UC Bearcats coach Wes Miller, Baba Miller, Shon Abaev on Georgia
Cincinnati Bearcats coach Wes Miller, Baba Miller, Shon Abaev on Georgia
- The UC Bearcats are back on the court on Dec. 13 for the first time since their Crosstown Shootout loss to Xavier.
- The Bearcats will face Georgia of the Southeastern Conference in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta.
- Georgia is 8-1 and led by 6-foot-1 guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, who averages 17.1 points per game.
Nine games into last season, the Cincinnati Bearcats were 8-1 with the lone loss coming at Villanova. Now, with a different cast of characters outside of Day Day Thomas and reserve post player Halvine Dzellat, they are 6-3 and losers of three of their last five games.
Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m., UC is in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta at State Farm Arena against Georgia. Following the UC game, Auburn will square off with Chattanooga.
As good as Georgia is, they are not yet ranked in the AP Top 25. By vote, they would be 29th. But, UC better get ready to face ranked teams as the Big 12 has six teams in the top 25 and four in the top 10 (No. 1 Arizona, No. 4 Iowa State, No. 7 Houston and No. 10 BYU).
“It’s all perspective,” UC coach Wes Miller said. “We had a really disappointing loss to Eastern Michigan. There’s no way around it, but that’s a 1-2 possession game. We’re in a 1-2 possession game pretty much the entire game against Louisville and a 1-2 possession game in the last minute at Xavier. I think if you’ve won a couple more possessions, people may feel a little different about us.”
Georgia started with an exhibition win over Georgia State Oct. 15, 65-61. Though not a direct comparison, UC beat Georgia State Nov. 7 at Fifth Third Arena, 74-64.
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A more interesting comparison is that Georgia needed a late 3-pointer from Marcus “Smurf” Millender to beat Xavier in Charleston, South Carolina Nov. 21, 78-77. On Dec, 5, the Musketeers beat the Bearcats at Cintas Center 79-74.
Georgia Bulldogs can score
In addition to averaging nearly 100 points per game, Georgia leads NCAA Division I teams in fastbreak points with close to 29 per game, over six more than the No. 2 fastbreak team, Arkansas. Louisville was thought to be fast last month. How do the Bulldogs compare?
“They’re generating a lot of things off of their defense,” Miller said. “They’re jumping into a press after every made basket. They’re really converting turnovers or long shots or quick shots at the rim. They’re turning them into baskets at a crazy-high frequency. They’ll shoot early in the clock from three, but the difference is so much of their attack in the open court generates from turning people over defensively or making people take difficult shots early in the clock.”
Cincinnati Bearcats, Georgia Bulldogs hoop history
UC is 2-1 with a win in 2011, a loss in Athens in 2020, and Wes Miller took down the Bulldogs in his opening season, Nov. 14, 2021, 73-68. UC’s Jeremiah Davenport had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Cincinnati Bearcats injury updates
Jalen Celestine – “This week he put together three days of practice without any restrictions and any hiccup. That goes back to him getting here in the summertime.”
Baba Miller – “Baba’s been full-go. Baba was playing some of the best basketball of his life before he got hurt against Louisville. He practices about as hard as anyone we have.”
Jalen Haynes – “He’s working incredibly hard. I’ve been really impressed by his approach to this injury. I do have a lot of hope that sooner, rather than later, he’ll be able to put on a jersey so we can see the runner-up for A-10 Player of the Year in the frontcourt with that experience and toughness. I’d love everybody to see what that looks like because he was such a huge part of putting this team together. He has not practiced. I don’t think it’ll happen this week or next week, but I wouldn’t put it out of the question at this point.”
3 keys for Cincinnati Bearcats to win in Atlanta vs. Georgia Bulldogs
1. Cincinnati Bearcats must carry chip into State Farm Arena
If the players didn’t know the agony of losing the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout, they do now. Instead of one of the new Bearcats becoming a local legend, it was Xavier’s grad student Tre Carroll who was able to declare, “We own this . . . city!”
Carroll will be talked about for years to come. If that aggravates the Bearcats, they need to use it to their advantage in Atlanta to come home with a noteworthy Quad 1 win.
2. Cincinnati Bearcats must make ‘D’ stand for defense, not ‘Dogs’
This will be UC’s first non-Ohio visit of the regular season. They played in front of big crowds at Michigan and Arkansas in the exhibitions and the Xavier game attracted 10,880 at Cintas Center. State Farm Arena has a basketball capacity of 17,608, so it’s a safe bet that many of those in attendance will have made the drive from Athens to Atlanta or maybe in the vicinity.
