CINCINNATI – In a must win scenario, The Bearcats came into 5/3 arena on Saturday in desperate need of gaining some momentum down the stretch. Coming into the game at 15-11 (5-10), being matched by a TCU Horned Frogs team with the same 15-11 (8-7) record.
The Bearcats were coming off a heartbreaking loss to West Virginia earlier in the week, where Tyler Betsey missed an open 3 to tie it at the buzzer. A loss that felt like a postseason opportunity ender, the Bearcats fell off the bubble of almost all bracketology projections.
All time, the Bearcats were 6-1 against 3-time conference foe TCU, including being 3-0 at home against the frogs. One of the biggest wins of the season last year came against this TCU team, when the Cats got their first Big 12 home victory against then ranked TCU in January. An overtime thriller that resulted in an eventual court storming.
Here’s how the Bearcats attempted to bounce back at home against the Horned Frogs:
Same starting lineup for the Bearcats as they had against WVU: Thomas, James, Reed, Mitchell & Bandaogo.
This would be the second straight game without Simas Lukosius, who suffered an upper body injury late in the game against Iowa State. Connor Hickman also underwent surgery on his foot during the week resulting in him being ruled out for the remainder of the season.
The Bearcats came out swinging with a 9-0 run through the first 4 minutes. They started out 4-7 from the field, including a quick 5 from Day Day Thomas. More shocking might have been the slow & sloppy start for TCU, going 0-5 from the field with 2 turnovers through the first media timeout.
Play resumed with physicality down low as double-technical fouls were called against Arrinten Page and Mallick Diallo. Neither wanted to let go of the ball underneath TCU’s Basket. On the other end, Tyler Betsey battled down low to draw a foul, and proceeded to make 1-2. At the under 12 timeout, the Bearcats lead was 14-3.
Both teams proceeded to stay relatively cold from the field, both going on runs of 1-9 & 2-9. TCU finally woke up on offense after starting 2-14 from the field. A 6-0 run for TCU makes it 19-15 and Wes Miller calls timeout to trigger the under 8.
TCU was able to capitalize on the Bearcats scoring drought late in the half, getting it down to a 3 point game at the under 4 timeout. Dan Skillings had some nice drives towards the basket, sinking a bucket on one, and getting hit with no foul called on another. He has 2 points and 3 rebounds to this point, along with a steal. Some of TCU’s only offense has been from the 3 ball, going 3-9 so far.
UC came out of the timeout blazing going on an 8-0 run. Not much answer from TCU as they’re forced to take their first timeout. They responded with two buckets of their own, making it 31-24 at halftime. A trio of Bearcats lead them in scoring, James, Thomas & Reed all with 7. David Punch leads TCU with 7 as well. Dillon Mitchell also led the Bearcats with 6 rebounds.
The Bearcats came into the game 13-1 when leading at halftime, the only loss coming to Kansas when a disastrous 2nd half resulted in the Cats blowing a 25-24 lead.
Josh Reed began the half hot, getting the first 3 of the half, becoming the first Bearcat in Double figures. Bearcats are 3-0 all time when Reed has 10+ points.
A nifty bucket plus one, followed by a Fastbreak lay from Jizzle James put the cats up 41-26. TCU calls a timeout in an attempt to slow down the fiery 10-2 start to the half for the Cats.
The Hot start to the half was followed by sloppy play. UC turned the ball over 4 times in the span of 3 minutes, while going scoreless in that time. Lucky breaks for them on defense kept their lead strong, as Wes Miller called a Timeout with the score being 44-32.
Dillon Mitchell was able to break the drought with a bucket and two made free throws, extending the Cats lead to 48-34 at the under 12 timeout. At this point Mitchell had tied his career high with 11 rebounds as well.
He quickly added two more free throws to his box score, making him 4-4 on the day from the line. This marked the 4th double double of the season for Mitchell, 13th of his career. At the 10 minute mark, the Bearcats lead was up to 18.
TCU refused to let up, going 5 for their next 7, including 4 straight to end it. UC was forced to take their 3rd timeout with 6:51 remaining, holding onto their 60-45 lead.
Tyler Betsey ended the 6-0 scoring run for the Horned Frogs with a 2nd chance bucket, getting his total up to 3 on the game. The Teams traded back and forth with TCU chipping away at the Cats lead. Getting it down to 12 at the under 4 timeout.
Josh Reed continues to impress going down the stretch, scoring another scoop and slam dunk. Reed was fouled this time and made the plus one to get to 13 on the day. TCU continued to refuse to go away, getting it down to 9 at one point before playing the foul game.
James made two at the line, but a dunk from TCU got it back to a 10 point game. James makes a floater, steal and lay from Thomas, and that’s Ballgame.
FINAL: UC 75- TCU 63
James – 18 Points, 4 Assists
Thomas – 13 Points
Reed – 13 Points
Mitchell 12 Points, 13 rebounds (Ties career high)
A stellar performance from the Bearcats to bounce back from a tough road loss at West Virginia. The Cats shot 46% from the field, while out-rebounding TCU 39-32. This was UC’s 8th Quad 2 win on the season, improving their record to 8-1 in Q2 games. Overall the Bearcats improve to 16-11 on the season, and 6-10 in Big 12 Play.
In the postgame press conference, Wes Miller discussed the impact winning the rebound battle made in the game after tying the Mountaineers on the boards earlier this week.
He also emphasized how much focusing solely on the next game means to him, rather than looking at the bigger picture. “I can’t make a case for my team up here. We need to make a case by how we play. We’re just focused on the moment.”
Forward Dillon Mitchell also mentioned how he felt like the team won this game in practice, saying the extra effort was there and it needs to be there this week against Baylor.
The Bearcats will stay at home for a big Quad 1 opportunity on Tuesday against Baylor. Baylor won the opening meeting between the two squads back in January in Waco 68-48, a beat down where the Cats scored their 2nd lowest point total all season. The game is set for tipoff at 7 PM, Aidan Riggs and Chase Younts will be on the call which can be heard on the Bearcast Media Youtube Channel.