't expected anything, comes to work every day."

John Newman III

The veteran wing player had another huge game on both ends of the court, as Bearcats fans are starting to see how much a guy like Newman means to this team. Newman finished with 19 points, and seven rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting. He sparked the momentum for the Bearcats final run late in the second half after he put Central Florida 7-footer Omar Payne on an absolute poster, that will probably be featured in his louvre one day down the line.

https://x.com/russheltman11/status/1751422122545582302?s=20

"I thought John Newman was an absolute warrior tonight," Miller said. "That will be a game, when I tell stories about John Newman years down the road, this will be a game I talk about."

Newman had his hands full on the defensive side of the ball with his matchup between Marchelus Avery and Jaylin Sellers. However, Newman rose up to the challenge once again and has continued to put himself in the conversation for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

“You guys show me a better perimeter defender in all of college basketball than John Newman," said Miller "You can’t tell me there is anyone out there better than John Newman, I mean he has been phenomenal.”

Ody Oguama

Things haven't gone exactly the way Oguama thought they would as of late after being a key contributor earlier in the season to seeing just little action over the last few games. However, Oguama provided huge minutes tonight off the bench for the Bearcats and really affected the game on the defensive end after grabbing six rebounds in just 10 minutes of play. That was a huge performance for Oguama, especially with Viktor Lakhin unavailable due to illness.

"I am super proud of Ody Oguama. All he has done lately has been come in the gym with a great attitude and keep working," Wes Miller said. "I thought his minutes and ability to match up small was a huge reason for our success tonight."

Losers

Jamille Reynolds

In a game that many may have considered a "revenge game" for Reynolds, who began his collegiate career at Central Florida, it didn't go quite as planned. Despite, Lakhin being unavailable, Wes Miller decided to go with Oguama more in the front court instead of Reynolds, which was something we hadn't quite seen as of late. Reynolds saw his minutes trimmed significantly, playing just six minutes, while most of the bench minutes there in the front court went to Oguama tonight.

Reynolds was able to grab two rebounds in those six minutes of play but was held scoreless on the offensive side of things. Now, it could have been a match-up thing, but that was worth noting, especially with someone of Reynolds's size, who has a great touch and feel around the rim. Although, it is something to watch going forward as the team prepares for their contest vs West Virginia on Wednesday. He was a -15 overall in his minutes against UCF.

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