UC can’t let Georgia be in the vicinity of the rim, though that will be a challenge as they’re the top-scoring team in NCAA Division I, averaging 99.9 points per game. They’ve surpassed the century mark four times and twice have been at 120 or more.
On Nov. 29, they scored 123 on Tennessee Tech and they just put 107 on Florida State in Tallahassee in their last game, Dec. 2. This will be Georgia’s first game in 11 days, so they could either be rusty or fresh, depending on whether you’re pessimistic or optimistic.
Defensively, UC is ranked No. 25 in the country, holding opponents to just over 65 points per game.
3. 3-ball must fall for Cincinnati Bearcats
After hitting 15 3-pointers against Tarleton State and 11 more against Xavier, UC is actually shooting a higher percentage rate from deep than Georgia. The Bearcats are at 32% with the Bulldogs just shy of 31%. Day Day Thomas leads at 49% and Kerr Kriisa’s accuracy has improved to 33%.
“We coached against him, that was something we were terrified of,” Miller said of Kriisa’s 3-point skills. “If he’s getting good looks from three, we’re happy. I think he’s going to make plenty of them.”
The big men have struggled with their 3-point shooting as Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam are a combined 2-for-23.
Guard Jeremiah Wilkinson tops the Georgia starters at 37%, with Justin Bailey coming off the bench at 43%.
Tip: Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. at State Farm Arena (17,608)
TV/Radio: ESPNU/700WLW
Series: UC leads 2-1 (Bearcats last won 73-68 in 2021 at Fifth Third Arena)
Georgia Bulldogs scouting report
Record: 8-1
Coach: Mike White (fourth season, 64-47, overall 307-175)
Offense: 99.9 ppg
Defense: 71.2 ppg
Projected starting lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Jeremiah Wilkinson (G, 6’1″, 17.1 ppg)
Blue Cain (G, 6’5″, 15.4 ppg)
Kanon Catchings (F, 6’9″, 10 ppg)
Somotochukwo “Somto” Cyril (C, 6’11”, 8.4 ppg)
Jordan Ross (G, 6’3″, 7.1 ppg)
Cincinnati Bearcats scouting report
Record: 6-3
Coach: Wes Miller (88-62, fifth season; 273-197 overall)
Offense: 75.3 ppg
Defense: 65.1 ppg
Projected starting lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Day Day Thomas (G, 6’1″, 13.9 ppg)
Kerr Kriisa (G, 6’3″, 8.3 ppg)
Shon Abaev (G, 6’8″, 12 ppg)
Baba Miller (F, 6’11”, 14.6 ppg)
Moustapha Thiam (C, 7’2″, 9.8 ppg)
Players to watch
Cal transfer Jeremiah Wilkinson tops the Bulldogs in scoring and had a season-high 26 points in their lone loss to Clemson, 97-94 in overtime.
“He’s an extremely aggressive player, ” Miller said. “He jumps off the page. They’re in space a lot. He’s really good there. He’s been good in their pick and roll stuff and he looks really aggressive and confident.”
Coming off the bench, Marcus “Smurf” Millender is only 5-foot-11, but averages 9.4 points and hit the game-winning shot to beat Xavier 78-77 Nov. 21. In their 123-point effort vs. Tennessee Tech, the Texas-San Antonio transfer was 9-for-11 from the field with 22 points and seven assists.
For UC, Baba Miller recorded his fifth double-double against Xavier. He’s just three points and two rebounds from having double-doubles in every game he’s played. Against Xavier, he didn’t have the best shooting night, but still had 10 points while hauling in a game-high 17 rebounds.
“I feel like we’re closer,” Baba Miller said of turning UC’s fortunes around. “It’s still December. It’s early. We’re nine games into the season. I feel like we’re still learning each other. Every day we’re finding our rhythm on both ends of the floor. I feel like we get better every day.”
Said Shon Abaev, “Coach Wes has been hard on us in practice, pushing us every day. I feel like we need that, to pick up the intensity in practice, pick up the energy. Start making practice harder than the game so when we get to the game, it comes easier.”
Rankings
KenPom.com: Georgia is No. 24, Cincinnati is No. 75
NCAA NET: Georgia is No. 15, Cincinnati No. 129
