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WVU Hoops is back in action tomorrow, as the Mountaineers welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats (12-8) to the Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m EST. Let’s take a quick look at everything you need to know about the Bearcats ahead of the next contest in the tough Big 12 for West Virginia.
COACHING AND THIS YEAR
Cincinnati is led by fourth year head coach Wes Miller, who holds an overall record of 75-51 (.595) with the Bearcats since taking over the program back in 2021. He’s won more than 20 games in two of his three completed seasons, but has yet to make the NCAA Tournament, although he has guided Cincy to back-to-back NIT quarterfinal appearances. Prior to his time with the Bearcats, Miller spent 10 years with UNC Greensboro, where he won 185 games and made the Big Dance twice.
This was supposed to be a huge season for Cincinnati, with most of the production returning from last year’s 22-win team, as well as a big transfer portal addition in Dillon Mitchell, but Wes Miller’s club has fallen short of expectations so far. The team currently sits at just 12-8 overall, including a 2-7 mark in conference play. The highlights of the year include two big out-of-conference wins over intrastate rivals Dayton and Xavier, but the season has fallen apart since the beginning of league play. This home contest against West Virginia provides the Bearcats with a chance to get their postseason hopes back on track. Fans won’t be happy with another NIT appearance in Miller’s fourth year.
Cincinnati currently sits at No. 58 in KenPom’s rankings. WVU is 10 spots ahead at 48th.
OFFENSE
The primary problems for Cincy originate from the team’s relatively poor offense. The Bearcats play at an incredibly slow pace, not dissimilar to the Mountaineers, so don’t expect a lot of points in this one. Cincinnati is also a terrible shooting team, ranking 277th in the country in 3-point efficiency (31.7 percent) and No. 350 free throw shooting (64.5 percent). The problem with this roster is the overall lack of legitimately good perimeter shooters (sans leading scorer Simas Lukosius) or general scoring talent. The aforementioned Lukosius leads the way with 12.2 points per game, but there are four Bearcats that average between 10.6 and 12.2 points per contest, so the workload is spread out for this team.
What stands out from Miller’s half court sets this year is the team’s heavy emphasis on ball screens. Starting point guard Jizzle James and wings Simas Lukosius and Daniel Skillings, who are the top three scorers on the team, operate heavily in the pick and roll with rim-running big Aziz Bandaogo. The 7-footer center is a high-efficiency, low-volume rim finisher who works in tandem with the wings, but he won’t be creating his own offense very often. When you pair that with a bunch of wings who struggle shooting the ball from deep, you begin to realize why this team struggles on offense so much. It doesn’t help that this is also a two-big system with stretch-4 Dillon Mitchell, who isn’t a great shooter or shot creator in his own right either. It’s an incredibly clunky lineup without a whole lot of players who can space the floor. Simas Lukosius is the biggest threat. He’s a 6-foot-8 and versatile secondary ball handler who’s shooting over 37 percent from 3-point range this year and is clearly the most dangerous scorer on this team.
As far as the most overall impact… that title may go to Dillon Mitchell, who’s a good rebounder and defender who averages double figures as well. He’s a freak athlete who can jump out of the gym and put you on a poster at any given minute, so watch out for that. He’s a former five star, top-10 overall prospect who began his career at Texas.
Cincinnati’s offense currently ranks 148th nationally with an adjusted efficiency of 108.2
DEFENSE
The strength of this team, and the reason why they’re typically competitive, lies in its defense. With an overall adjusted efficiency of 94.1 (No. 14 in the country), this is a fierce unit that relies on its stout interior presence that holds opponents to just 50.2 percent shooting at the rim, which ranks in the 95th percentile nationally. The Bearcats mostly have Aziz Bandaogo to thank for that, who is one of the better shot blockers in the conference.
His front court partner, Dillon Mitchell, is also an excellent (and versatile) defender who is great at defending in the block as well as the perimeter. They may create some clunkiness on offense, but the tandem is the foundation of this great defense.
As far as perimeter defense, Dan Skillings and Day Day Thomas, who comes off the bench, are solid havoc creators to pair with the elite play of Mitchell. Expect almost exclusively man-to-man defense from Wes Miller’s team. They’ll throw in press from time-to-time but it’s not the strength of the group.
PREDICTION
It would be unwise to expect a lot of scoring in this game. Both teams possess clunky and ineffective offenses and good-to-great defenses. WVU is in a major slump right now, and Cincinnati isn’t a great team to play to get out of that due to how strong its defense is. It feels like only a matter of time before the Mountaineers can pull it together, but I won’t predict it in this game. A low-scoring loss is in the cards in Cincinnati.
WVU: 56
Cincinnati: 59